What tyre pressure ?

I'm a newbie to mountain biking and whilst i haven't had any punctures yet, I would like to know what the recommended pressure of tyres is. Having read a few articles etc it seems that around 40-50psi is suitable.......is this the case ???

I to am new to mountain biking but I have found that a lower tire pressure helps on mtb trails. I usually put 45 to 50 psi in the rear and 40 to 45 psi in the front for off road. But on paved or crushed stone trails with the kids I'll ride 60 psi in both. Try different pressures and use what feels good to you *just stay within the tires rating on the sidewall*

It depends on the terrain, rider weight, and sidewall recommendation. You want the pressure low enough for good traction, but high enough to prevent pinch flats and less rolling resistance.

On the same set of tires I've run:
30 psi for technical loose singletrack
45 psi for hardpack singletrack
60 psi for asphalt

__________________
"There is alot of blather here that does not float the hooey barge." boudreaux 11/22/2005

I use the max on the sidewall for asphalt and around 45 for softer loose terrain. I weigh a little more than 200lbs.

For a 200 lb rider 45 lbs is a good starting pressure for off road use. You can adjust based on traction from there. I'm assuming your running tubes, not tubeless. I weigh 170 and run 35 - 38 normally. But I've been pinch flatting when I'm close to 35 lately. VERY rough terrain, though.

You're right I run on tubes. I've run tubulars on my road bike and are very nice riding, softer and seems to have less rolling resistance than regular tires but they are more prone to flats and that gets expensive.
On MTB I haven't tried tubeless since different rims are needed, but are they much more better than regular tires? What about cost? Could you recommend a set of wheels for tubeless which aren't to expensive nor crap?

I haven't run tubeless on MTB yet. But I have riding partners who swear by them. In general you can run lower pressures as the risk of pinch flats is pretty much eliminated. You can either get tubeless specific rims and tires or convert tube type rims with Stans products.

Could any type of rim be converted to tubeless? Where can I find Stans products? Are converted rims easy reversible to tube type?

Thanks

Mate I have ridin MTB for a few years now. When I first got in the sport I sweared by lower pressure tyres on my XC rig but as I got better I started hitting rock sections harder and started to get flats on a frequent basses. So when I started to racing XC I sacrificed the extra cornering luxury of low pressure tyres and put the tyres up from 25 PSI to around about 38 give or take. You want to have slightly less in the front tyre than the back because thats the tyre that bits into the corner. The rear tyres is the tyre that is most susceptible to flats. So have about 40-45 PSI in the rear. If your just hitting some fairly smooth trail with little rocks run your tyres at 25-35 PSI. My brother runs tubeless and he is able to run extremely low pressures on rough trails he can run under 30 PSI and still be safe to flats. I also do downhill I try to run those tyres quit high to maximise roll and to stop pinch flats in rock gardens. So if your just beginning in xc I would run 38-42 PSI in front and around 45 in the rear to have good roll and to minimise flats

Hi There! I'm new in this here and read the recommended from good friends in this site. I like this!