Tyre Pressure for Hard Pack and Polished Stone

ElliesDad

I did my first red route the other day, Follow the Dog up at Cannock Chase (see my other post), I really enjoyed it and thanks to all the advice and support from people on here.

One question I have though, I have 2.1 Panaracer Fire XC Pro's front and back which I normally run at 45 to 50 psi as most of my biking has been on cycle paths and fire roads to date, one thing I noticed on parts of FTD was that the trail was quite hard packed with polished stones which meant the bike felt quite skittish a lot of the time which is why I was probably a little nervous on these sections. Presumably dropping my tyre pressures would provide a lot more grip? I was thinking about 35 to 40 psi.

supersonic

Or even less! I run 25-30 psi (I weigh 13 stone).

bails87

Yep, those stones at cannock are very skittish in places. Lower pressure helps a lot.

ElliesDad

Thanks. I weigh just over 16 stone (but coming down steadily ) so will look at reducing the pressures next time I am up there!

Gibbo GTI

bails87 wrote:

Yep, those stones at cannock are very skittish in places. Lower pressure helps a lot.

So true and it doesn't matter if they are dry or wet!!

.blitz

ElliesDad: Maxxis Advantage are most excellent on Cannock's pebbles. Try a 2.25 60a folder on the front with a folding CrossMark on the back. I'm not much lighter than you and 25psi front 30 rear is fine.

YeehaaMcgee

Definitely drop the pressures, but also remember that there is a lot less grip available on trails, so the bike will always feel a little skittish, compared to cycle paths, or roeads etc.

ElliesDad

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Definitely drop the pressures, but also remember that there is a lot less grip available on trails, so the bike will always feel a little skittish, compared to cycle paths, or roeads etc.

Thats what I thought, but I realise that running my tyres at such high pressures won't be helping me at all.

.blitz wrote:

ElliesDad: Maxxis Advantage are most excellent on Cannock's pebbles. Try a 2.25 60a folder on the front with a folding CrossMark on the back. I'm not much lighter than you and 25psi front 30 rear is fine.

Thanks for the advice, but I've only just changed the tyres to the Panaracers and don't really want the expense of another set. Also, I was advised that the Panaracers were an ideal compromise for me as I do a lot of riding on road/cyclepaths/fire roads but also wanted something that was better than the Mountain Kings that came stock with the bike on trails.

Emphursis

Could someone explain the reason for lower PSI? I'd have thought higher is better, so the bike is more bouncy on drops. Obviously, if you go too high then you could pop something with a hard landing.

steelie600

it allows the tyre to conform to the shape of the terrain and offer more grip also the less pressure allows a smoother ride with the tyre absorbing som of the bumps before the suspension gets it.

Briggo

.blitz wrote:

ElliesDad: Maxxis Advantage are most excellent on Cannock's pebbles. Try a 2.25 60a folder on the front with a folding CrossMark on the back. I'm not much lighter than you and 25psi front 30 rear is fine.

I wouldn't suggest a particular tyre for Cannocks FTD, it's not so much the tyre but more about the surface area that's in contact, hence dropping pressure more than normal helps so much on those marble smooth like stones that are pretty spaced out and protrude above the soil surface quite high, making it harder to ride it like a normal trail.

First time I rode it I had my Rubber Queens 2.2 in black chilli and had practically zero grip, dropped the pressure from 30 to 20 and had no problems then.

Majski

Follow the dog is absolutly fine on any tyre. It's hardly a gnarfest is it!

Majski

But yeah stick 30 - 35 in and you should be fine. When you lose some more weight drop it to 30 or below. I never go below 30 for XC as it knackers me out too much

bails87

Majski wrote:

Follow the dog is absolutly fine on any tyre. It's hardly a gnarfest is it!

Depends how fast you ride though. Some tyres, especially when it's wet, can be lethal on those slippery stones. Others (Advantages are one) work very well.

Majski

bails87 wrote:

Majski wrote:

Follow the dog is absolutly fine on any tyre. It's hardly a gnarfest is it!

Depends how fast you ride though. Some tyres, especially when it's wet, can be lethal on those slippery stones. Others (Advantages are one) work very well.

True i've only ridden it on a 6 inch travel bike so not really that fast! I'll perhaps reconsider once I take the hardtail round for a spin

Ghostt

ElliesDad wrote:

One question I have though, I have 2.1 Panaracer Fire XC Pro's front and back which I normally run at 45 to 50 psi

I have the same tyres on the hardtail and have found they're best around the 30psi mark. I was running them at 40psi for a bit, but found the rear tyre especially had an often hilarious tendency to let go and skid out under braking. Feel much more controlled at 30psi. I sometimes drop them to 25psi for tricky stuff, but then again I'm a sub 10st lightweight!