Paul Sherwin indicated during yesterdays TOC that pros ride with around 110 PSI when the roads are dry and around 75 PSI when they are wet. Is he doing some weird metric calculation? I figured most pros road tubies. I generally put around 160 PSI in my Conti Competitions and drop it down to 145 when it is wet. Even with my Michelin clinchers, I have never taken them below 100 PSI. Maybe I need to retest riding with lower pressure; however, I have always felt fine with higher pressure, even if it is a bit harsh of a ride. I do take my mtb tubeless tires down to 30psi though. Does anyone intentionally ride with 75 PSI out there on their road bikes?
I run about 95-100 psi in the dry and 65-85 in the rain–the low side of that for crits. In one particularly greasy race (that they ended up canceling due to the large number of Californians on the start list) I did my warm-up laps on about 50 psi. I’m in the 61 kg range though, so Sherwin’s comments seem about right for most guys.
I love to train at 90 or 100 psi. VERY comfortable on 700x23s. Why beat the hell out of your ass at TT race pressures during training?
Have you ever actually looked a Michelin’s own tire pressure recommendations for their clincher tires? Depends on how much you weight, but I run my PR3s at about 95 front and 100 rear (dry) and bleed off a little if wet (157-163 lbs) to start (I run latex tubes, so probably loose 1-2 psi over 4 hours anyway 
I have reviewed the tire pressure recomendations and have never seen anything near the 75 PSI low end on any road tire. I like riding at the high end as I personally have found that I get more flats when I ride at the low end of the range and I hve never noticed any perceptible difference in ride.
When running at that low of pressure, do you notice any difference in the ride characteristics as far as speed to power ratio is concerned.
When running at that low of pressure, do you notice any difference in the ride characteristics as far as speed to power ratio is concerned.
Yeah, if I go below about 75 psi, it’s a little slower–but not much. Below 50 and it’s noticeably slower. At my size, doing to pseudo-rigorous testing, I’ve never been able to tell a difference between 85 and 125–except that 85 is a lot more comfortable.
???
You don’t notice any difference in ride between 90 and 110 psi? Probably why you have your tubies up that high as well. If you are an aggressive bike handler or do many crits, I guarantee you will notice. I would think on a pure comfort level if you are mostly a triathlete you could tell, but maybe not.
At any rate, you are likely giving up a few watts by running tires too firm on most NA road surfaces as well.
You have to live hard to be hard.
Indeed!
You must have a very hard crotch!! 
Much harder than mine.
I will let the ST Tire and Rubber Police take over from here, but the pressure that you are riding at is less than optimal and must deliver a very harsh ride!
I will let the ST Tire and Rubber Police take over from here …
Oh now that is funny … where is Tom A.?
I always ride with my tires at ~117/120 with mich Krylion front and PR2 rear I’m around 165 lbs
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I will let the ST Tire and Rubber Police take over from here …
Oh now that is funny … where is Tom A.?
I’m right here
Nothing to see here…keep it moving. Move along…Mr. Sherwin has things well in hand
BTW, my “rules” of tire pressure are:
Just because you CAN pump tires up to really high pressures, it doesn’t mean you SHOULD.It’s far better to err on the side of too little pressure than too much.
there is no reason why tubulars should be pumped to a higher psi than clinchers.
aside from that, a likely reason why you need higher psi is that maybe you weigh 50% more than the average pro cyclist?
No dispute. I have never raced crits and have only been doing Tri’s over many many years and mostly on the east coast, so the roads are relatively nice and generally straight. I have seen the data that riding at high PSI can have a negative effect on power; and it may be all pyschological but if just feels like my tires roll better at higher psi. When I train I generally run around 105 Psi on my clinchers. Once I flatted and after using my co2 cartidridge was only able to put in around 70psi and was miserable. It felt like I was stuck to the road.
Too funny. I guess my crotch would be harder if I posted more and got my balls busted more. I will experiment with the lower pressure and see how it feels (lower pressure being around the 100psi range…not the 75 psi range). If performance does not suffer then me and my crotch will thank you.
Sherwin’s comment’s seem to be inline with my experience. I typically run my Conti 4000’s at 95-100 psi in dry weather. I’ll bleed off some pressure to about 85-90 psi if its wet out. 75 seems kinda low, but not that unreasonable.
I used to run higher pressure (120+), but one of the guys I occasionally ride with (a cycling legend whose opinion I greatly respect) noticed it when I was stopped to change a flat. He told me to drop the pressure and I took the advice. Since riding with lower pressures, I’ve found its a lot more comfortable and the rolling resistance ‘seems’ to be about the same. No data to back that up of course, but that’s just how they feel.
Isn’t it also true that many pros run 25 and even 28 mm tires?
Sherwin has a long history of talking absolute bollocks.
what is the reason for reducing tire pressures in the rain?
more grip.