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So if you were say 78kg fully kitted and running a set of 30/32mm Specialized Roubaix Pro 2bliss set up tubeless on 22.5mm internal width rims on your gnarmac cyclocross commuter bike and were riding 95% tarmac of varying standards. What tyre pressures would you go for?
I've started with 70psi front and 75psi rear.
Does it feel too hard or too soft? Adjust as necessary
Lower is better. Until it isn't.
I ran the same tyres for a while on my Diverge. I think I was closer to 60psi and similar weight.
82kg here, running 25c tyres at 80psi! Suggest you could go a lot lower, think my commuter with 32s is at 50psi...
I'll see how it goes tonight on the ride home and take those suggestions into consideration.
what does it say on the printed recommendations on the tyre itself ?? they all have them, start at the middle of the range and go from there
45-90psi
Hmmm..... I've got 28's on my road bike, which is not totally alien to a bit of gentle gravel (gnarmac?) - and Surrey roads are particularly shite currently.
I hadn't checked pressures for a while, they felt ok to me and the bike rode well and comfortably on these potholed offerings. I just checked them for some reason before yesterday's run and they'd gone down to about 60 ..... so even allowing for a bit of leakage since ridden the weekend before possibly around 65-70. I pumped them up to 85F/90R (I'm 86kg) - and they felt all shitty and skittish in comparison, particularly on the early morning wetter bits after overnight rain.
So another vote for as low as possible before it gets too low.
I subscribe to the Frank Berto method.
Weigh the load on each wheel and then adjust the pressure to suit.
If you have a set of scales, you can sit one end of the bike on the scales and the other on a block of wood and then determine the front wheel and rear wheel loads.
Then follow the chart on this link to get to a good pressure balance.
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/tire-pressure-take-home/
I used to stick 110psi front and rear assuming that high pressure would be ideal, properly balanced pressure is actually much better for handling and comfort.
I have exactly the same tyres as the op, I'm heavier, I have them around 70-80. They don't absorb bumps as well as the Schwalbe equivalent (G-One speed), so probably should be run a bit softer. Can't explain why this is, but when going fast down a poorly surface road can feel far more vibrations through the forks.
Weigh the load on each wheel and then adjust the pressure to suit.
If you have a set of scales, you can sit one end of the bike on the scales and the other on a block of wood and then determine the front wheel and rear wheel loads
People go through that much faff?! 😆
32mm tyres, 70kg, 55psi front 60psi rear +/- 10%ish
People go through that much faff?!
I do it at the bottom of every hill then adjust the pressures to suit that particular climb. It's a faff for sure, but when Strava standings are at stake, it's worth every minute spent.
ps: the other thing people never mention is pressure gauge accuracy. My old Blackburn used to over-read by about 10 psi compared to my other track pump based on the readings from a digital gauge. Since it broke, I've had to recalibrate my 'usual' tyre pressures on all my bikes - 60psi in 'old pressure money' is closer to 50psi. So other people's 80psi may not be the same as your own.