Originally Posted by
Sy Reene
I know they complained... but the where the bar (no pun intended) is set keeps changing.. When many went to 25s and dropped their pressures by 20 psi, there was much rejoicing. And now that's still too much and the bar is lowered again.
FWIW, I think maybe much of this has to do with the wheel makers. I don't think they publish any performance results that back this up, so maybe this is because the recent wider carbon rims are just too weak to take higher inflations, or tires will blow off the rims if there's too much air in them?
I notice that HED's recommended inflation is a formula of Rider weight (kgs) x .90. IOW, a 165lb rider should start with 68psi inflation.
Enve is a little higher for their guidelines, but they max out at 95psi (25mm) as allowable for anyone 240lbs or heavier. (80psi for 28mm). These are way off from any tire drop calculator -- not even close
Why do you assume there's "a" bar? Formulas and specs are nice for OCD folks, but the truth is that as long as the tire doesn't pinch flat or blow off the rim, you're good. For a lot of cycling history, most pumps didn't even have gauges. They didn't need them.