Mountain Biking - 4 those who ride fireroads...what tire pressure do u use?

I'm curious about what the average tire pressure people who ride for exersize and simple riding fun on fireroads and the like use. In other words, those of you who ride mountain and don't race or do other other extreme riding. What pressure do you find to be the best compromise between gripping, comfort, pinch flats, etc?

You're going to want a relatively high pressure because you're riding on a packed fireroad. I think from earlier posts that you also have a full suspension bike. This means that you can worry less about getting some suspension out of the tires. MTB knobbies can squirl in the corners on pavement, and will do the same on real hard packed fireroads. Are the road you're on really hard packed or are they loose in a lot of sections? You might want to go on the slightly lower side if there are a lot of loose sections. Otherwise, I would say start at about 45-50 and go up or down from there depending on how secure they grip in the corners and how the ride is. Remember, you're going to to be climbing up the fireroads, so you don't want a real low pressure for that. You also don't want it so high hat the tire spins out every time you give a strong pedal stroke. The right pressure varies greatly dpending on rider weight, riding style, and the conditions at the time. You might even want a different pressure for when the dirt road is really wet. Pick a pressure around 45-50 and go up or dow from there. The only way to find out is to do it yourself and try several different pressure. A ride or two where you stop every so often and pump or deflate the tires slightly to see what the differences feels like is well worth it. I tend to lean towards a higher pressure unless I'm in some really tough/slippery singletrack situations. It could be different for you. Good luck!

-Moab

Yeah I got to agree with moabrider47, on packed ground you want the pressure relatively high.

The fireroads i ride are pretty much an equal combination of hard pack, loose sand and gravel, and a lot of ruts and some rock.

Dazco, you'll probably want a slightly lower pressure then. Loose sections, gravel, and rocks are places you'll want the extra traction. It's all in the experiementation though.

-Moab

I agree with Moabrider, 45psi is a good place to start. Full suspension you can run higher pressure and still maintain comfort while reducing the chance of pinchflats.

My personal taste is to go as low as possible without pinchflating. I've run 25-30psi and love the ride but rocky sections are really risky for pinchflats. I go by feel but I think my tires are around 40-50psi most of the time.

Wow...my fireroads are all very rocky (boullders anyone), steep and hard packed. I ride at 25 to 30psi otherwise I will get bucked from my seat.

Thats what i've been running. (25-30) But i thought i might try a little more since i got some new panaracers that should grip much better than the stock speciallized rollX's.

Depends on your goal. That will definately get you going faster :)

Dazco,

What kind of Panaracer's did you get? The Roll-X's haven't been doing that badly in reviews in the mags. I'm looking at a getting a new set of tires for the season. What didn't you like about them?

-Moab

I got the Panaracer fire XC pro. The specialized rear wore out incredibly fast. I've only done about 7 or 8 rides since i got the new stumpy and the rear is so worn it doesn't grab worth cr@p anymore. With the new hayes i want some serious grab, and the reviews on the panaracer XC pro seem to agree they grab like crazy. The tread looks far more serious than the specialized, but then i suppose looks can be decieving when it comes to tread. Have you tried the Panaracers? I read a lot of reviews on a lot of tires and the Panaracers reviews impressed me.

XC Pros are good tires. They hook up and you can run them pretty low psi (for the 2.1 anyway). They say it has anti-snake bite sidewalls, I don't know what the heck that is but they are good.
The only bad thing is it clogs up in muddy conditions but that's about it.
They seem to wear well too.

Originally posted by dazco
Have you tried the Panaracers? I read a lot of reviews on a lot of tires and the Panaracers reviews impressed me.

I've been riding the 2.1" FireXC Pros for about 5 years now. They came stock on my bike and I liked them so much, I replaced them with the same. I feel the tread pattern is a good mix for all types of terrain from hardpack and fireroads to singletrack. The tread pattern is adequate for most riding situations but they don't shed mud as quickly as some pure mud tyres because the block pattern is more closely spaced. I wouldn't advise them for extremely slick DH rocky terrain either because the compound isn't incredibly soft nor is 2.1" wide enough, IMHO. OTOH they don't wear as quickly either. I run mine between 30-35 PSI for muddy wet stuff and bump it up to 45-50 PSI if it's really dry and for pure XC type riding. I'll go higher (60-65 PSI) if I'm sticking strictly to roads or rail-to-trails.

Dazco,

I have used Panaracer's in the past and was very impressed. I could write more, but my post would pretty much be a copy of khuon's most recent. I'm still using the Michelin's (which i am also impressed with) that came stock on my current bike, but I'm thinking of switching back to a set from Panaracer for the beginning of this season. I was especially looking at the Trailblasters?, but I haven't done much research into the reviews yet. Let me know how you like the FireXC's once you get some time on them.

-Moab

I noticed the reviews also mentioned over and over about the mud shedding problem. But I won't be riding in mud here in So. Cal., and i even avoid riding after a rain.

It's kinda funny how i started out to buy a $500 bike, ended up with a $1300 bike, and now i've spent another $350+ on Hayes discs, tires, seat, and numerous other things and i'm looking to buy new forks that'll bring it to about $600 more ! Geez........how the he|| did that happen?! :eek: :lol:

Originally posted by dazco

It's kinda funny how i started out to buy a $500 bike, ended up with a $1300 bike, and now i've spent another $350+ on Hayes discs, tires, seat, and numerous other things and i'm looking to buy new forks that'll bring it to about $600 more ! Geez........how the he|| did that happen?! :eek: :lol:

You're not supposed to ask those sort of questions! Remember that the fastest way to bring a millipede to a crashing halt is to ask it in which order it moves its legs. :D