Do you know there is a thing in your bike that is invisible but as essential as the bike itself? Do you get it? Yeah, spilling the beans is the proper bike tire pressure essential for your ride.
If you have to go through a situation when you felt butterflies in your stomach when your bike got punctured, and at that point, you realized how vital the bitterer pressure is, then this article is for you.
Furthermore, it is also essential to know how crucial the tire pressure is if you are a novice biker because keeping you rolling tire pressure is a vital component of your bike.
The vehicle you are using may be a road, mountain gravel, or cyclocross, but the pressure significantly impacts your rolling regardless of the type. So you should know the type of vehicle and what will be the bike tire pressure to avoid any inconvenience.
What is Proper Bike Tire Pressure?
The proper tire pressure forces roll quickly and smoothly and avoid flats. It differs from bike to bike, and it is mentioned on the sidewall.
- For Road bikes, it is 80 to 130 psi
- For Mountain Bike tires, 25 to 35 psi
- For Hybrid Bike tires, it is 40 to 70 psi
Furthermore, “Recommended tire pressure is about the intended use and the best range for that use,” says tire expert Johs Huseby, WTB’s Director of increasing duct Vision. “You need to find the sweet spot for a tire and figure out where the high pressure doesn’t have any risk of blowing off the rim, and the low pressure won’t burp or rip off the rim.”
Factors Affect Bike Tire Pressure.
Different bikes have different required tire pressure. For instance, if you talk about a kid bike, the required psi would be different when discussing a hybrid bike. A hybrid bike requires inflating about 50- 70 psi, whereas a child’s bike tire requires 20- to 40 psi. Following are the various factors that affect a bike’s tire pressure.
- Temperature
- Weight of Rider
- Usage Frequency
- Terrain
Weight of Rider
Firstly we will talk about the rider’s weight, which has great importance. More tire pressure is required for heavy riders. For example, if a 165 pounds rider uses 100 psi on his bike, then a person with 200 pounds will approximately use 120 psi on his road bike.
Temperature
The tire pressure is directly proportional to the temperature, i.e., pressure drops to 2 psi, the temperature also drops two degrees.
In hot weather, taking care of the tire’s temperature is crucial to prevent the bursting of the tire.
Usage Frequency of tire
The frequency of your vehicle usage is also a factor that affects tire pressure. If you don’t use it over time, it will lose air. It is because tires are porous and allow the air to escape.
Therefore, you should regularly check your bike’s tire pressure to avoid inconvenience.
Terrain
Have you ever gotten frustrated riding on a bumpy surface? Yeah, on rough terrain, high vibrations slow you down, and due to these poor conditions of surfaces, tire pressure decreases as a result.
How to Check Bike Tire Pressure
After you know the factors and required psi for your tire, the next step is to know how to inflate your tire correctly. Checking tire pressure can be done by the following methods.
- Manually
- Using a gauge
Manual check of tire pressure
If you don’t have a gauge, there is no need to be worried. It is not rocket science because you can quickly check the tire pressure. Even a layperson can do this simply by feeling the pressure on tires by hand.
- For road bikes, squeeze the tire, then inflate it until it gets stopped to squeeze more.
- For Mountain bikes, by looking from a top view, you can easily spot any protruding. If it is more than 2mm, then there is a need to inflate the tires.
- After inflating, check Mountain bike tires for a squeezing test. If they are too complicated and there is no room for squeezing, let some air come out because mountain bikes should not have much pressure.
By Gauge
The familiar and most straightforward way to check the tire pressure is using a gauge. To do this
- First of all, check the sidewall for recommended tire pressure. All bikes tires have a specific pressure embossed on them. The purpose of these precise tire pressures is to avoid any accident. It prevents overfilling or underfilling of air into the tube.
- Then attach the tire gauge to the valve and press down to know the tire pressure which will appear on the gauge.
- Now fill up according to your need and cruise where you want.
FAQs related to the bike tire pressure
What is normal bike tire pressure?
A-1 For a regular bike tire, the standard psi should be between 90 and 120 psi. On the other hand, Mountain bikes require lower psi.
At which PSI will a bike tire explode?
A-2 It depends on the weather and bike tire pressure. In typical weather, the chance of explosion is rare, but in hot weather, the temperature inside the tire increases about 50 degrees, increasing tire pressure by 5 psi. If anyone reaches the limit of 200 psi, the result will be a tire explosion.
Conclusion
In concluding the whole talk, I would say the main thing you should know is the sweet spot of your bike tire pressure. If you know, then there is no need to be upset, all your performance and cruising will be fun, and after reading this article, you know what the bike tire pressure is and how to manage it properly.