I was watching Dylan Johnson’s conversation with Josh Poertner about tire pressure and it led me over to the SILCA tire pressure calculator. I’ve played with the Wolf Tooth version before and the SILCA numbers seemed low. Side-by-side in the images.
Obviously, they approach calculating pressure in slightly different ways, with Wolf Tooth accounting for fill and riding temperatures while SILCA is interested in average speed.
My bike is currently in pieces, so I can’t go out and test both recommended pressures and measure power.
Has anyone done a comparison between the two and found one to be better?
by diabolis_avocado
14 Comments
haven’t tried Silca, but Wolf Tooth tire pressure calculator is working out pretty well for me, on hardtail, full suspension, 29er rigid gravel, w/ 27.5 & 29er
I use Silca and it’s been good for me on gravel. I use Sram for MTB. Silca did seem low at first, but I found them to be spot on after a couple of rides.
I’ve been using SRAM’s for some reason. I tried Wolf tooth’s but haven’t stuck to it. I need to give silca’s a go 🤣
https://axs.sram.com/guides/tire/pressure
If you listen to Josh Poertner’s interview on PathLessPedaled, he’s very clear that these numbers are just a starting point. The calculators aren’t the end all be all, you have to experiment. If anything, I would assume both numbers are conservative and high.
Silca is usually dead on or slightly high for me.
tire pressure a real art+science game- condition and season of your local roads/trails, personal preferences, fitness, bike frame, seatpost, saddle, handlebars, etc…are part of a highly complex matrix so these are starting points for sure
I like both… wolf tooth seems better and the temp differential thing works. I’ve been riding tires about 10 minutes before re checking pressures so paying close attention.
Wolf Tooth has been better for MTB, and I have tires/wheel sets that the same tire on the same rim measure differently, so that niceto have.
Silca is my baseline for gravel pressures
I tend to go for slightly overripe orange feel on my tires
Using either of these as gospel means you’re not really riding.
I like silca. Just seems right based on my own uses. But that’s just me
WOLFTOOTH 💯
If you can tell the difference between 3 psi, your doing better then me!
Also have a look at the Rene Herse calculator. It has a high and low recommendation they say they have speed tested on their tires. The site has several interesting tire pressure and tire size articles, as well.