All about bicycles, electric-assisted bikes, technology and safety in the press

The most common safety risks that we come across in our daily work around bicycle safety, technology and operating instructions are also published by us in articles in the leading German special-interest magazines TOUR (Europe's road bike magazine no. 1), BIKE (Europe's mountain bike magazine no. 1), MYBIKE and EMTB in order to make this information, which is important for the industry, available to a wider public.

For many years now, the Eurobike Show Daily, trade fair magazine of the annual Eurobike Show, has also given us the opportunity to publish our view of major developments in the cycle industry in full-page articles.

We also speak regularly in independent expert presentations about all areas of bicycle technology and the bicycle market. In addition, we are quoted by further special-interest magazines of the industry and the trade as well as increasingly by radio and television in their media reports, which shows us that we are spot on with our advice. The section "News" informs you about the latest news from our specialist areas. The reports and publications of this section are listed chronologically or according to areas of interest.

TOUR 07/2013
Reading time 1:00 minute

"Tyre pressure"

Reader’s question

Unfortunately, I cannot follow your recommendation about the tyre pressure. The formula "rider plus weight of ready for use bicycle, divided by 10, minus 1 in bar" only appears reasonable to me for riders from a weight of 80 kilograms on. But many hobby cyclists weigh less than 70 kilos. The calculation of my tyre pressure for example with your formula (63 kg plus 9.4 kg for bicycle including accessories, apparel, etc. = 72.4 kg) would lead to a tyre pressure of about 6.24 bar. This is not ridable for me! In my opinion, the indication on the tyre with approx. 7 to 9 bar is the better choice.

Reply by Dirk Zedler, TOUR technology expert and bicycle expert

Our rule of thumb has proven highly inside the editorial team as well as outside by many road racers. I’m riding my 11-kg-rain bike, depending on the seasonal period, with a body weight of 67 to 70 kg for work out with less than 7 bar and thus yet a little below this formula. With this pressure in my 23-mm tyres I don’t have any punctures. In races I orient myself towards the formula and ride with a little more pressure, as I cannot avoid every pothole in a race. If you don’t feel good with the tyre pressure recommended by us than inflate your tyres with a little more air. You herewith achieve a little less rolling resistance on very smooth, tarred roads, but give away comfort and rolling resistance on rough surfaces.

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