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You are here: Home / Bikes and gear / Are your tires over inflated?

Are your tires over inflated?

by Victor 25 Comments

Can you imagine training for nearly a year for a ironman and finishing your swim only to find your bike in the transition area with a flat?

Bicycle pump

That is exactly what happened to quite a few triathletes at an ironman event a few years ago.

I heard a story from a customer about an ironman triathlon a few years ago. While the swim was going on many tires on bikes in the transition area were exploding because of the intense sun beating down on the tires and expanding the air inside. Every few minutes there was another loud blast. Boom, Boom. If you have never heard a high pressure road tire explode it sounds just like a shotgun blast.. Can you imagine the surreal setting of the transition area of 800 bikes?

The reason that they had this problem at all is because many of the riders likely pumped their tires to the maximum rating of the tire. Then when the air expanded and BOOM.

Tire pressure is often overlooked but critical aspect of how your bike handles.  Higher tire pressures generally have lower rolling resistance and greater resistance to pinch flats.

So why not pump your tires to the max on every ride?

The higher pressure makes the bike feel fast but may actually be slowing you down!
If the tire is too hard it will have a tendency to vibrate and bounce which increases rolling resistance and makes for an uncomfortable ride.
Where as if the tire is too soft you will increase rolling resistance and greatly increase your chances of pinch flats.

The number on the sidewall of the tire is the maximum pressure

The manufacturer always prints the max psi on the sidewall of the tire. This is not a recommended pressure it is the maximum.

So how to you determine the ideal pressure?

There is no single simple answer because there are so many variables. Rider weight, riding style, road surface, tires, the list goes on. The best way is to do some testing in other words trial and error.

Here are some basic guidelines for pumping up

  • Inflate your tires before every ride with your floor pump
  • Smaller riders 120 and less should be between 90-110 psi
  • Larger riders 170+ should be between 100-130psi
  • Front tire should be around 5psi less than rear
  • If the road or course is exceptionally smooth increase the pressure 10psi or more
  • If the road is wet drop pressures 5-10 psi
  • If you will be doing hard cornering or long descents drop pressure 5-10 psi
  • Never inflate your tires over the manufactures maximum recommended tire pressure.

What tire pressure do you run in your tires?

Need help determining what pressure range is right for you? Ask a question here.

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Filed Under: Bikes and gear, Blog Tagged With: bicycle, ironman, tempature, tire pressure, tires, Triathlon

Comments

  1. lamarshall says

    April 15, 2011 at 10:33 am

    Thank you for this! Especially interesting is the recommendation for lower pressure in the front–never heard that before.

  2. DaveKrentz says

    May 18, 2011 at 9:31 am

    Me neither. I wonder if it’s because the rear wheel takes more force from your pedalling.@lamarshall

  3. BicycleLab says

    May 18, 2011 at 10:02 am

    More weight and more side to side force. Your rear wheel has approx. 60 % of the weight so needs a little more pressure to have the same drop or tire flex. @DaveKrentz @lamarshall

  4. DaveKrentz says

    May 18, 2011 at 10:10 am

    Good to know! Thanks for the info. @BicycleLab @DaveKrentz @lamarshall

  5. h2odog says

    June 5, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    I am running Scwalbe Delta Cruisers 700x35c on a Linus Roadster 8 speed. I am 170 lbs. The PSI on the tires are 35-65. What would be ideal?

  6. BicycleLab says

    June 5, 2011 at 6:00 pm

    If you are doing mostly smooth road I would start with close to the max on the rear and slightly lower in the front. @h2odog

  7. Reasons2Ride says

    August 3, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    I am about 280lbs, I ride a Specialized CrossTrail on everything from dirt to asphalt. The Max PSI is 85lbs, this is what I fill the tires to, should it be less for me?

  8. BicycleLab says

    August 3, 2011 at 3:50 pm

    @Reasons2Ride I would just pup the tires to the max. You could try lowering slightly but you may get pinch flats. Do you get a lot of flats?

  9. Oddsox says

    August 19, 2011 at 12:54 am

    I recently bought a Kona Dr. Good with Continental City Ride tires, 32×622 and it reads 80 max. Woke up one morning and the tires were dead flat. Guessing you can’t let them sit too long or the bad roads have slowly knocked the air out. I’m 125lbs and again, ride very bad city roads.

    thanks in advance!

  10. treedawg says

    July 19, 2013 at 9:13 pm

    I had my tire explode in the sun however it wasn’t over inflation but plastic rim tape that melted causing the tube to blow out into the spoke holes. I have since switched to fabric tape

  11. Victor says

    July 31, 2013 at 9:33 am

    Weird, melting rim tape. I do like most of the cloth tapes best.

  12. Terri Lynne Johnson says

    August 17, 2016 at 5:11 pm

    My bike tire is 65 psi max. When I get to 40 psi, my floor pump begins to take a lot more effort to pump and it feels like I will pop the tire. Is this normal?

  13. Victor says

    August 17, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    Terry

    Yes, that’s normal. Some pumps are really difficult for smaller people. I strongly suggest you try a few different brands to find one that works for you. Hope this helps

  14. Jeff Schoolcraft says

    August 12, 2017 at 10:30 am

    How come my tire calls for 50-70 psi but when I begin putting the air in the tire I can barely squeeze any air in it beyond 40 psi. At 40 psi the tire feels maxed out? This is for a 700c schwinn. I feel like I’m not understanding something?

  15. Victor says

    August 24, 2017 at 1:10 pm

    Its probably your pump. Try a different pump and see if that helps

  16. Val says

    August 23, 2018 at 12:50 pm

    Hi, I’ve been having issues with my front tire lately. I changed the inner tube 3 times but it keeps having holes within a few hours and without using the bike at all, just like that. I checked the rim and the tyre and there are no defects. The pressure recommended is 75psi, and I’ve pumped it up to 60/65 cause it did seem VERY VERY hard to pump it. The back tyre recommended pressure is 50psi. Am I doing something wrong?
    Thanks

  17. Victor says

    October 9, 2018 at 5:22 pm

    Hard to say but it could be the valve or there is something very small in the tire

  18. Larry Bessert says

    July 18, 2021 at 8:05 am

    I ride a hybrid, and normally inflate tires to the max pressure shown on the tires – and ride on smooth paved surfaces only. I am 200 lbs – and ride in temps normally between 70 and 80 degrees. I average 8.5 to 9.0 mph for about a 20 mile ride each time. My QUESTION: Is there anything here that would suggest that a broken spoke or 2 (rear wheel) is the result of over-inflating the tire pressure (usually inflated at the MAX listed, but not beyond) ??? Is the wheel & spoke integrity negatively affected by my being at MAX PSI ??

  19. Victor says

    July 19, 2021 at 12:07 pm

    Larry, The broken spokes are really not related. The broken spoke problem is more likely caused by too low tension on the wheels. If the spokes are already too loose the higher pressure may lower the tension slightly but the real issue is not the tire pressure.

Trackbacks

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  2. Push it to the Max…well, maybe not! | TerryStorch.com says:
    August 10, 2011 at 8:17 am

    […] process…and I am loving it! The other day I was reading on of my favorite cycling blogs about “Are your tires over inflated”, and this statement really made me stop and think: The manufacturer always prints the max psi on […]

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