Been loaned a winter/disk roadie (not a bad thing as winter seems to have returned!) which has 28mm tyres on. I’ve never used anything bigger than 23mm. What’s a good punt for pressure – 80psi? Usually run 100psi in the 23s (I’m 65kg).
well I weight 78Kg and run about ~70PSI front and 70-80PSI at the back on 28s, so you could start there but I dare say you could safely go lower at your weight, but if you’re used to running 100psi at your weight it might take a while to adjust to the feel.
Tyre casing is relevant though, a stiff heavy 28 may feel terribly draggy at low pressure, where as a nice light and supple one will still be nice and quick. Personal preference does come into it as well as what surface you’re going to be riding on.
This can be quite a personal topic do this is solely my personal opinion, but I have recently taken the advice of the guys at Hunt and found my riding slightly more comfortable as a result. They would tell you you’re 23m pressure is about right for your weight but for 28m you want to go higher than 80. Note the comments on other variables though:
as always, opinions vary, another take on it is the chart below.
experiment and see what you like as it’s you that has to ride it and just because one person says 90psi and another says 70psi doesn’t mean one is wrong and one right, nor does it mean going half way between the two 😉
also, check you pump/gauge, one of my trackpumps reads 80psi when the other one reads 65psi, digi gauge says they’re both wrong and it was 72, the important thing is once you find a pressure you like that you either use the same pump/gauge to do it each time, or be aware of the variation and how crap most off the shelf pumps are at giving an accurate or precise reading.
uwe-r – Member
I run 700/28 all the time. I think one advantage is the larger range of pressure you can get away with. So just go with whatever feels about right.
No point asking other people IMO, try it and see what works for you. Rim width is a major factor: if your rims are narrow then you need more pressure to keep the tyre stable while cornering, and IME there comes a point where this means you end up with a less comfortable ride than with a narrower tyre. (If you have wider rims or don’t mind the tyres feeling soft in corners then you can drop the pressure with less issue.)
Anyway, “less than what you were using with a narrower tyre” is a good starting point 😉
I run mine quite high for puncture resistance (Conti GP4000 28c) – 100psi – including my commuting back it’s c 80kg overall weight.
IIRC Conti recommend 100-120psi which is higher than those guides above suggest
I’m off the chart ^^ at 89kg + bike (100kg? for very round figures) I’ve run 28mm at 80F and 90R for years
The chart shows wheel load, so you need to take your weight + bike weight and divide it over the two wheels. It gives an example of 100kg bike and rider weight as 55% rear and 45% front, which for a 28c tyre would be about 72F and 90R. It’s only intended as a guide, but you are not far off their recommendations.