You decided to start an advanture with your bike, everything is ready, jou just need to fill your tires.
Tire pressure affects traction and rolling resistance. Too high or too low pressure can, in some circumstances lead to falls and injuries. In today's blog, we will discuss various pressures for different surfaces and bikes including e-bikes.
Ideal tire pressure depends on many factors: air temperature, tire width and rider's weight. Pressure in thin tires can reach up to 8 bar, while fat tires have pressures as low as 0,4 bar, to mention some extremes. Terrain is also a very important factor, on road surfaces, lower pressure is recommended for better traction and larger footprint.
Ideal tire pressure guide
Ideal pressure will depend on upper mentioned factors. Keep up with provided values for best results.
MTB
MTB tires use lower pressures than road tires for better traction. Larger tire volume provides lower pressures and larger footprint.
Recommended pressures for a 70 kg rider:
- inner tube: 36 PSI (2,5 BAR) front / 38PSI (2,6 BAR) rear
- tubeless: 26 PSI (1,8 BAR) rear / 28PSI (1,9 BAR) rear
Weight correction: add 1PSI for every additional 5 kg
Road bike
Road bike tires are much thinner than MTB tires and under much higher pressure to reduce rolling resistance.
Recommended pressures for a 70 kg rider:
- inner tube: 90 PSI (6,2 BAR) front / 93 PSI (6,4 BAR) rear
- tubeless: 80 PSI (5,5 BAR) front / 83 PSI (5,7 BAR) rear
Weight correction: add 2 PSI for every additional 5 kg and reduce 2 PSI for every 5 kg under 70 kg
Cyclocross
Cyclocross tire pressure lies between road tires and MTB tires for ideal combination of traction and rolling resistance.
Recommended pressures for a 70 kg rider:
- inner tube: 48 PSI (3,3 BAR) front / 50PSI (3,5 BAR) rear
- tubeless: 36 PSI (2,5 BAR) front / 38PSI (2,6 BAR) rear
Weight correction: add 1 PSI for every additional 5 kg
City bike
City bike tires are very similar to cyclocross tires.
Recommended pressures for a 70 kg rider:
- inner tube: 50 PSI (3.4 BAR) front / 55 PSI (3,8 BAR) rear
- tubeless: 38 PSI (2,6 BAR) front / 40 SPI (2,7 BAR) rear
Weight correction: add 1 PSI for every additional 5 kg
Fat bikes
Fat tires use much lower pressure than other tires due to their large volume. Fat tires are designed for soft terrains such as snow, sand and mud. With higher rolling resistance and large footprint it is possible to conquer any terrain.
Recommended pressures for a 70 kg rider:
Asphalt
- inner tube: 21 PSI (1,5 BAR) front / 23 PSI (1,6 BAR) rear
- tubeless: 19 PSI (1,3 BAR) front / 21 PSI (1,4 BAR) rear
Mud/snow/sand
- inner tube: 7 PSI (0,5 BAR) front / 9 PSI (0,6 BAR) rear
- tubeless: 6 PSI (0,4 BAR) front / 7PSI (0,5 BAR) rear
Weight correction: add 1 PSI for every additional 5 kg
E-bikes
E-bikes require additional weight correction for every 5 kg above 15 kg of bike weight according to tire type.