Toolbox: how to work towards lower tire pressure

Twenty years ago the standard tire width choice for road racing was 19C, narrow, and pumped as hard as possible. Racing on 140psi wasn’t uncommon. The harder the tire, the thinking went, the less likely of getting a pinch flat. Recent research has shown that this isn’t the case. In the last ten years thinking on tire choice and pressure is one of the areas in which the sport has changed the most. The wider tire, at a lower pressure, is faster, more comfortable and less fatiguing. An all around better setup. Are you game to try?

Changing your mind - literally

While we know scientifically that moving away from narrow and hard is the way to go, how that tire and pressure combination actually feels when riding is a real barrier to change. We associate the sensation of riding on a hard and narrow tire with going fast. Breaking that association is key to allowing you to move to a wider, lower pressure, and ultimately, faster setup. This means that the move towards a faster setup has to be gradual.

My own experience has been one of slow change and experimentation. To give you a sense of how things have changed I was a rider that raced on a 140psi, 19c (narrow), setup. My last road races I was doing on a 28C tire at 55psi. And now I am riding my road bike (no racing lately, but they don’t feel one bit slower) setup with 32C tires pumped to 38psi.

When I first listened to the Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Rethinking Road Bike Tire Sizes and Pressures podcast I was headed to a training camp in the hills outside of Palo Alto soon after. And it was there, where I could test the bike’s handling on some of the fast descents, that I decided to start experimenting with my tire pressure.

I was running 28C tires at the time and would typically ride at 90-100psi. Over the course of the camp I lowered my tire pressure each day - 80psi, 75psi, 70psi, 60psi, 55psi, 50psi. This slow process allowed me to get used to the feeling of the tire moving and squishing a bit underneath me. A very foreign sensation - the one that our mind associates with going slow. At first the lower pressure felt odd, but then as I got used to it each lower pressure felt better, until I reached 50psi. That’s when I settled on 55psi as the optimal setup for me on those tires.

Now, five years later, that 55psi tire feels like a rock. I can’t ride tires that hard anymore. And now the hard tire actually feels slower. I also can’t ride narrow tires, I love my 32C road tires and my 40C gravel setup. The bigger volume, along with running the tires tubeless, allows for the lower pressure and helps with handling and comfort. Most importantly I don’t think they are one bit slower.

A few things to consider:

A digital pressure gauge

If you do decide to go down the low pressure path the one thing you will need - which I only recently started using - is a digital pressure gauge. Your bike pump, which still typically has a gauge that goes up to 180psi, is not sensitive enough to really fine tune your setup.

Wider tires, and each one is different

When lowering your pressure wider is better. So lower pressures might be something to experiment with when you need to get new tires. Go a size up when you get them.

It is also important to understand that there is no “optimal” low pressure setup. Each tire performs differently based on rider weight and the rim it is on. Experimentation will be key to figuring out where your tire rides best.

Front and rear pressures

I used to always run my front and rear tires at the same pressure. But as I have gone lower in pressure I have started to put a couple of extra psi into the front. I find I like how it makes the front handle. Too low a pressure and I find the tire tends to pull a bit. I do however really like the soft rear tire.

Getting used to the sensations

Judging if you have the right tire pressue at first is challenging. You first need to get used to how your tire feels and handles with less pressure. It might even be necessary to get used to the odd sensation of bottoming out the tire against the rim once in a while! Although this is should only happen when running tubeless.

And for some added insight on how low to go here is a quick video with Nino Schurter the mountain bike world champion. His test is making sure he can push the tire all the way to the rim!

Putting on some wider tires and lowering that pressure is sure to improve your riding experience. Give it a shot!