Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Tire Pressure. Who Knew?

I had been riding on Kenda Small-Block 8's for about a year, maybe more.  They served me really well last winter with their traction, and I used them last in a gravel-grinder spring race where they also performed well.
For the nicer climate and the sake of a mostly paved commute (albeit on some pretty bad roads), I switched back to my beaded Kenda KWest.  They are wider (35 compared to 32 for the 8's) and have a road friendly tread.  Alas, they were awful.
I didn't know what was going on with them until they "naturally" got softer as they lost some of their volume. 
I have almost always inflated my tires via the squeeze test.  Always liked my tires hard for less rolling resistance.  But I have learned a lesson here - my bone jarring ride (aluminum frame and awful roads) has really smoothed out quite noticeably with less tire pressure.
I had always 'heard' this to be true but now I know it is.
Here's to getting the correct tire pressure!

2 comments:

  1. On rough roads, there is an argument that says that some suspension offered by softer tires provides less resistance that harder tires (to a point). Now that I ride rougher roads than I once did, this argument seems to match my experience.

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  2. Thanks, Pondero. I guess the trick is to find that 'point' as you say...sort of the 'sweet spot' I guess.

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