I was fortunate enough to be neutral tech at Taupo. Most were on 28mm, the lowest pressure requested was 58psi (one of the top males), the highest 90psi. The women were requesting higher pressures on average than the males.
that is great info
What would you say the average was for m and f ?
Where the folks on hookless respecting the 72.5 limit ? (Zipp, Cadex, Enve)
Given the road quality at Taupo, I’d be surprised if anyone was in jeopardy of that limit unless a fairly heavy rider.
the one thing I have learned about tire pressure, don’t assume common sense 
2 Likes
If the road surfaces are similar to the last time I did IMNZ, then they are rough AF and 58psi seems much better than the absurd 90psi.
3 Likes
People have become blinded by the idea because you can now go low then you should. But for pros when speed is the goal then higher is still faster. Kat Matthews ran 77psi in 28mm tyres after consulting with a world tour technical advisor for that reason.
1 Like
The fastest bike splits were on less than 77
2 Likes
Average was around the lower 70s for those that I did.
4 Likes
Don’t know exactly what he did on the day by fastest mens bike split we discussed 60psi the day before
Simmonds AND Gentle or one or the other?
Fun info, but really need folks weight too for an apples to apples comparisons. 180lb male vs 90lb female would have a big difference in numbers, but could be exactly the same once weight is taken into account.
fastest bike splits were Knibb and Wilde, so two pretty light folks within their ranks and not surprised they had lower pressures.
2 Likes
Shouldn’t think there’s more than a few kilos in it c.f. the rest of the bike leg podia (though I guess Bogen given his height (6’3") is a sensible weight).
Tyre pressure recommendations vary roughly +2psi for every extra kilo of load (half system weight).
I remember doing Ironman Taupo in 2005 with 19mm tubulars running 140 psi. Lol
3 Likes
Yep, i did the 320km enduro at Taupo on 19mm tubs at 160psi on a P2SL 
Finished 2nd by 4 seconds
3 Likes
It was all NZ chipseal. On the recommendation of @cyclenutnz i just went a bit low and went with 60 front and back. Front was a Conti 5000 25C rear a 28 Vittoria Corsa and I am 64-65 kilos right now. For context I had a friend same size and weight as me who outsplit me by 5 min in Muskoka and he went with 90 and I ended up 20 seconds slower than him. I was in better shape but still.
I can’t imagine riding any more than 70 psi on those roads even at 80 - 90 kilos with 28’s
I’m racing at 70 kilo’s and have HED wheels with 28mm Vittoria’s and defer to their recommended pressure chart for the Vanquish rims. So I’m usually running around 62. Had I raced on Sunday in NZ I would have probably gone a tad lower.
Last year I posted optimal tire pressure testing results that we did on smooth roads
We also did it here on rough roads. To give you an idea of the road conditions
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3YTWNNuUqz/?e=11ea97ba-d823-47d7-9205-8126a0664968&g=5
Optimal was around 60PSI
Lowest point is optimal pressure, watts lost at higher/lower pressures shown
You see 10 and 14watt loss at pressure too high
This chart would look VERY different for Kona
X axis - pressure in bar
Y axis - lost watts from optimal
3 Likes
congrats on your new job Mark! 
1 Like
My favorite is when Michele Vesterby used to refer to her husband as her “bike-bitch”
2 Likes
Based on this I should have likely been 50 front and back at just over 64 kilos and the extra rough pavement. As it turns out the last few days I was riding in mid 40’s on 25 front, 28 rear and I swear I had my fastest rides (I rode a ~60km course 4 out of 5 days so was repeating the same circuit)…but as I did not have a power meter, I don’t know for sure. But probably worth experimenting training in the 50’s for my set up
1 Like