Hi all,

Bit of an isssue yesterday had a flat on a stony downhill section, not very steep but long so you build a bit of speed up and can feeel the bike taking a bit of a pounding.

Got a pinch flat on the front tyre, was riding the rim for about 10 seconds but managed to slowly stop without going flying so that was good!

Got me thingking about my set up though, Im running a 26er, 2.1 Ron on the front, 2.1 ralph on the back, about 30psi I belive at the time, I weigh 15.5 stone
I could put more pressure in but that sort of terrrain I imagine would have me bouncing off the ground out of control.

Would it be worth looking into a burlier tyre, a nobby nick maybe? or a wider Ron?

The terrain is lilke this but a bit more stoney…

Thanks

It might just be a one off. If it happens all the time then I’d be looking at increasing the pressure a bit.

They’re quite lightweight small volume tyres – if it keeps happening I’d get some bigger ones, maybe with reinforced casings.

With no intention to offend, you sound a little on the heavy side for 30psi imo.. I’d try adding a few PSI.. just to give you an idea I like to rag my bike around and I’m about 13stone kitted up and run around 33psi.

I’d try that first… if you’re still having issues specifically on 1 wheel I’d make that a dual ply or a beefier tyre at the same pressure… if you’re still having issues then go up another psi or get better at line choice as it’s likely got a factor if those other bits have been checked.

You could also always run tubeless or squirt a bit of latex into a normal tubed wheel to help you out a little more.

Tubeless isn’t a ticket to run low psi for the sake of it though – I’d still recommend slightly higher for your kitted up weight.

Would it be worth looking into a burlier tyre, a nobby nick maybe? or a wider Ron?

Dont confuse chunky tread or width for making a tyre suited to ‘burly’ riding. Its an improved casing type you need to consider. Often this goes hand-in-hand but schwalbe especially like doing all their tyres in all the types, so you need to pick appropriately.

To be honest though, unless this happens regularly id not worry. If you want more confidence or want to ride harder then yes a change would help.

You need more air in your tyres.

It is simple physics.

Assuming you have front suspension you can always fiddle with the settings to change the rebound.

More air or go tubeless

You need more air in your tyres.

It is simple physics.

^ that

Burlier sidewall/casing might let you get away with 30psi, but on tyres that size, with that casing, at your weight, you need more air.

Plenty of talk on forums about folk running low pressures (<20psi) tubeless but unless you also make note of their weight, the tyre type and the terrain they ride it’s all meaningless. Choose you tyre size and casing based on the terrain you ride (ie: what level of grip and strength you need), then add appropriate amount of air for your weight.

Trying to run super burly tyres to hit some arbitrary pressure figure is just as bad as running super high pressures to use some arbitrary weight tyre. It’s always a compromise.

Even going tubeless isn’t a magic ticket to super low pressures, if you’re a big guy with light tyres you’ll just punch a hole in the sidewall instead of the tube.

For ref, I’m 77Kg (12 st 2), and on an XC casing tyres in the 2-2.1inch range I run about ~30-35psi, a bit less with bigger or burlier casing tyres, but you’re over 3 stone heavier than me…

Do you use a pressure gauge?

Up until a year ago I didn’t & it turns out that what I thought was pumped up really hard by feel was about 20psi!

squirt a bit of latex into a normal tubed wheel to help you out a little more

Does F All for pinchflats aside from making a bloody mess. Good for thorn type punctures though.

+1p for decent thicker casing tyres.

Were you bottoming out the suspension?

In general, the smaller the volume of the tyre/inner tube then the higher the pressure needed for the air inside to do the same work. At one extreme you have 23c road tyres at 100psi+ and at the other 5″ fat tyres at 6psi.

The “Stans formula” of ride weight* in stone multiplied by two then plus two for the rear tyre and minus one for the front is a starting point for tubeless tyres, depending on how you ride then you might need to add more air or let some out.

*ride weight is you plus all your clothing and kit not you stark naked!

If it’s happening all the time I’d put 5psi or so more in. If it’s a one off then decide whether it bothers you enough to put 5psi more in.

You can always run the front a bit softer, particularly on a hardtail, so you don’t loose as much useful grip but still have a bit of puncture resistance.

I’m 2 stone lighter than you and would run 35+psi (run 35 in the rear of my HT tubeless in winter, 2.25 Shwalbe tyre, sometimes a bit more in summer if I’m doing something particularly rocky) in the rear on that size of tyre, but I don’t like having to nurse my bike over the terrain too much.

I’m 85kg / 13 Stone naked *SHUDDERS* and run 30 psi. Occasionally pinch but only when hammering it in Wales.

Ok thanks all, some things to think about there.

thin light weight tyres, go tubeless and change tyres. RRon etc well known to be paper thin. HR2 here at 20 psi max, strong robust and the odd time they have punctured stans fixed them and I just pumped back up.

This wasn’t a penatrative(fnarr) puncture though, it was the rim bottoming out on stoney terrain at speed, at what I presumed was enough pressure.

My concern is upping the pressure more could make the handling too sketchy/bouncy so was considering what to do, I am kinda coming around to the idea of tubeless too.

Supergravity or Dual Ply, as wide and as big a volume as possible, on a 40mm rim, Tubeless. 🙂
I can run about 25psi front and 30psi rear with this. Slashing sidewalls seems to be a much more common failure mode than pinchflatting is now.

13.5st here, running dual ply tyres ~40psi rear 35 front…

i do ride in the rocky peak, and like to go fast, and apparently have no skill with line choice… and hate punctures more than slogging dual ply tyres….

your options

kill youself
kill bob
kill everyone in the whole world…

sorry wrong thread

more air
burlier tyres
live with the occasional puncture