Have you ever seen a fellow rider letting air out of their tires during a ride and wondered why? If you’ve never paid much attention to your tire pressure off-road, or you’ve just always stuck 35psi in there out of habit, you might be interested to know that you can make pretty significant alterations to how your bike rides by messing around with the air pressure in your tires. Be warned, ‘messing around’ is an apt description, as changing your tire pressure can have negative effects as well. We’ll go over the basic benefits and risks of changing your tire pressure, so you’re prepared for your next adventure.
Benefits of low pressure:
Low tire pressure allows your tires to conform better tot he ground, giving you better traction while accelerating, braking and cornering. Lower pressure also absorbs more impacts, making for a more comfortable ride.
Downsides of low pressure:
The air you’re taking out is all that stands between your soft tire and your really hard rim (and the ground you’d be smashing it against). The likelihood of damaged sidewalls or flats increases significantly when running lower pressures.
Low tire pressure is also slower rolling on hard-packed surfaces, as more rubber touching the ground increases the friction you’re pushing against.
Benefits of high pressure:
Higher pressure is generally faster rolling (mostly on hard surfaces) and more impact resistant in rough-terrain.
Downsides of high pressure:
Your bike tends to feel harder to control with high pressures, as you have less grip and less cushioning effect of the tire conforming to the ground.
Other considerations.
Tubeless or Tubes:
One major drawback to tubed setups is the prevalence of pinch-flats when running lower pressures. Tubeless tire setups allow the rider to experiment with a much wider range of pressures
Rim width:
When running tubed or tubeless tires, rim width is an important factor to consider. Wide, high-volume tires on narrow rims tend to want to fold or ‘rollover’ on narrow rims, necessitating higher pressures for cornering stability. Additionally, tubeless setups on narrow rims run the risk of ‘burping’ air and sealant when the tire is pulled off the rim hook under high lateral loads.
Tire sidewall:
Running low pressures exposes more of the tire sidewall to impacts with objects on the ground, and requires a tougher sidewall to keep the tires shape. Low pressures aren’t recommended for very thin-walled tires.
Now that you know the basics, go try changing your tire pressure, and see what effect it has on your ride; you might be pleasantly surprised! Don’t forget that you can always drop by your local LTP Sports dealer to get set up with some dependable rubber that will make a big difference to your ride.
