Kenda SB8 psi?

Oh Marone
Oh Marone Posts: 261
edited April 2015 in MTB general
Just fitted some 26x2.10 SB8's and wondered how much psi I should have in them? Says 30-80psi on tyres.

Just had a quick test ride up the end of the road and back and seem to roll a bit better than my 26x2.25 nobby nics (performance) but not huge improvement. Checked the pressure and currently have 33psi in each.

With my old tyres I never used to check the pressure just go by the squeeze test.

Comments

  • bob6397
    bob6397 Posts: 218
    Depends on riding, your weight and the surface you ride them on.

    If riding on dry hardpack, go for higher pressure than wet/slidy mud conditions (the SB8s will struggle in mud - I have a pair and they are shocking on anything other than hardpack)

    I normally have my rear slightly harder than my front - normally about 5-10% higher.

    So I would run (the 7.5 stone of me) them at about 35 front 40 back.. roughly. I am not that fussy really - I am much more fussy on my road bike.

    Up to you - did they feel soft? Slow? then increase pressure. No grip/rock hard ride? Decrease pressure..
    Boardman HT Team - Hardtail
    Rose Pro-SL 2000 - Roadie
  • robertpb
    robertpb Posts: 1,866
    Never run as much as 30psi in 30 years of MTBing.

    If you're an average weight try 27psi and go up and down from there with a 2-3 psi difference back to front.
    Now where's that "Get Out of Crash Free Card"
  • bob6397
    bob6397 Posts: 218
    But have you ridden a pair of SB8's? They start squirming and get really draggy (to me at least) below 25 psi and their performance improves the higher you go until they become rocks.

    I run my Conti MKII's a bit lower (30) but the SB8's suffer massively if too low in pressure...
    Boardman HT Team - Hardtail
    Rose Pro-SL 2000 - Roadie
  • Oh Marone
    Oh Marone Posts: 261
    Only a quick blast up the road and back so far and felt a little bit soft at 33 psi, at least on the road. They seem to squish more than the nics at similar pressure. Put roughly same in SB8 going by feel and tyre was almost on the rim if I bounced on bike.

    Think the nics are rated between 25 and 50psi ish if I remember correctly, while sb8 says 30-80psi on tyre. So I am guessing that the SB8 has more supple rubber, think it has about double the thread count.

    Going out for a ride in a bit so think I will try put some more air in the tyres and see if that helps

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