Correct inflation pressure for old road bike tires?



dan8819

New Member
Jun 17, 2012
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Hello, I have an old Fuji road bike that I got a garage sale a while back. It's probably from the 70s or 80s. This summer, I've been trying to fix it up into good condition for some longer-than-usual rides (maybe 10+ miles, as opposed to just 4 or so). The old tires (27 x 1/8, hooked rim) were very worn, so I took the bike to a shop where they replaced them with new ones (32-630, 27 x 11/4 to fit schwinn s-6 or k-2 tubular rim).

The new tires say "inflate to 90 psi", which is what I was planning on doing until one of the bike mechanics told me that I was running them way too high. He said the tires and tubes could handle that 90 psi pressure, but that my rims (which are the original aluminum ones I think) couldn't take 90 psi. Instead, he advised that I keep the tires at 60-65 psi. I tried his recommendation, but the tires definitely seemed to bulging out a lot where they contacted the road as I rode it around. I feel like the tires should be more inflated, but I don't want to damage the wheels.

So, I thought I'd get some advice about the matter. I'm 165 lbs, and my rides won't be too serious for now at least. Just riding around mainly on some wide walking/bike paths we have in the city. There may be a few mile-long stretches of sidewalk, however. Any advice is very much appreciated!
 
Suggest you try 80 psi front and rear. Should be plenty for 32mm tires and your 165 lbs. Not sure why your mechanic was worried about the rims not being able to handle 90 psi, unless he saw that the rim sidewalls were worn from braking. The old alloy rims I rode back then were softer than the thin aluminum rims of today, but they ought to be able to take 90 psi.
 
Originally Posted by dan8819 .

I tried his recommendation, but the tires definitely seemed to bulging out a lot where they contacted the road as I rode it around. I feel like the tires should be more inflated, but I don't want to damage the wheels.
You may be more likely to damage the rim because the tire bottomed out at the lower pressure. But yup, unless the rim is so worn out 80psi shouldn't be a problem.