How To Set MTB Tyre Pressure In 60 Seconds

Getting your tyres pressure right is critical for mountain biking. Here are the basics in just under 60 seconds.
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Have you found your ideal tyre pressure? Let us know in the comments.
Tyre pressure is super-important. You need the right combination of grip, puncture protection and shock absorption. It really is a balancing act.
Run your tyres too soft, and you risk pinch puncturing and having you tubeless tyre 'burp' air. Too hard and the ride will be really unforgiving.
How can you get your pressures right? Start with 30-40 psi and work from there - let a little bit out for more grip, if you find yourself puncturing regularly consider adding some air.
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[@puppykik]

Great vid, I like the quick advice. Also love the HD footage, tyres going over rocks in slo mo is awesome. I'm 74 kgs and running 30psi tubeless in both tyres.

[@twillfast]

Hey guys! I like your channel, I'm a big fan of Martyn and have been watching GCN for quite a while. Just wanted to say that the "Subject in 60 seconds" is a bit too short IMHO. Don't stress it. I'd rather hear you go in depth on a subject than rush through it. I can learn the basics from whoever on a mountain bike, so I'd rather get the detailed stuff from you guys. Keep up the good work and I'm sure this channel will grow huge. Cheers!

[@TheOfficialDJAVI]

These videos are great!

[@corentinrenaut9324]

Very good job!

[@tristandesade3823]

Sometimes a small change makes a difference. I use to ride 1.9/2.0 bar, until I'we experienced front tire burp on a technical descend. Now I run 2.0/2.1 and it works really good. You must find your own "sweet spot" thru trial and error.

[@schmitzel3556]

Hey Gmbn, I was wondering if you already have a video on how to clean your mtb shoes properly, after a muddy ride? Any tips and tricks for that ? What do you do to your shoes ?

[@InfamousBandAid]

Nice video. Got a question. I am about 91 kg and I ride a 27.5 (w/tube) hard tail mtn bike. What do you recommend my tire pressure to be for the front and back?

[@aperfectcircle63]

I tend to run 25 front & 35 rear, unless it's wet & slippy then I'd run the front a bit lower. No worries with wet roots then. A lot depends on your weight & the conditions.

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

I'm so glad this channel now exists but these videos could definitely be longer than 60 seconds. We really won't be mad I promise. Lengthen them to 4 or 5 minutes give us some more detail and it will be perfect.

[@gmbn]

Hi Chris Babb we have a more in-depth tyre pressure feature coming soon.

[@WildOutdoorLiving]

Awesome! Great to hear!

[@Darksoul_MTB_Channel]

I tend to run 20 front & 20 rear with ZTR flow ex rims Tubeless and maxxis DHF & DHR tyres maximum grip with full rocky trail's in my area....

[@namelessduck1220]

I like the way you edit your videos guys. What software do you use?

[@bowtiesarecool5087]

In the interest of traction and grip through the corners, how about a bit on tire choice front and rear?

[@babylon4953]

Doesn't the rider weight affect the recommended psi/bar?

[@MusicStuffSome]

depends what your riding but for rocky trails particularly with jumps into rock gardens, or drainage ditch style features you kinda need a bit more air to stop you puncturing all the time sometimes I go as high as 50psi for cetain styles of riding, this also maskes your roll faster, the trade of however is that you lose a bit of grip in the corners but unless a lot of what I'm going to be riding or the day is muddy and natural I think its worth the compromise.

[@londonengland7096]

My pump doesn’t have a gauge? I’ve pumped my tyre and it’s soft and if I continue pumping it pops the tyre off the rim. what am I doing wrong?

[@rubenTR309]

I think my pump is broken, I'm trying to run around 27psi on the front, and 30 on the rear. . . I have Hans Dampf 2.35 with tubes in at the moment, but those pressures feel very solid, like you can barely squeeze the tire. . . Is the gauge not working correctly?

[@anguskendall5298]

When will MARK come back

[@settit7030]

Do you drop pressure for winter riding? If so, how much? Great Videos across the board! Thx!

[@gmbn]

+Scott Tomassetti Hey Scott, You can for sure it will allow you more traction in wet conditions. I would recommend 1-2 psi. Thanks for your comment. Marc

[@settit7030]

👍

[@jonasstergaard8023]

It is some very nice tips you are coming with. But i don't like that you only can talk in 60 seconds. It would be better if you go a bit more in to it and talk more about tirepressure and maybe diffrent kinds of tires

[@gmbn]

Hi Jonas Østergaard thanks for the comment, we have an in-depth tyre pressure feature coming soon.

[@iPTdar2I]

how check 30psi's hardness with my finger?

[@invisiblewill]

hey, what rims are on this bike? :D great vid as always!

[@thunderstance8103]

enve

[@invisiblewill]

cheers :)

[@youngstadan4999]

Do you leave you're tyre pressure the same for all conditions? I'm running ñn at the minute and there great pumped up really hard but feel weird when at low pressure they collect dirt real bad when hard though,should I run my tyres real soft when it's wet and muddy like today?thanks

[@gmbn]

lee young Many people do drop pressures in the wet but personally I leave them the same so I know how my tyres are going to react all the time and wont deform/ roll around in compressions. Cheers, Neil

[@Thunder0wnsz]

Good advice but you missed one of the most important things which is weight of the rider..

[@VanDungLe2510]

How come the air pressure for road bike is so high ( usually >90 PSI ) and for MTB is so small ( usually >22 PSI ) but the feels when pressing into the tire side wall is almost the same ?

[@VitekHolubovsky]

30 PSI in my Minions, I don't care about your opinions. #Imfasterthanyou

[@mack_raymond]

About 27/29psi for me

[@matthewbradshaw8017]

I run 28 but I might go lower, as a small rider It's harder for me to burp tubeless

[@bullseye0112]

what is your air pressure with tubes? is it more and if so by how much

[@MultiW8]

1,72 bars

[@bullseye0112]

+multiw8 thanks, now i just need to convert to psi!

[@MultiW8]

np man :)

[@Milos0391]

On my tire it says 2.5 - 4.5 bar. So how is 2.1 bar not too soft, when 2.5 bar is minimum? I am around 95 kg btw.

[@jaykan1002]

Milos0391 range on tire basically gives you a a safe to operate range for that particular tire system. The system of the tire consist of many factors, such as material, bead size, shape, width of tire, etc. running below 2.5 may risk tire ripping off during high speed cornering (centrifugal force = mv^2), while running too much pressure may cause the tube to pop or the tire to pop off the bead due to pressure/force from air. 2.1 bar could very well be perfect for a wider tire, but WAY too low for a skinnier tire.

[@joebailey8845]

35-40psi works for me.

[@downing3]

What sort of trails do you ride? I find that 35+psi result in sliding all over the place around the corners & no confidence in grip. I run ~30 rear, 27 front

[@joebailey8845]

Mostly ride dirt trails with rocks randomly scattered along it. Probably could go down to 30psi though. Had a few pinch flats, so ride with higher psi, but cornering is sketchy at times. Just got some new Maxxis Minion tyres. Gonna run them lower and see how it goes.

[@kaberg92]

The sixty second stuff seems a bit pointless to me and these videos really don't say much. I don't think that us, the consumers are so strapped on time that we rather spend 60 pointless seconds rather then a few min with some more in depth coverage and conversation on topics. I bet there's already a bunch of "headline" "Front cover" tutorials on youtube, so i'd rather see this channel put some more focus on the nitty-gritty and the in depth fun stuff. rider weight, tire air chamber/volume, wheel size, and different disciplines could have been touched upon.

[@y0utubr3]

+Erik Kåberg i think these 60 sec videos are for viewers who doesn't have the time to watch 7 minute detailed tutorial videos

[@krazed0451]

Anyone without 7mins to spare, isn't going to spare those 7mins to go mountain biking...

[@TheSHARCRASH]

LOL so according to you this is one of the biggest factors and you are not considering rider's weight?! I know there are only 60sec for your advises but you could replace some of the blahblah/speak faster and add an average ratio +PSI/kilo advise. You are certainly good mountain bikers but not good teachers. ;)

[@gmbn]

Hi guys, weight is definitely a factor that I didn't mention! Heavier riders will need to run higher pressures, but how aggressively you ride is the biggest factor i.e smashing through rocks and cornering hard. The faster you go the harder you will want you tyres but getting into the high 30s is pretty hard for MTB. Cheers for the comments.

[@Kingsoupturbo]

Global Mountain Bike Network you can certainly go up to 3-4 min, I think most attention spans can last that long, do a quick weight chart, hardtail or rear suspension, tubeless and tubed tires, and we'd be mint!!! Keep up the good work in refining this channel, its gonna be GCN top quality very soon! (took them a while to get it dialed in!)

[@frissenm]

Agree! I'm 100+ kg and don't even consider anything below 3 bar. I guess for most lean riders the advice is spot on, but the bigger guys (and girls) need some extra puff in their tubes.

[@ADVtheMISSIONARY]

Marco Frissen i'm 102kg at the moment(was 108kg) and never run anything over 35psi in the rear front is normally 30psi with 2.3 tyres

[@frissenm]

***** cakes? I eat skinny cyclists for breakfast

[@maich7551]

Sixty 4 seconds actually.. when counting how long the fucken you tube ad's go for. Glad there wasn't one directly after the first!! It's a first! Great video cheers

[@EeroSoralahti]

Don't constrain yourselves unnecessarily to the 60 seconds. The maximum attention span of a MTB-cyclist is not that short. Take as long as you need to cover all the important points of the topic at hand.

[@EliteSniperTV]

I would rather have a more in depth video - or at least 120 seconds. 60 seconds doesn't make it better, just makes it lack depth.

[@lewislarkin5630]

EliteSniperTV lack depth ? He’s not looking for a Oscar or Noble price mate

[@sampickering8694]

I run about 45 psi

[@EliteSniperTV]

So the conclusion is "you don't want it too soft or too hard, I use 30psi with my bodytype/weight/bike/trails/etc. Too hard or too soft is bad." PLEASE do longer in depth videos, this was worthless.

[@TheAegisClaw]

Agreed, this channel is not off to a good start.

[@POVMTB1]

useless information :/