With this new comparative test! I am addressing the impact of tire pressure on their performance
when riding on rough! mountainous asphalt. We have all noticed it
when riding on good old asphalt with over-inflated tires! the Tire pressures and performance vibrations are significant! the result
is not good. Conversely! when testing a tire on rollers! a measuring bench or
brand new asphalt ‘Tour de France type’! the rule of industry email list the more you inflate! the faster you go
could apply… Although… it is now a quick shortcut because with Tire pressures and performance the evolution
of tires which have gone from 19 mm to now 28 mm! it is totally inadvisable
to put 12 bars in a 28 mm. That
said! and even on more reasonable pressures between 5.5 and 8.5 bars! the bicyclerollingresistance
site confirms that the more pressure you put on a smooth surface! the better the performance.
The main 25mm tires on the market tested
However! on rough asphalt the phenomenon is reversed
because if it is too inflated! the tire or tubular will bounce on the roughness! not
fit them as well and thus lose its driving force on bumps. The
vibration phenomena generated in the tire casing then propagated in the frame
will end up losing precious mechanical watts but also muscular power in the long term (
comfort).
However it will be necessary to find the right compromise
Because depending on the john mctevitt weight
of the cyclist! if the tire is not inflated enough! losses through clean email heating and
crushing of the casing will end up canceling out the reduced vibration gains. So
always a story of compromise…a very good summary of
rolling resistance can be found here at Schwalbe: http://www.schwalbe.com/fr/rollwiderstand.html
But how many watts are we talking about exactly? I
wanted to try the experiment with my 61 kg and 3 tires on freshly laid and very rough asphalt
! as shown in the photo taken on an average 7% slope.