We all have our favourite rubber. I'm currently using a WTB Weirwolf 2.1 on the front and an old Smoke Lite 1.9 on the back, as it seems to cut well through the tons of mud out there.

How much emphasis do we place on the recommended tyre pressures? Mine say 35psi upwards but I usually go at 35psi anyway.

Am I right in assuming that the lower you go, the better traction you get?

Maybe there should be some 'what pressure for riding XXX trail?' threads! 🙂 I go for as lower pressure I can without being able to feel the sidewall defoming. Normally around 30psi despite most tyres having a minimum recommended pressure of 35 or 40psi.

around 35-40psi feels about right for me depending on terrain/conditions and I weigh less than most people. Can't stand riding with low pressures and flat feeling tyres, gawd knows how or why people do it.

I run just run whatever feels right; don't use a pressure gauge. Go ride more and try out different pressures?

About 20 PSI and I weigh 16.5 stone. Can't stand riding with high pressures and hard feeling tyres, gawd knows how or why people do it. 😉

I really dislike the feel of soft tyres – I think this comes from riding motorbikes where a soft squidgy tyre is punctured and you are about to fall off!

Depends on the type of tyre as well – a light tyre with a soft sidewall seems to need more pressure to hold its shape.

So no one pressure suits all tyres and riding styles – I tend to run 35 – 45 psi. anything under 35 feels horrible as the tyre rolls on the rim

20 psi 😯

At 20 psi the tyre rolls and squidges on thr rim – feels awful with no feedback as to what is happening! Horses for courses

At 20 psi the tyre rolls and squidges on thr rim – feels awful with no feedback as to what is happening!

No it doesn't. I have wide rims/tyres and am running them tubeless.

To me 35-45 PSI equals no grip, skittering around all over the trail. Good only on roads/fire roads.

I'm with grumm on this. The wife's bike is set up with 2.0" specialized tyres on 317 rims converted to tubeless and rns 20/22.5 f&r

My Maxxis Advantage LUst on Flow rims run 25/30 f&r. I'll go as low as I can until I feel the tyre squirming in the corners or or rocks striking the rims. Up a little from there and jobs a good'un

High pressures in big tyres feel waaaay too hard.

35 in a 2.35 feels the same to me as 45 in 1.95 used to.

Still experimenting but sitting somewhere between 30 and 35 I'd guess. Will drop further if it works.

Very tyre/trail/speed/rider dependant.

My set up on Maxxis Advs at same pressures as Onzadog

Grumm – Its about personal preference and type of tyre.

If I run even the DH tyres I have that soft then the rolling on the rim means a lack of precision in the feel that I don't like. squidge squodge yuck

There is no one right answer

As low as I can without too much pinch flatting. Too hard and a bounce and ping all over.

30-40psi depending on terrain. Have run tyres as low as 20psi though (usually just go by feel mid ride if they feel too hard/soft). Mainly use tubed tyres around 2.3 inch.

i run 30-40 psi yep depends on terrain… but why do bike shops pump them up soo rock hard when yer bikes been in for service or whatever…they do dont they ! rock hard i tell thee..lol.
yep i experiment all the time….i have heard the 'lower psi' the more 'traction'… is this true…. i only weigh 8 stone so whats the lowest psi i could get away with ? be sensible now…lol

23/25 Front 33/35 Rear. Front being by far the most critical regarding grip. I do tend to mainly ride hardpack trail centres, where the tyre needs to deform to find grip, whereas if you tend to ride on soil,mud,grass etc., the suface has some give in it, and tyre pressure may be less of an issue. Oh, and I am a very light 14 stone 🙂

grumm, JonT & onzadog seem to have it sussed.

TandemJeremy, have you ever ridden an offroad motorbike ?. I used yo run 6/7 psi front and 4/5 psi rear on a trials bike, and 15/18 Front 13/15 rear on a trail/enduro bike.

What I want to know is how do you guys measure tyre pressure that accurately?

I don't think that the readings on my track pump gauge are anywhere close at the lower end of the scale.

Any recommendations for a gauge?? I also want to run as low as possible without pinch-flatting.

Fivespot – not riddn offroad motorbikes

I do tend to mainly ride hardpack trail centres, where the tyre needs to deform to find grip, whereas if you tend to ride on soil,mud,grass etc., the suface has some give in it, and tyre pressure may be less of an issue.

This may be a crucial point

TandemJeremy, have you ever ridden an offroad motorbike ?. I used yo run 6/7 psi front and 4/5 psi rear on a trials bike, and 15/18 Front 13/15 rear on a trail/enduro bike.

I used to run 12-15 front 6-10 rear depending on conditions on an enduro bike. But… on a mountainbike my 16 stone doesn't let me run much under 40 front and rear without doing horrible things to understeer and anchor like drag.

Hotfly, I got an Oxford Digigauge on the recommendation of another forum member a few months ago. Great accurate gauge for both Presta and Schraeder valves.

Great accurate gauge for both Presta and Schraeder valves

how do you know it's accurate? 😉

I use the Oxford digigauge and may well have been the person who suggested it! It reads the same as two other digital gauges I've got so I'm happy!

I remember being on holiday in the Alps and there was a chap there who insisted on ramping up the pre-load on the forks and about 80 psi in the tyres of his hire bike. How we laughed listening to him bouncing through the trees like some bizzare pin-ball game at the bottom of the Morzine DH course!

Thanks for the tip Onzadog/Fivespot – those Digigauges look like what I'm after.

It's always a compromise dependant on type of riding and tyre choice. I tend to run :

Generally 25-30 psi front/28-40 psi rear

When razzing the trailcentres, I find letting 15psi out before each downhill and putting it back in again before each climb is just fab. 😉 😉

Actually rarely more than 30psi with tubes for xc and as low as (what my track pump says at least is) 10psi for dh if its really loose.

Don't own a tyre gauge. If I'm struggling for grip let some out.If it feels a bit squidgy,put some in. Works for me.

old git surrey – where did you find an old smoke lite? – I love those on the back! even if you're a racing whippet, there's no way you can run them at anything close to low pressures tho.

tyre pressures depend on too many variables for any sort of recomendation ie. rider (& bike) weight, rim width, riding surface/conditions/obsticles, tyre size/tread patern, sidewall thickness, tubes, and rider skill level/riding style for a start so do yourself a favour and ignore the seriously dubious recomendations on this thread and use common sense and trial and error.

Tubeless about 25-30 approx.
Tubed about 35.
All dependant on terrain,conditions,tyres,bike and rider weight.

HTH

30 front 35 rear. i'll drop those if i go tubeless though.
dh bike i'm more around 20-25 mark front and rear

Stating your tire pressure without at least saying what tires, tube/tubeless and rider weight is a pretty pointless exercise IMO.

35 in 2.2s and 45 in 1.9s.