Use it or loose it….I've lost it

My ‘skilz’ that is. It’s been a year since I went out on a fast night ride with my old mountainbiking mates, Holy moly did I have to mince. Did everythnig, but they had to wait at the end of every ‘section’

Although I’ve ridden my mountain bike a lot, I guess I’ve not been pushing it. And lights! they seem to have come on a bit?

So two things, cheap helmet light as I was losing sight of all the tight turns. And PSI, I had mine at 55 for mixed on/off road.

55psi ? Really ?

55psi 😯 I run mine at 25 (tubeless)

If I get over 35 it starts feeling like i’m riding on a brick.

were your skewers loose too? 😉
Pumped up knobbles for rides that are more road then off, I ride at hig pressure sometimes too, but not 55psi 😕

Cheap helmet light – there’s been loads of recent threads.

But, basically:

– Solarstorm X2 or similar if you want really cheap and don’t mind the risk of the charger blowing up and/or the battery not working very well
– Or something from the likes of neninja or smudge, like the Gloworm X2 thing, if you don’t mind spending a bit more and possibly/probably having a bit more peace of mind.

With regards to tyre pressure – 55psi sounds way too high. I’d put them down to 35psi and take it from there; perhaps even 30psi. Depends on the terrain, tyre etc.

On the flip side, your place in roadie heaven is confirmed ;o)

55psi! I’d ride like crap with that sort or pressure in my tyres! 40 feels like a solid tyre to me

55psi?

This is an elaborate troll right?

I didn’t even know you could get 55 PSI into an mtb tyre without it exploding ! Mid 30’s is max I go to.

First ride out for a while at night with mates, is always going to be a challenge. Aside from them being in the groove I imagine they know the trail well.

I’ve had 85psi in an mtb tyre. I was horribly sketchy though but fairly fast on road….

35 on the front and 40 on the rear for fast rolling types 😉

As for lights, we have a rule: Front bloke (leader) front light on only and all the pack only have front lights on, tail end Charlie has the only rear light on in the pack 😉
And call roots/rocks, you know… 😆

yeah – you never had it , you never had your bike.

55psi.

And call roots/rocks, you know…

You mean shout if there is one?
Blimey – we’d all lose our breath in the first few yards around here.
Maybe a shout for a low branch, or a big hole.

I’m always amazed by how hard some people run tyres.

oldgit – sorting those things helps, but it also takes a couple of rides to adjust. I just about got used to the dark, then the mud came and it took a couple of rides to get used to that, and in a week or two we’ll probably have ice to deal with (although frozen dirt is a highlight of the year).

There’s always a bit of an adjustment period.

Hello Carl. I remember riding offroad with you back in the day and always telling you that your tyre pressures were way too high and your suspension forks were set much too hard. Plus ca change…
Maybe change the thread title to ‘You can’t teach an old dog….’ :o)

55psi? Wow. I run mine at 30 ish 35 absolute maximum, and I’m not small.

55psi would have me off I reckon, just sketchy when you need grip.

30-35psi on a tandem here. Not much skill and not much excuse:-)

I’m still deaf in my right ear, from this summer in Les Arcs, when someone (who shall remain nameless 😉 attempted to blow an MTB tyre up to about 80psi…………

maxtorque – LOL!

I tried to fit that tyre to my bike at the end of the season. Took my a while to figure out why part of the bead wouldn’t go on properly on what looked like a brand-new tyre! 😆

I regularly race my mtb with my tyres at 65psi (max. rated pressure) and would have no qualms about going higher if the rating allows. Before the last apocalyptic mud at Eastnor I ran my Larson TTs at 65psi for the previous 3 or 4 Mayhems and had plenty of grip. The challenge events around here are around 50/50 on/off road so I reckon I’ve more to gain by minimising rolling resistance than accounting for a few hundred yards of a 30 miler where more grip would be of benefit. I just back myself to keep the bike upright when it gets a bit sketchy.
I do put less in if I’m training/at a trail centre/pottering about though.

55psi is too high!! at that kind of pressure the tyres are going to be very skittish and unpredictable. you wont get the grip and control you need over the rough stuff.
i used to run 65psi on my 1.95 panaracer mach ss tyres but they only get used for road work so thats not an issue…but for off road stuff i’ve never taken my tyre pressures above 40psi. my usual pressure ranges between 30 and 40 psi depending on which tyres ive got on the bike.
i’d start at 35 psi and take it from there…increase or decrease depending on the terrain.
just out of interest, what tyres are you using?

Funny that everyone’s shouting at the OP for 55psi, when he already stated that it was a factor he was going to address.

Ignoring the old skool PSI… 🙂

A night ride in winter is not flattering of skills! Went out for first bit of riding on the mtb in ages the other week. It being dark, trails covered in leaves and the lines having changed quite a bit since I last went out, well I hit just about every root out there and often lost the trail! Slow hard work, no flow at all.

Use it or loose it

Have you tried…

Mr F 😉

Going to have to let them down when I get to the ride, and back up again to go home.
I do a weekly 100km road night ride on it hence the pressure. Going to attach a pump to the frame tonight. Use gas you see.

I was told by someone that you could loose it if you didn’t use it. luckily I was saved just in time 😉

I was told by someone that you could loose it if you didn’t use it.

Oh for pity sake:
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/psa-loose-is-the-opposite-of-tight

😉