Tire inflation

[Laurent]

I'm a new owner of a Sofrider V2. So not very familiar with this recumbent world. I'm very surprised to see that the tires are disigned for such a high pressure(100 psi). To me it looks like a lot. When I think that the tires of my car only take 30 psi, it seems almost impossible for such small tires to take more then three times the amount. The air pump at the car station couldn't even deliver that high a pressure and yet the tire seemed so hard I was afraid it'd blow on me. Am I eluding myself or is there something new for me to understand?

Thanks ahead.

 

[JimParker]

Hi Laurent,

All your questions are welcome here!
Yes, those tires will take 100 psi. Go all the way up to 100 psi for a faster ride, run them at around 80 psi for a little more cushion effect.

You may want to get a good pump from a bike shop so you can properly inflate those tires.

Cheers,

Jim Parker

 

[Peder Torgersen]

Welcome to the forum I have a Sofrider V1 the original tires weren’t high pressure I think they were around 60 psi.
With 100 psi you roll better on paved roads. Silvio is like a road bike when it comes to tires they are often 120 psi and roll even better.
I’m very happy with my Sofrider very practical but it takes some time to get familiar with FWD. Its fun learning something new and after some riding you don’t even think about it being FWD.

Peder

 

[John Tolhurst]

Laurent wrote: I'm a new owner of a Sofrider V2. So not very familiar with this recumbent world. I'm very surprised to see that the tires are disigned for such a high pressure(100 psi). To me it looks like a lot. When I think that the tires of my car only take 30 psi, it seems almost impossible for such small tires to take more then three times the amount. The air pump at the car station couldn't even deliver that high a pressure and yet the tire seemed so hard I was afraid it'd blow on me. Am I eluding myself or is there something new for me to understand?

Thanks ahead.

High pressure tires are common on performance bicycles because they reduce rolling resistance. Bicycles just have to be efficient, that is the defining requirement really of all bikes, save for children's bikes perhaps where you don't want them to go too fast, just let the tire down!!! My concept for the cruzbike has always been to use suspension with high pressure tires. You could make a high pressure tire for a car, but the added harshness and vibration would probably rattle it to bits in half the time. You would get better economy even though rolling losses are small compared to braking losses and wind drag losses.