Recommended Vs max tyre pressure?

Mark Thompson said:

For their UltraGatorskins, Continental say their max inflation is 120psi,
yet the recommended pressure is 95psi.

What's the reason for the difference? I always assumed pumping them up to
the maximum was best.

I would guess that one is the maximum which they feel the tyre can safely
hold, the other is the one that they feel gives the best compromise of
comfort, grip, and rolling resistance under 'typical' conditions. Both are
probably best treated only as rough guidelines.

As usual, Sheldon has some useful information:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure

Anthony

Hunter S Thompson at one point inflates the tyres on a massive wallowing
American monster-car up to four times the recommended maximum: 'they felt
like teak, and in truth I was a little nervous, but it did stop the thing
digging in on corners.' He does say, though, that it's a technique probably
best reserved for hire cars...
"Anthony Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Mark Thompson said:

For their UltraGatorskins, Continental say their max inflation is 120psi,
yet the recommended pressure is 95psi.

What's the reason for the difference? I always assumed pumping them up
to
the maximum was best.

I would guess that one is the maximum which they feel the tyre can safely
hold, the other is the one that they feel gives the best compromise of
comfort, grip, and rolling resistance under 'typical' conditions. Both are
probably best treated only as rough guidelines.

As usual, Sheldon has some useful information:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure

Anthony

Mark Thompson said:

For their UltraGatorskins, Continental say their max inflation is
120psi, yet the recommended pressure is 95psi.

What's the reason for the difference? I always assumed pumping them
up to the maximum was best.

The max might provide the lowest rolling resistance on the smoothest roads,
or might be best for heavy riders generally, but the recommended pressure
should be better for average riders on average roads.

~PB

In article <[email hidden]>,
"Pete Biggs" <[email hidden]> writes:
|> Mark Thompson wrote:
|> > For their UltraGatorskins, Continental say their max inflation is
|> > 120psi, yet the recommended pressure is 95psi.
|> >
|> > What's the reason for the difference? I always assumed pumping them
|> > up to the maximum was best.
|>
|> The max might provide the lowest rolling resistance on the smoothest roads,
|> or might be best for heavy riders generally, but the recommended pressure
|> should be better for average riders on average roads.

For wider tyres, you often need to pump them up to 1.5x the maximum
for best use on the road. But the wider the tyre, the wider the
range of pressures for which it is usable. A standard roadster tyre
(1 5/8"😉 is OK from 25 psi to 75, and generally best from 35 to 60;
all figures are very rough.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.