3 THINGS YOU DON'T WANNA BE DOING: BURPING, PINCHING AND ROLLING
I PLAY WITH MY AIR PRESSURE CONSTANTLY. I test low pressure vs high pressure, to try and figure out the optimum for the kinds of conditions I'll be racing on. There's no easy answer...
... though the trend towards lower and lower pressure is winning me over.
But, you can go too low. Even with the tubeless setups I'm riding, there's a point of negative returns.
The problem is there's only one way to find out if you've gone too low...
... and that is going to failure.
What kind of failure?
It ranges from burping to pinching to rolling.
Burping is landing so hard some of the air in your tire escapes.
Pinching is hitting a sharp object so hard the tire gets pinched against the rim and tears.
Rolling is the worst. That's where you land or corner so hard the tire rolls off the rim and a terrible crash ensues.
One friend burped his tire after overjumping a landing, missing the gentle slope and hitting the side of the berm that followed.
I pinched ripping over a section of mini tombstones.
My was able to keep riding. You can do that on a burp, but it slows you down until you put in more air.
I had to stop and jam a plug into the tear before filling the tire back up with CO2.
I'm not sure what pressure my friend was running, but I was down to 18lbs in the rear tire. For me, over that harsh terrain, that was too low in my 2.2 MTB tires.
When doing this kind of testing we have to be very precise.
Can't go on feel.
Can't be using different pumps.
That's why I use a digital gauge. And why that gauge is either by my floor pump or in my RaceDay Bag™.
It makes a difference.
This is the one we trust.
It's compact, and very reliable.
Use Promo Code: AIRCHECK
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166.9
Stretch and HyperVolt
7.5 hrs sleep
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