First time riding in the mountains. On downhill segments with big and rather sharp rocks my rear wheel is bouncing quite hard. I tried lowering tire pressure a little and that felt better but also caused a puncture. So I’m questioning my decision.
What do you suggest?
For the record: I ride a hardtail mtb with 2.5 (before lowering pressure) bar on rear tire.
by External_Mushroom115
9 Comments
this is not a tire. it’s a rock
Are you running tubeless? I run 27 psi on the front and 29 on the rear with tubeless tires on a hardtail. I could probably go lower, but I’m a big guy and worry about punctures as well.
This is definitely terrain for DH/Gravity casing if you wanna hit it hard. Any “light” casing will fail after a short period of time if you ride such surfaces without good line choice/weight distribution.
This all comes down to a lot of variables… rider weight, tubed or tubeless, hardtail or Full suspension, and riding style, local trail conditions? I’m 210, tubeless, full suspension, New England style trails and I would say a fast but not always graceful. So I’m 20 front and usually 24 rear. I go up 2 psi in each for bike park days. I’m also a larger tire 29 x 2.6 front and 27.5 x 2.4 rear. Since you are tubed and a narrower tire I would lean towards the higher side of 20psi front and rear. 27/ 29 (front and rear respectively). Then fine tune from there based on feel and weight.
I already picked out a line to by and large avoid them lol
I’m running mine at 30psi to go through that kind of chunk, but only because I can’t afford new tires when I’d inevitably get a snakebite on the side wall from bottoming out the tire on the rim.
For my hardtail I use a xc cushcore in the rear with a double down casing. I weigh about 165lb and ride my tire pressure in the low 20s front and rear. Maybe 22-25. Tire width 2.3 29r. It’s pretty rocky where I live so anything to protect my rim and a flat is ideal. Ppl complain about weight of tire inserts and heavier casing tire compounds but I think that’s all just excuses. I blame the user of the bike not the inserts or tire compounds.
No matter what tyre pressure you run a hardtail will always bounce around.
I’d suggest starting with maybe 20-25psi and take it from there.
With a tube going lower than 20 will give you risks of pinch punctures
This is always such a relative thing. Tire width, rider weight, tire casing, foam inserts and riding style all play into it. Just run them firm and keep dropping your pressure until you find the sweet spot