Tyre Pressure

Mac said:

Hi guys!

I am wondering what you guys think about tyre pressures. The marking on my
tyre says 2.8-4.5 bar, I always used to pump the tyres up to 4.5ish, but my
dad says thats too much and could be why I was having so many problems with
my innertubes.

I just put on the rim tape that I bought the other day and went and holed an
innertube. We patched it up, put the tyre on, and pumped it up to 2.8-3 bar.

I've been for a short ride around and all seems fine.

What do you guys recommend for general road cycling.

road tyres ;-)

but if using knobblies, 4 bar sounds about right.

Mac said:

Hi guys!

I am wondering what you guys think about tyre pressures. The marking on my
tyre says 2.8-4.5 bar, I always used to pump the tyres up to 4.5ish, but my
dad says thats too much and could be why I was having so many problems with
my innertubes.

I usually run the maximum on the tyre unless I am riding on snow/ice or
off-road when I may drop the pressure for better grip.

Quoted message said:

I just put on the rim tape that I bought the other day and went and holed an
innertube. We patched it up, put the tyre on, and pumped it up to 2.8-3 bar.

Where was the hole? If you take the tube out carefully you can see
where the hole is and relate it to what part of the wheel/tyre it
corresponds to. If you used the Velox tape you bought I doubt its a
spoke created hole. Is there anything sharp sticking through the tyre
at that point? Do you have the right size inner tube? Fitting a narrow
width inner tube in a wide tyre can cause it to overstretch when
inflated. The inner tube should say the width range on the box.

Quoted message said:

I've been for a short ride around and all seems fine.

What do you guys recommend for general road cycling. My bike is a MTB type
with knobbly tyres.

Not an MTB type with knobby tyres! Get some MTB slick tyres and it will
make much more difference to your speed than pumping up the pressure.
But on road I would run the 4.5 bar maximum listed on the tyre (tandem
riders tend to go up to 50% over that). My road tyres are over 6 bar.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mac said:

Hi guys!

<useful info snipped>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Not an MTB type with knobby tyres! Get some MTB slick tyres and it will
make much more difference to your speed than pumping up the pressure. But
on road I would run the 4.5 bar maximum listed on the tyre (tandem riders
tend to go up to 50% over that). My road tyres are over 6 bar.

--
Tony

I think it was our fault that the innertube got holed. The hole wasnt near
anything sharp, I think we just caught it between the tyre and the rim,
although we did check it.

The innertube is 26x1.5-2.1 and the tyre is 26x1.95.

Thanks for your help guys, I will consider getting some proper road tyres,
maybe in the Spring. Any recommendations?

Woady

Mac said:

Thanks for your help guys, I will consider getting some proper road tyres,
maybe in the Spring. Any recommendations?

I recommend that rather than wait until the Spring you go and get
some, oooh, about now. Or perhaps sooner! ;-)

Schwalbe Marathons work very well for me, but they're not the only
game in town by any stretch of the imagination. But they'll go
anywhere short of deep mud and boulder fields okay, are good at
keeping the puncture fairy at bay and roll reasonably well.
especially if pumped to their design capacity of 100 psi.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Peter Clinch" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mac said:

Thanks for your help guys, I will consider getting some proper road
tyres, maybe in the Spring. Any recommendations?

I recommend that rather than wait until the Spring you go and get some,
oooh, about now. Or perhaps sooner! ;-)

Schwalbe Marathons work very well for me, but they're not the only game in
town by any stretch of the imagination. But they'll go anywhere short of
deep mud and boulder fields okay, are good at keeping the puncture fairy
at bay and roll reasonably well. especially if pumped to their design
capacity of 100 psi.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

How about these?

http://tinyurl.com/bvjds

leads to:

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?W=0&Manufacturer=&UberCatName=&Cat=cycle&CategoryName=Tyres -
MTB Road&ProdID=5300003751&UberCat=0

Good deal? Two tyres and two inner tubes.

Woady

Mac said:

I think it was our fault that the innertube got holed. The hole wasnt near
anything sharp, I think we just caught it between the tyre and the rim,
although we did check it.

Put some air in the tube before you fit it. Enough that the tube just
holds its shape. Then, before you pump the tyre up, just check arr
round the tyre bead, both sides, to make sure the tube isn't trapped.

Quoted message said:

The innertube is 26x1.5-2.1 and the tyre is 26x1.95.

Fine.

Quoted message said:

Thanks for your help guys, I will consider getting some proper road tyres,
maybe in the Spring. Any recommendations?

I use Schwalbe City Jets - two tyres with inner tubes were about £20
from Wiggle when I bought them.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?W=0&Manufacturer=&UberCatName=&Cat=cycle&CategoryName=Tyres
- MTB Road&ProdID=5300003751&UberCat=0

They're £23.99 now.

Quoted message said:

I use Schwalbe City Jets - two tyres with inner tubes were about £20 from
Wiggle when I bought them.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?W=0&Manufacturer=&UberCatName=&Cat=cycle&CategoryName=Tyres -
MTB Road&ProdID=5300003751&UberCat=0

They're £23.99 now.

Thanks for the info, I've got that set on my screen right now, just
contemplating whether to click the order button.

Woady

in message <[email hidden]>, Tony Raven

(') said:

Mac said:

Hi guys!

I am wondering what you guys think about tyre pressures. The marking
on my tyre says 2.8-4.5 bar, I always used to pump the tyres up to
4.5ish, but my dad says thats too much and could be why I was having
so many problems with my innertubes.

I usually run the maximum on the tyre unless I am riding on snow/ice or
off-road when I may drop the pressure for better grip.

Agree. At the maximum marked on the tyre or slightly above it
(manufacturers are being cautious, after all). The higher the pressure
the lower the rolling resistance and the easier it is to pedal. The only
exception to this rule is when cycling off-road on loose or slippery
surfaces where a larger contact patch may be needed for adequate grip.

The pressure is /not/ what's causing your punctures: you have another
problem.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What do you guys recommend for general road cycling. My bike is a MTB
type with knobbly tyres.

Not an MTB type with knobby tyres! Get some MTB slick tyres and it
will make much more difference to your speed than pumping up the
pressure. But on road I would run the 4.5 bar maximum listed on the
tyre (tandem
riders tend to go up to 50% over that). My road tyres are over 6 bar.

Agree. If you're riding on the road, you want slicks. Nokian AWS are very
good (and look very funky); other people swear by a number of other
brands of slicks. But slicks definitely - or better still, keep your
mountain bike for riding up mountains and get yourself a road bike.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
/-\ You have discovered a security flaw in a Microsoft product. You
|-| can report this issue to our security tesm. Would you like to
| | * Be completely ignored (default)?
| | * Receive a form email full of platitudes about how much we care?
\_/ * Spend hours helping us fix this problem for free?

in message <[email hidden]>, Mac ([email hidden]'😉

Quoted message said:

"Peter Clinch" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mac said:

Thanks for your help guys, I will consider getting some proper road
tyres, maybe in the Spring. Any recommendations?

I recommend that rather than wait until the Spring you go and get
some,
oooh, about now. Or perhaps sooner! ;-)

Schwalbe Marathons work very well for me, but they're not the only
game in
town by any stretch of the imagination. But they'll go anywhere short
of deep mud and boulder fields okay, are good at keeping the puncture
fairy at bay and roll reasonably well. especially if pumped to their
design capacity of 100 psi.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

How about these?

http://tinyurl.com/bvjds

leads to:

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?W=0&Manufacturer=&UberCatName=&Cat=cycle&CategoryName=Tyres

Quoted message said:

- MTB Road&ProdID=5300003751&UberCat=0

Good deal? Two tyres and two inner tubes.

These are the ones I recommend:
<URL:https://www.wiggle.co.uk/Default.aspx?ProdID=5360012945>
- as you can see, much funkier. Probably don't work any better, though...
Big Apples are also often recommended:
<URL:https://www.wiggle.co.uk/Default.aspx?ProdID=5360007847>

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

'there are no solutions, only precipitates'

Simon Brooke said:

These are the ones I recommend:
<URL:https://www.wiggle.co.uk/Default.aspx?ProdID=5360012945>
- as you can see, much funkier. Probably don't work any better, though...

I've had a pair on the commuter for about a year(ish). So far they have
done a good few miles (prob ca. 3000) and hardly look worn. There are
one or two cuts but nothing serious and no punctures.

My LBS got them on special order for me and they cost a couple of quid
less than the Wiggle price.

...d

Mac said:

How about these?

http://tinyurl.com/bvjds [Schwalbe City Jets]

[...]

Quoted message said:

Good deal? Two tyres and two inner tubes.

I like mine. I think I pump mine up to 80 PSI, and no punctures and
little wear in 800 miles or so.

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/

<Get some MTB slick tyres and it will
make much more difference to your speed......>

I ride everywhere with my semi knobblies and love the extra feeling
of security they give me (I'm 71), and since speed isn't the least bit
important to me I'm going to continue using them.

My trips, short or long, are always at a leisurely pace and usually
average around 10 mph. Just out of interest, what speed increase could
I expect if I changed to slicks?

brigodon said:

I ride everywhere with my semi knobblies and love the extra feeling
of security they give me (I'm 71), and since speed isn't the least bit
important to me I'm going to continue using them.

Unless you are riding off road on loose surfaces, knobblies actually
give you less security. To quote the Sheldon Brown bible:

"Knobby treads actually give worse traction on hard surfaces! This is
because the knobs can bend under side loads, while a smooth tread cannot.
The bending of knobs can cause discontinuities in handling; the tire
grips OK for mild cornering, but as cornering force exceeds some
critical value, the knobs start to bend and the traction suddenly goes
to Hell in a handbasket."
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#tread
There is also less rubber in contact with the road to give grip.

They don't help any in the wet either
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#hydroplaning

Quoted message said:

My trips, short or long, are always at a leisurely pace and usually
average around 10 mph. Just out of interest, what speed increase could
I expect if I changed to slicks?

Depends on the design of the knobbly tyre but a few mph for the same
effort, partly from the slick surface and partly from the higher
pressures that slicks are generally rated for.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

in message <[email hidden]>,

brigodon (') said:

<Get some MTB slick tyres and it will
make much more difference to your speed......>

I ride everywhere with my semi knobblies and love the extra feeling
of security they give me (I'm 71), and since speed isn't the least bit
important to me I'm going to continue using them.

Yes, but also and this is more important, knobblies have far less grip
and are far less safe on tarmac than slicks. This is for two important
reasons. Firstly, in theory for any given pressure any tyre puts the
same contact patch on the ground; but in practice it doesn't. A tyre
with a strong knobbly pattern puts one third to one half less rubber on
the road, because only the 'tops' of the knobbles touch. This means
you've a third to a half less grip. The second issue is 'walking'. As a
knobbly under cornering loading rotates, each 'knobble' as it comes in
contact with the ground bends sideways, causing the tyre to walk
sideways slightly, still further reducing cornering safety.

Knobblies are great in their place, which is on soft and particularly on
muddy surfaces. They are useless on hard surfaces.

Quoted message said:

My trips, short or long, are always at a leisurely pace and usually
average around 10 mph. Just out of interest, what speed increase could
I expect if I changed to slicks?

Not a lot, certainly. Half a mile per hour, perhaps. You'll also notice
improved braking, improved cornering (especially in the wet), and your
progress will be quieter.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Simon Brooke said:

Knobblies are great in their place, which is on soft and particularly on
muddy surfaces. They are useless on hard surfaces.

Speaks a man who hasn't ridden in serious dust:-)

Before living in Italy, I saw no great use for knobblies. Yes, they are
a little bit easier than touring tyres on mud and wet grass. But it's
still perfectly manageable on a road touring tyres.

In Italy, with the long hot dry summers, what in the UK (or Italian
winter) is mud becomes ultra-fine dust. That's where road tyres are
totally and utterly lost, and knobblies are really necessary.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

My trips, short or long, are always at a leisurely pace and usually
average around 10 mph. Just out of interest, what speed increase could
I expect if I changed to slicks?

Not a lot, certainly. Half a mile per hour, perhaps. You'll also notice
improved braking, improved cornering (especially in the wet), and your
progress will be quieter.

I'd think more than that for the same effort - at least on the flat.
The difference is reduced where hills are the main determing factor.

When I got my first touring bike, I found myself doing the same journey
in 30% less time while also pedalling less hard than before.

--
Nick Kew

Nick Kew said:

Simon Brooke wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Knobblies are great in their place, which is on soft and particularly on
muddy surfaces. They are useless on hard surfaces.

Quoted message said:

Speaks a man who hasn't ridden in serious dust:-)

Errr, "dust" and "hard surface" the same thing? Really?

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

brigodon said:

My trips, short or long, are always at a leisurely pace and usually
average around 10 mph. Just out of interest, what speed increase could
I expect if I changed to slicks?

If you're happy just pottering, nothing much. But you'll potter
with less effort and, if you're on a road, *more* grip and
consequently more security.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

brigodon said:

My trips, short or long, are always at a leisurely pace and usually
average around 10 mph. Just out of interest, what speed increase could
I expect if I changed to slicks?

If you're happy just pottering, nothing much. But you'll potter
with less effort and, if you're on a road, *more* grip and
consequently more security.

The big win for me when I changed to slicks was the reduction in road
noise. Much more pleasant without the ROAR.

--
Keith Willoughby http://flat222.org/keith/
"I dwelt alone in a world of moan And my soul was a stagnant tide"

Keith Willoughby said:

The big win for me when I changed to slicks was the reduction in road
noise. Much more pleasant without the ROAR.

And doesn't that knobbly squirming tread noise climbing hills make you
convinced its making it harder ;-)

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon