Tire pressure thoughts
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I do use the thumb method on roadside flat fixing on my 25c tires because I find that trying to gauge it is just more trouble than it's worth. I invariably have to add several psi when I get home, but the ride back is generally fine and my thumb is a pretty good gouge of sufficient hardness to be safe..
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I do use the thumb method on roadside flat fixing on my 25c tires because I find that trying to gauge it is just more trouble than it's worth. I invariably have to add several psi when I get home, but the ride back is generally fine and my thumb is a pretty good gouge of sufficient hardness to be safe..
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i've realized from all the back and forth (both ridiculous and otherwise) about tire pressure lately that i run WAY LOW pressures compared to most people and most recommendations. GP 5000 TR S tubeless in 28mm or 30mm, often running in the 40-50 range. thousands of miles with no problems at all other than the tires not lasting as long as i'd like. comfy ride.
given what the online calculators and most of BF says, i'm now gradually increasing to see how that goes, but the "working range" for my setup seems quite wide. stated max for the tire is 73psi, iirc, 21mm internal rim width. 185lb rider, 15lb bike/gear. fully functional envelope seems to be as low as 30, all the way up to 73.
given what the online calculators and most of BF says, i'm now gradually increasing to see how that goes, but the "working range" for my setup seems quite wide. stated max for the tire is 73psi, iirc, 21mm internal rim width. 185lb rider, 15lb bike/gear. fully functional envelope seems to be as low as 30, all the way up to 73.
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I've ridden as far as 50 miles on that 60 psi, and the truth is after the first couple of miles, I forgot about it. It really doesn't make a dramatic difference.
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Whereas I count my blessings if I can make it home without pinch-flatting, and it certainly sucks the joy out of the rest of the ride for me. Maybe because I'm a bigger dude and ride rough roads? 🤷♂️
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given what the online calculators and most of BF says, i'm now gradually increasing to see how that goes, but the "working range" for my setup seems quite wide. stated max for the tire is 73psi, iirc, 21mm internal rim width. 185lb rider, 15lb bike/gear. fully functional envelope seems to be as low as 30, all the way up to 73.
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i've realized from all the back and forth (both ridiculous and otherwise) about tire pressure lately that i run WAY LOW pressures compared to most people and most recommendations. GP 5000 TR S tubeless in 28mm or 30mm, often running in the 40-50 range. thousands of miles with no problems at all other than the tires not lasting as long as i'd like. comfy ride.
given what the online calculators and most of BF says, i'm now gradually increasing to see how that goes, but the "working range" for my setup seems quite wide. stated max for the tire is 73psi, iirc, 21mm internal rim width. 185lb rider, 15lb bike/gear. fully functional envelope seems to be as low as 30, all the way up to 73.
given what the online calculators and most of BF says, i'm now gradually increasing to see how that goes, but the "working range" for my setup seems quite wide. stated max for the tire is 73psi, iirc, 21mm internal rim width. 185lb rider, 15lb bike/gear. fully functional envelope seems to be as low as 30, all the way up to 73.
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at the higher pressures (have never ridden >70 on these tires), it feels way faster, but again, it really isn't. lots more little vibrations and the small hits have a much sharper impact. on a very long ride, i do feel a little more hand numbness.
when i switched to tubeless and GP5000 from the stock turbo cottons, the first ride was at the lower end of the pressures, 40ish, and it seriously felt like night and day over little bumps, in particular the expansion joint covers on the bridge, to the point that i stopped lifting the bars a little bit.
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the range i have run (intentionally) is probably 34-70psi. nothing bad ever happened, over maybe 5k miles on these tires, but prior to these recent discussions on BF i'd settled into the low 40s.
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You've put your rider weight in kg or you are very small. Ah I see you corrected.
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EDIT: The Zipp calculator tells me 87.8 F and 93.4 R.
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We won't compare our weights, but I try not to do long rides on rough roads too much, so we'll go with that.
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i've realized from all the back and forth (both ridiculous and otherwise) about tire pressure lately that i run WAY LOW pressures compared to most people and most recommendations. GP 5000 TR S tubeless in 28mm or 30mm, often running in the 40-50 range. thousands of miles with no problems at all other than the tires not lasting as long as i'd like. comfy ride.
given what the online calculators and most of BF says, i'm now gradually increasing to see how that goes, but the "working range" for my setup seems quite wide. stated max for the tire is 73psi, iirc, 21mm internal rim width. 185lb rider, 15lb bike/gear. fully functional envelope seems to be as low as 30, all the way up to 73.
given what the online calculators and most of BF says, i'm now gradually increasing to see how that goes, but the "working range" for my setup seems quite wide. stated max for the tire is 73psi, iirc, 21mm internal rim width. 185lb rider, 15lb bike/gear. fully functional envelope seems to be as low as 30, all the way up to 73.
I notice you mentioned wear. A higher wear rate is one of the cons of running super low pressure. So that might be a factor in your case.
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I'm just getting back into riding after sporadic riding over the winter. Yesterday, after a month off I had a good ride and was surprised how little pain I had after and since.
I know there are a lot of variables but began wondering about tire pressure. I'm 68 and ride purely for enjoyment and exercise; my average ride is 7-10 miles a few times per week, about 90% pavement and 10% crushed stone trail. Tires are 700x35.
I'm sure many wil think my inflation practices are wacky, but I use the thumb method to check, and then if needed, fill the tires from a small compressed air tank until they "feel right". Not scientific at all. I filled them before my ride but began wondering if topped up harder tires were the reason I had so little pain afterwards. Pedaling seemed surprisingly easy after my hiatus.
Any thoughts, or too many variables?
I know there are a lot of variables but began wondering about tire pressure. I'm 68 and ride purely for enjoyment and exercise; my average ride is 7-10 miles a few times per week, about 90% pavement and 10% crushed stone trail. Tires are 700x35.
I'm sure many wil think my inflation practices are wacky, but I use the thumb method to check, and then if needed, fill the tires from a small compressed air tank until they "feel right". Not scientific at all. I filled them before my ride but began wondering if topped up harder tires were the reason I had so little pain afterwards. Pedaling seemed surprisingly easy after my hiatus.
Any thoughts, or too many variables?
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There is nothing wacky about what you're doing. The thumb method is perfectly normal and legit way to check tire pressure. That's how I do it and that's how thousansd of other cyclists do it.
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Is there a standard for thumb pressure? How do we compare thumbs? What is a good thumb pressure anyway?
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today i did a short lunchtime ride at 60-65psi. i actually did get a few PRs, but the wind was coming from an unusual direction, so that's not meaningful. definitely much more jarring on the rough spots, trolley track crossings, etc, but i will say it feels AWESOME on the smooth sections, like riding on rails
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Basically you want your tires to have a consistent level of deflection, that is, how much they squish when you're on the bike. Thumb is good proxy for measuring that deflection, once you've established what a tire that's deflecting as much as you want feels like to your thumb. Tire pressure is another, more precise, more repeatable measurement to accomplish the same thing.
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