# tubular tire pressure?



## c_warmath (Dec 22, 2007)

...to any body running tubulars, what tire pressure are you putting in and what would you use for a little more comfort? I recently purchased a set tubular wheels, glued them up and put them to 155psi, and my a$$ took more pounding than a catholic school boy. with my clinchers i run 115 and i dont feel the way i did when i got off my bike this week. any comments would be nice, thanks


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## geomoney (Oct 9, 2005)

I weigh 180, and run my tubulars at 110 psi front and rear.


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## Daren (Jul 25, 2008)

Does you rims have a max. pressure? My carbon tubie rims max. out at 125 psi. and that's what I run in them. At that pressure, they ride SOOOO much better than my aluminum clinchers at 120 psi.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*What???!!!*



c_warmath said:


> ...to any body running tubulars, what tire pressure are you putting in and what would you use for a little more comfort? I recently purchased a set tubular wheels, glued them up and put them to 155psi, and my a$$ took more pounding than a catholic school boy. with my clinchers i run 115 and i dont feel the way i did when i got off my bike this week. any comments would be nice,


Why on earth would you pump them up to 155 psi? That's for racing on the track. Tubulars run at the same, or perhaps lower pressure than clinchers. The general guidance for a good balance of comfort, traction, and rolling resistance (for tubulars or clinchers) is 90-100 psi on the front, 100-110 psi on the back. If you want more comfort, lower the pressure. Raising the pressure will not gain you anything, because the higher pressure tire will bounce off of road imperfections, slowing you down.


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2009)

c_warmath said:


> ...to any body running tubulars, what tire pressure are you putting in and what would you use for a little more comfort? I recently purchased a set tubular wheels, glued them up and put them to 155psi, and my a$$ took more pounding than a catholic school boy. with my clinchers i run 115 and i dont feel the way i did when i got off my bike this week. any comments would be nice, thanks


155 is a good way to rattle your fillings loose.

100 psi, maybe 110 and you are fine.


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## c_warmath (Dec 22, 2007)

thanks for the replies, i will put them down to what i have my clinchers, thats what i was going to try anyway, but others with tubulars are nice to hear from.


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## Spunout (Aug 12, 2002)

I'm 150 and ride tubulars from 95-110.


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## tone12 (Feb 4, 2007)

I'm 168lbs and I like to run the Vittoria EVO CX's in 21mm at 115 rear 110 front. I've experimented with more and less pressure, for me, this seems to be about the best.


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## JimP (Dec 18, 2001)

I weigh 185 and run my Conti Sprinters at 95psi.


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## Coolhand (Jul 28, 2002)

100-110psi at 176 pounds


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## chirider990 (Apr 18, 2004)

Does a lower pressure increase your chance of rolling a tubular off the rim? Would it be worth it for a crit to run a little higher like 130?


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## Guest (Mar 31, 2009)

chirider990 said:


> Does a lower pressure increase your chance of rolling a tubular off the rim? Would it be worth it for a crit to run a little higher like 130?


no

and 

no


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

chirider990 said:


> Does a lower pressure increase your chance of rolling a tubular off the rim? Would it be worth it for a crit to run a little higher like 130?


a 'little' higher? that's a ton higher. if cx racers don't roll tubulars at 25psi, road riders won't roll them at 90-100.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Take me higher*



chirider990 said:


> Does a lower pressure increase your chance of rolling a tubular off the rim? Would it be worth it for a crit to run a little higher like 130?


If we're ever racing against each other, I would recommend that YOU pump them up as high as you can. That will give ME a significant advantage when cornering, and if the race is long or on rough surfaces, I'll be a lot fresher at the finish. Works for me!


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*120*

I run almost all my road tires at 120 psi. Exceptions are one of my commuters, which has 35 mm tires, I run at 100, and when I do climbing time trials, when I'll run them around 150, as my speeds are around 5-10 mph and there is lots of standing. I'm 160-170 pounds (varies). 

I did in my stupider years try running some Tufo tubulars on narrow, light carbon rims for a 155 mile, 13,500' climbing event at near max pressure, like 180 psi. Beat the hell out of me and nearly felt like ice in the turns, by they did feel good on the climbs. Never did it again.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

Fixed said:


> I run almost all my road tires at 120 psi. Exceptions are one of my commuters, which has 35 mm tires, I run at 100, and when I do climbing time trials, when I'll run them around 150, as my speeds are around 5-10 mph and there is lots of standing. I'm 160-170 pounds (varies).
> 
> I did in my stupider years try running some Tufo tubulars on narrow, light carbon rims for a 155 mile, 13,500' climbing event at near max pressure, like 180 psi. Beat the hell out of me and nearly felt like ice in the turns, by they did feel good on the climbs. Never did it again.


120 is still high for tubulars. why ruin the ride quality and have more rolling resistance when you can safely drop 20 (or more) psi and really enjoy the ride? if i had 35mm tires, i'd be down around 80psi...
150 for climbing? you're still on 'roads', which aren't (even if they seem like it) perfectly smooth. you'd go faster w/ lower pressure, and as you've found out previously...you'd have better cornering traction.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*standing?*



cxwrench said:


> 120 is still high for tubulars. why ruin the ride quality and have more rolling resistance when you can safely drop 20 (or more) psi and really enjoy the ride? if i had 35mm tires, i'd be down around 80psi...
> 150 for climbing? you're still on 'roads', which aren't (even if they seem like it) perfectly smooth. you'd go faster w/ lower pressure, and as you've found out previously...you'd have better cornering traction.


When I'm standing a lot on a hard climb, harder tires seem to feel less "mushy" feeling. It feels like less energy is being wasted. Cornering on a climb is pretty irrelevant -- we're talking 5-10 mph here. 

I like a more confident feeling from the tires pumped to 120. Lower, they feel less predictable. I don't notice any loss of traction like you might find at 150 or more. 

A lot of this is "feel," and maybe not so scientific. 

By the way, Zipp recommends about 120 (for 150 lb + riders) for its Tangent clinchers, which I use for time trialing, and about 5 psi more for tubulars, with slightly less for rough roads or rain. 

http://www.zipp.com/accessories/detail.php?ID=72

http://www.zipp.com/accessories/detail.php?ID=51


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## Don Duende (Sep 13, 2007)

Front 90 Rear 95 psi. I weigh 148 pounds.


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## android (Nov 20, 2007)

I run tubulars and 700x25 clinchers at 6bar-front/7bar-rear and 700x23 clinchers at 7 and 8 to avoid pinch flats. I'm 180lbs. I only run my tubulars at 120-130 on the track or for TTs. Just seems silly to put more air in that that and more than that is just needlessly reducing contact patch in my opinion.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

Fixed said:


> When I'm standing a lot on a hard climb, harder tires seem to feel less "mushy" feeling. It feels like less energy is being wasted. Cornering on a climb is pretty irrelevant -- we're talking 5-10 mph here.
> 
> I like a more confident feeling from the tires pumped to 120. Lower, they feel less predictable. I don't notice any loss of traction like you might find at 150 or more.
> 
> ...


the tangent has a pretty unique profile and may need a bit more pressure to maintain that shape. i will say that those tires (the tubular) go on really straight...it's every easy to mount them pretty much perfectly. i haven't spent much time riding on them, but they seem nice. 
i weigh about 155-160 and use to ride tubulars around 120, like you. over the last few years, i've gone progressively lower on the pressure. i'm convinced that the lower pressure works best on real world roads...uphill, downhill, cornering, whatever. they don't feel mushy at all to me, but then i run my cx tubulars regularly at 25-27psi.


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## Fixed (May 12, 2005)

*important factor?*



cxwrench said:


> the tangent has a pretty unique profile and may need a bit more pressure to maintain that shape. i will say that those tires (the tubular) go on really straight...it's every easy to mount them pretty much perfectly. i haven't spent much time riding on them, but they seem nice.
> i weigh about 155-160 and use to ride tubulars around 120, like you. over the last few years, i've gone progressively lower on the pressure. i'm convinced that the lower pressure works best on real world roads...uphill, downhill, cornering, whatever. they don't feel mushy at all to me, but then i run my cx tubulars regularly at 25-27psi.


I have realized while riding the last few weeks something that may be important. Roads around here, Fresno, CA, are as good as they get. For the most part, they as smooth as glass, no potholes, and not a whole lot of debris. On 99% of the roads I ride, you could probably use 150 psi and be comfortable. There just are not many bumps. There is the rare back road here and there that varies, but not very significant.

I have been in other areas of the country, even parts of California, where this is not true at all. There are roads that will literally shake parts off your bike, and on those, I agree I'd never run the higher pressures or narrower tires.


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## C6Rider (Nov 15, 2008)

Thanks for the question and the responses. I just bought a set of Continental Sprinters. The maximum pressure is listed at 171 psi, so that is what I thought it should be filled at.
Thanks for saving my butt.


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