Also, a tire with lower pressure deflects less on bumpy roads, meaning it doesn’t bounce around as much on a micro-scale.
Without getting too deep into the science (read here for more), a wider tire presents a wider, but shorter contact patch with the ground-this is a good thing. Both theories assumed that you want only a tiny bit of something (rubber on the ground, rubber facing the air) and that less is always more no matter what. The other thinking was that a thinner tire was faster because it presented a smaller profile to the wind and ground. The idea in the past was that because an under-inflated tire was slow and mushy, the more air the better. Tubular tires were also great for hurting your hands, making a huge mess, and forcing you into buying a special set of race wheels, but that’s neither here nor there. Tubular tires were considered great because you could go super thin, super high-pressure, and best yet, if you got a flat you were completely screwed and could throw your bike into a lava field. The old school way of thinking was, get the thinnest tire you can (remember 19c tires?), blast it up to max (220psi anyone?), and double check your dental insurance deductible because you’ll probably lose some teeth bouncing around on that rough road. Sure, those pre-ride blowouts used to happen much more than they do now, but that’s mostly because today we know a lot more about tires and rolling resistance and aerodynamics. (Side note: if you’re not sure how to change a flat tire, check out our how-to article here.) If the question is, “What bike tire pressure should I run?” The answer is not that pressure. It’s the sound of a blown race, the sound of a cool, calm, relaxed start to someone’s big day being slammed suddenly into a panicked morning in hell, trying to find a tube, a pump, and the right bike tire psi.
Or sometimes it comes later in the morning of an iron-distance race, as the sun starts to heat everything up. If you’ve done tris for any amount of time, you’ve heard that horrible sound in transition during the early hours before the start of a race. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!
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