my weight on road bike wheels

funkydisciple
funkydisciple Posts: 65
edited July 2011 in Road beginners
I got my new Claud Butler Elite road bike today and i was a little concerned that everytime i sit on the bike the back wheel goes down slightly. is a the maximum pressure it should be at but concerned that it may affect my performance when i'm riding the bike.......should i be concerned? I weigh in at 16 stone (unfortunately).

thanks :)

Comments

  • fat lad in lycra
    fat lad in lycra Posts: 93
    im 19st 7lb. i run 110psi no probs
  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    Is the pressure as stated on the tire for the max? If so, you can almost ignore it, and put more in. What psi are you running it?

    I think your wheels will be fine, pop more air in and give it a test! Your weight should not be a hinderance in anyway.
    My London Road
  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    funkydisciple wrote:
    I got my new Claud Butler Elite road bike today and i was a little concerned that everytime i sit on the bike the back wheel goes down slightly. is a the maximum pressure it should be at but concerned that it may affect my performance when i'm riding the bike.......should i be concerned? I weigh in at 16 stone (unfortunately).

    thanks :)

    In a word, no.[/u]
  • sharky1029
    sharky1029 Posts: 188
    If you feel you need more pressure many tyres will go into the region of 140-150 PSI with some panaracers and i think ultremos go to 140 too.

    I wouldn't recomomend going to far over the max pressures though as I have had a tyre pop after pumping it up to 130 with a 110 max as my pumps pressure gauge was wrong.

    Tyres will squish slightly under rider weight at all times and I have seen some websites that twll you what sort of pressures you should be riding with but can't name them unfortunatly.
  • mattward1979
    mattward1979 Posts: 692
    Im 16.5, and run 115 rear 105 front, and never had a problem that was related to my weight on the bike.

    (Apart from being slow on hills =P )
    exercise.png
  • Barteos
    Barteos Posts: 657
    http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf
  • rogerthecat
    rogerthecat Posts: 669
    Nice link, however my understanding is that if a 83kg rider on a 7kg race bike with 23mm tires should have 80psi on front with 120 psi on rear ish.

    anyone else get that?
  • alwaystoohot
    alwaystoohot Posts: 252
    Interesting article however note the last comment: 'For heavy riders/bikes, narrow tires require very high inflation pressures, and wide tires are a better choice.'

    so big lads (I'm just shy of 17 stone) can do themselves a favour in terms of comfort and puncture resistence by running slightly wider tyres. Common sense really but what I learnt is I'm under inflating by a good 10-15psi on the rear tyre which wont be good for the sidewalls.
    'I started with nothing and still have most of it left.'
  • Brimstone Magpie
    Brimstone Magpie Posts: 11
    Great - this has answered a question that I've had for a few days. Similar weight to those mentioned and tend to pile far too much junk in my pannier (I ride about with a track pump if I'm going far from base), and have noticed that my back wheel noticeably squishes despite being at max psi. I'll go stick some more air in it and pray it doesn't pop.

    However, this is on a hybrid, with tyres at 80 psi. When I rode a bike with thin tyres (same weight and overburdened pannier), usually running about 115 psi, I never noticed the back tyre squishing. Squishing is not the right word, is it? :)
  • cloggsy
    cloggsy Posts: 243
    I run 110psi front and rear!
  • funkydisciple
    funkydisciple Posts: 65
    thanks guys...i'll try inflating it to 120-130psi and see how that goes. much appreciated :)

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