How much do you pump your tyres?

.ak

So I finally got around to getting a working floor pump and gave my tyres their first proper pumping since I got the bike.

I noticed I could only really get around 100psi into them, not sure if that's just my poor technique or if they're only rated for that amount (there's nothing on the tube or tyre rim to say what they're rated for!)

Anyway, they're very hard... And I mean very! I cycled to work today and thought I was going to lose a tooth I had so much vibration. Is that normal? Over a flat surface I defo feel a bit faster, but it really picks up all the imperfections on the road... and I cycle with my suspension on! Have I over pumped the tyres?

Do you keep yours at that sort of psi?

By the way my wheels are 29" MTB.

Raam

100psi for an MTB sounds like too much. Max should be written on tyre sidewall.

Just spotted that you have nothing on the sidewall. Can you try taking a very careful look? Sometimes they are hard to see.

Raam

I would put maybe 50/60 in an MTB tyre if only using the road, but it is a while since I have used mine on the road.

Colonel Panic

100 PSI is way too much for MTB tyres. Plus, if you commuted on knobbly MTB tyres at that pressure, that's probably where some of the vibration comes from!

I put 100 PSI in 28c tyres, and 30 - 50 PSI in my MTB tyres depending on the state of the terrain.

arybvtcw0eolkf

If you can't find the recommended pressures on the tire wall then I'd suggest googling the manufacturers recommended pressures for an MBT.

I run my road bike at 100-110 psi, and when I had mountain bikes I'd run half that on the road.

Maidhci

Should be stated on the sidewall of the tyre - for road bike usually 100 -130psi. For hybrid, usually 50 - 85psi, do not know what the pressure for MTB should be, I would imagine somewhere in same bracket as hybrid, but 100psi would be away too much. I would imagine it is stated on the sidewall of the tyre, but again, not familiar with MTBs or MTB tyres.

Lemag

I think that the stated recommended maximum for the tyres on my mtb is about 55. For dry conditions road cycling I would always tend to have my tyres pumped up to around the recommended maximum.

Chips Lovell

Yes, sounds like way too much. Some googling suggests that 50 is the most you should be putting in there. Over-inflation risks a blowout. And you really don't want that.

shaka

Inflate my MTB to 60 when cycling/walking the dog on the road but even then I know I'm chancing it, when I head up the ballyhouras o drop it to just below 50

bazermc

Jaysus a 100 PSI in MTB tyres, quick stand back before they explode

Mr. Grieves

As others have said, your tires are probably rated at 50-60 psi max, so I'd definitely let some air out. There's a chance your rims aren't rated for that pressure either (I have a pair of light rims which are only rated to 35 psi!).

Cookie_Monster

110 psi in the road bike
40 in the 29" mtb

seamus

Yeah, 100 is way too much. Even the manufacturer's maximum can be a bit too much, I've had brand new MTB tyre sidewalls tear on me when pumped up to the max pressure (combination of narrow MTB rims and fat MTB tyres).

If in doubt, keep it at 50 or below, but for actual MTBing, most riders run at <= 40psi.

.ak

Ha, I thought as much. Yeah just checked and nothing on the tyre wall.

Would I google the wheel manufacture or the bike manufacutre for the max?

Luckily I just had a 15 min commute to work and nothing happened, but I guess the worst case scenario is the tubes could burst?

Rambling Man

.ak wrote: »

Ha, I thought as much. Yeah just checked and nothing on the tyre wall.

Would I google the wheel manufacture or the bike manufacutre for the max?

Luckily I just had a 15 min commute to work and nothing happened, but I guess the worst case scenario is the tubes could burst?

Chips Lovell

Worst case scenario is the rims blowing out.

seamus

.ak wrote: »

Ha, I thought as much. Yeah just checked and nothing on the tyre wall.

Would I google the wheel manufacture or the bike manufacutre for the max?

Luckily I just had a 15 min commute to work and nothing happened, but I guess the worst case scenario is the tubes could burst?

Worst case scenario is that the rim splits while you're cycling along, causing the steel to catch on the front fork leg, stopping the wheel dead suddenly and launching you into oncoming traffic.

Most likely though the sidewall of the tyre will pop, leaving you to have to call a taxi to get home, but could cause you to come off if you're cycling along. You'll also have to fork out for a new tyre, but given that there's nothing written on the sidewall, I'm going to guess they're not exactly premium brand tyres.

.ak

Lucky me. Just ran down to the basement to let out the air, dreading the site of torn rubber and metal.

.ak

seamus wrote: »

Worst case scenario is that the rim splits while you're cycling along, causing the steel to catch on the front fork leg, stopping the wheel dead suddenly and launching you into oncoming traffic.

Most likely though the sidewall of the tyre will pop, leaving you to have to call a taxi to get home, but could cause you to come off if you're cycling along. You'll also have to fork out for a new tyre, but given that there's nothing written on the sidewall, I'm going to guess they're not exactly premium brand tyres.

I thought they were decent. Then again, they survived being pumped past twice their rating, so maybe they're decent? :P

They're the ones that came with this. Schwalbe Rapid Rob, 29x2.25

seamus

Yeah, they should be good tyres then. Maybe you just can't see the rating because the tyres are black and so is the writing?

Pressure range of 26-54psi according to the Schwalbe website

.ak

seamus wrote: »

Yeah, they should be good tyres then. Maybe you just can't see the rating because the tyres are black and so is the writing?

Pressure range of 26-54psi according to the Schwalbe website

Yeah had to google it. Maybe I'm just going blind.... :cool:

Carawaystick

I have slick mtb tyres, that've a 6 bar rating,
I usually round up a bit when I'm pumping them too. I definitely feels easier and faster at 6 bar compared to 5bar

The bumps you feel are cos the tyres are hard, if you didn't feel em, that would be energy lost heating the tyre!

No Pants

I have a hardtail MTB with commuting 2.3" Michelins on it rather than off-road tyres. I run them at 60psi.

Road bike has 23mm Schwalbes that I run at 130psi. Will be changing to Conti GP4000s IIs soon and dropping 15 - 20psi.