Bike tyre pressure guide

Start with the sidewall

Every bicycle tyre has a pressure range moulded into its sidewall, usually printed in both PSI and BAR. That range is the manufacturer's safe window for that specific casing on a suitable rim, and it beats any general advice on the internet, including this page. Find the numbers, read them in decent light, and treat them as your hard limits.

Within that window you have plenty of room to tune. Pressure changes how a bike feels more than almost any other free adjustment: grip, comfort, rolling speed and puncture resistance all shift with it.

Typical starting ranges

These are common starting points, not rules. Always stay inside the range printed on your own tyre.

• Mountain bike, 2.1in to 2.6in tyres: roughly 20 to 30 PSI with tubes, lower when tubeless. Bigger volume means less pressure.
• Gravel, 35mm to 45mm tyres: roughly 35 to 50 PSI. Lower for loose, rocky district roads, higher for hard-packed dirt.
• Road, 25mm to 28mm tyres: roughly 70 to 95 PSI. Modern wider road tyres are usually run softer than the 110 PSI of a decade ago.
• Commuter and hybrid, 32mm to 42mm tyres: roughly 50 to 70 PSI. Comfort and puncture resistance matter more than outright speed.
• E-bike tyres: follow the sidewall, and lean towards the upper half of the range. The extra weight of motor and battery loads the tyre more.

Rider weight and load

Pressure supports weight. A rider of 60kg and a rider of 100kg on identical bikes need noticeably different numbers. As a rough approach, start in the middle of the sidewall range, then move up or down in steps of about 5 PSI for road tyres and 2 PSI for mountain bike tyres until the bike feels planted without feeling harsh.

Luggage counts too. Panniers, a loaded backpack or a child seat all add load, mostly to the rear wheel. Many riders run the rear tyre a few PSI firmer than the front for exactly this reason.

Terrain, surface and weather

Rough surfaces reward lower pressure. A softer tyre conforms to bumps instead of skipping across them, which means more grip and less fatigue. Smooth tar rewards slightly higher pressure, up to a point — go too hard and the tyre starts bouncing off imperfections and actually rolls slower.

Wet weather is a good reason to drop a few PSI. A slightly softer tyre puts more rubber on the road and gives you a little more warning before it lets go. Heat matters as well: a dark tyre baking in a Karoo summer will read higher than the same tyre at dawn, so set your pressure when the tyre is cool.

Tubeless and wide rims

Tubeless setups can run lower than tubed ones because there is no inner tube to pinch against the rim. Many mountain bikers drop 3 to 5 PSI when they go tubeless and immediately notice better grip. Go too low, though, and you risk burping air out of the bead in a hard corner, or denting the rim on a rock strike.

Wider internal rim widths also change the picture by supporting the tyre casing better, which lets you run a little less pressure for the same feel. If you have changed wheels recently, re-tune your pressure rather than copying your old numbers.

How often to check

Tubes lose pressure steadily. Butyl tubes typically shed a meaningful amount over a week or two, latex tubes much faster, and tubeless setups vary with sealant and casing. Checking before every significant ride is a good habit, and it takes under a minute with a gauge.

A digital reading beats a thumb press every time. The Freewheel Pocket Pump shows pressure on a digital PSI gauge and shuts off automatically at the figure you set, so you can dial in exactly the number you decided on rather than guessing. It fits both Presta and Schrader valves — if you are not sure which you have, the valve guide sorts that out in a minute.