artmichalek said:
On rough road surfaces, a lower pressure gives lower resistance. If you think of the bumps on the road as little hills, a highly inflated tire has to ride up over them, while they just sink into a softer one. Even on what you could consider a smooth road, the rolling resistance on a 23mm tire stops going down at about 120psi.davef said:
Agree with ArtM reply. I'd say a "rough" road surface is any where you feel buzzing or surface imperfections through the handlebars...basically, any surface other than very smooth asphalt paving. We have a lot of tar-and-gravel and asphalt roads that certainly fit the category where 100-105 psi works better, for my 170 lbs anyway.davef said:
I weigh 125 lbs and race (michelin pro race, 23) with 120 psi for road races, crits, whatever, although I have been known to push it up to about 130 for a short TT, mainly for psychological reasons. For training I use whatever tires are handy - Specialized, Michelin, leftover racing tires, whatever - and although I pump them up to 120, I don't top them up every day and do a lot of riding on them at around 100-110 without any problems at all. Better tires with high thread counts will perform well at the lower pressures without causing any significant rolling resistance penalty (some would say they are actually faster at slightly lower pressures). If you find that you're getting pinch flats, then you'll need to go to a higher pressure, and at 200 lbs I would guess that might be a concern at 100 psi or so. Most tires will handle 140 psi without any problem. The problems usually come from how the tire fits on the rim, and that seems to vary from tire to tire and rim to rim. It is most definitely possible to roll a foldable clincher off the rim in a criterium so that the tube blows, and it is not a pretty sight.tbuc said:
