Fat Bike Tyre Pressures - 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 psi

Demonstration of different tyre pressures on a fat bike.
I searched in vain for a video like this before I got an accurate pressure gauge; hope it might be of use to someone looking to get a rough idea of what pressure they're running. I've found that roughly four chambers-worth of air from a floor pump gives about a one-psi rise in air pressure in these tyres. Also, if you get the tyre pressure sorted indoors and then head out into sub-freezing temperatures, you can expect it to drop by around a third to a fifth, depending on how chilly it is out there and how much pressure is in the tyre to start with. For this video, I made pressure adjustments and readings outside for accuracy's sake.

[@steghuman9063]

Anything below 15psi the friction is too high for normal commuting in my opinion. Riding on roads, hard dirt, and pavements, I found that 25psi is best for me, the rolling resistance is greatly reduced, but that of course compromises the ride comfort (shock absorption). It's up to you. My fat bike is an Ebike so I like to get more distance out of a charge.

[@augiemattheiss]

Interesting, thanks for posting this. Have a fat bike on order, will try 6-8 PSI to start with.

[@liminalsunset]

On the RadMini 4 with the CST Big Boat tires that come stock, having them at 15psi vs 5psi in the back and 4psi in the front, if the motor runs at a constant 263 W output, the bike gets up to about 23.5 km/h on level ground vs 21 or so. Not an extremely large difference, but at 15psi you feel way more of the bumps in the road. Probably worth it for the trade off. The traction is greatly improved in the rain. Seems like 5psi is the "knee of the curve" so to speak. Anything lower than that causes an exponential increase in power consumption, but anything above that doesn't decrease it by a ton.

[@batmanofinglewood]

This is extremely Helpful. Thanks a whole lot.

[@Josecln]

very nice video i currently thinking on building a fatty poppa bike thanks for showing and giving me an idea on how much give and soft i could expect cause i seen max 15 psi pressure and though the tires would look flack at that psi but to my amazement they look awesome thank you very much for taking your time on posting such a help full video

[@briananderson9853]

With tubes I found that 9 in the back and 7 in the front worked well and the rear didnt bounce with the pedal stroke. Now I have gone tubeless I find I need higher pressure to stop the bounce at the back. I reckon the tubes helped with stiffness. I have sus’ forks now and am running 12 front and back and I feel the steering is tighter and the firmer rear tyre doesn’t try and steer the front end. Easier to pull straight wheelies too. All good.

[@InflatablesMTB]

Thanks. Interesting to see that aspect BUT if you were to demonstrate traction on a trail for each of these it would correlate the importance of setting the pressure versus conditions. I've found that most all new fat bike riders can't seem to understand how soft the tires need to be for optimum traction in soft snow. Based on the squish, I'm guessing that you weigh 170 lbs (tops).

[@AS-sj5hx]

Hugely helpful. Thanks! :)

[@steelteepost9810]

Discrimination against odd numbers!

[@ireallylovegod]

even number privilege

[@JLindenwood]

Great video!! Thank you.

[@FelipeLuizDickmann]

i`d choose 6 to 8 psi for light trails, and 12 for paved roads. how many psi do you normally run?

[@nuru0nuru]

It really varies. Riding singletrack in summer, around 8 psi front and 8 to 10 psi in the back. Riding roads or paved paths (if I can be bothered to change it) around 12 psi. Winter bushwhacking, maybe 4 psi. Winter trails with firmer snow, in the region of 6 to 8 psi.

[@mardiffv.8775]

19 to 22 psi (1,3 to 1,5 bar = atmosphere) on the road. Since I ride a Fat Trike, I have 2 front wheels. So higher tire pressure is necessary to reduce the rolling resistance. Below 14 psi (1 bar) in the field.

[@thecanadian8900]

Felipe Luiz Dickmann always at 4psi for the traction

[@Scorchedaep]

75 psi in both mtb tires. Both tires are 26x1.95

[@jfjusa1]

wow, i would think those fat tires would have higher pressures?

[@MdAthick]

1. How much psi should I use for Fat Bike to commute on road ? 2. Can I use max pressure pump to fill air in Fat Bike ?

[@SANATRATH_GWR]

My fatbike is 26*4. Max psi quoted as 30 psi. My question is "What is the max psi to be maintained on my fatbike if I go for a century ride on smooth tarmac highway ?" I have seen few videos which states that max psi will make the bike bumpy and max speed cannot be attained.

[@nuru0nuru]

If I know I'm just going to be riding on roads or paved paths, I'll typically use my 5" Knards at their max suggested pressure, which is 15 psi. You certainly feel more bumps with a high pressure, but the difference in rolling resistance is significant enough to probably make it worthwhile for you... especially over a hundo. I'd say mess around with pressures from around 15 psi to 30 psi and see which feels like the best compromise of rolling resistance and bump negation for you. I actually swapped out my front fork for one with suspension (Lauf Carbonara) last year, and it has made riding at speed on bumpy surfaces a whole lot more fun. That could be something to look at, if you don't like your forearms getting punished! Good luck with the century!

[@FelipeLuizDickmann]

at 14 psi the tube seems likely to pop out on the inner rim. weird.

[@nuru0nuru]

There's a strip of rubber between the rim and the innertube on the inside, so thankfully it's not just the innertube sticking out!

[@galewho1521]

Thx you I’m getting a fat bike

[@kyle9052]

Thanks for the post, super helpful while waiting for a gauge to arrive. Have you had any sidewall problems with running such low pressures?

[@nuru0nuru]

+Kyle Lancaster They kindof crickle and cave in at really low pressures, but it hasn't seemed to cause any damage. I don't usually ride with the pressure low enough to distort the sidewalls that much, though.

[@minhasaventuras830]

Excelente

[@justvettn]

Sounds like a lot of creaking going on with that bike?

[@nuru0nuru]

Just the brakes slipping a bit with the jumping. The brakes can be a bit noisy at times, but otherwise it's a fairly quiet ride.

[@qss1221]

Which setting is good for sand and snow?

[@punkabone]

I would say 5 to 8 but thats only what i've heard, i dont even have my bike yet :D

[@mardiffv.8775]

Experiment yourself with tire pressure. Look at your tracks, if your tires dig in sand/ snow (bowl shape track). Lower the tires pressure, untill you see a faint track of mainly square holes.

[@edcatt9196]

How do you actually know the PSI of each setting? Maybe I don't have an accurate gage. My floor pump doesn't register down past 8-10 PSI. After that, it's just the squeeze I use to gage anything lower. Got any ideas on gages that go that lower, or lower? Thanks.

[@nuru0nuru]

Yeah, floor pump gauges aren't any use at these pressures. I used a 15 psi Meiser / Accu-Gage analogue pressure gauge for this video. Made sure to buy it from my LBS, as I didn't think being bumped and jostled through the postal system would help its accuracy any! I've found it to be very useful.

[@edcatt9196]

Thanks very much. I've been using the 'squeeze and feel' method! Works, but not very accurate.

[@byronbailey687]

buy a hand held digital or old school gauge with no battery

[@edcatt9196]

Thanks.

[@jimjr4432]

Can buy a guage with 15 psi max. Mine works great.

[@joshhan]

At what point (PSI) do you feel like you would have issues with pinch flats?

[@nuru0nuru]

Depends how much you're ripping it, I suppose. When I've ridden in fresh snow conditions where 2 psi felt most appropriate, I didn't have any troubles with punctures as I was just crawling and not hitting any objects at speed. I usually run around 4 to 6 psi, going over all sorts of snowy terrain - sometimes quickly, mostly slowly - and I've yet to get a puncture.

[@nurusmeets7356]

o that's my name

[@jdavis417]

Your name is "Ice Cream Truck"? That's unusual. ;)

[@wordreet]

Meh, 30psi for me as I weigh 240lbs! 😉

[@wordreet]

OK, now I'm down to 18psi rear and 15psi front, but I'm riding dry trails.

[@jdavis417]

@@wordreet What's your tire width?

[@wordreet]

@@jdavis417 4.0

[@adamsteineke4661]

@@wordreet Just blazed some trail after snowshoeing it once time... had to drop to 4 psi to make my way through... also I weigh more than you do. ;)

[@wordreet]

@@adamsteineke4661 Cool bananas dude! Heh, snow is so cool.