i am curious about....
what terrain and how you guys are riding it? shiggy, squash, trailville, lynx, kmacon, kapusta, le duke - how would you describe your riding style?
i would have to say i ride like a gravity racer whenever the chance presents itself. when i brake, i cram the bike into the ground, when i corner i cram the tires onto their edge. i weight and unweight as quickly as i can, everywhere i can. i try to hit the best lines i can, but anytime the trail points downhill i am usually pinning it, so sometimes the best line is over the obstacles. of course this is not an absolute - there are pedestrians, horses, blind corners, etc that i always yeild to. but if i have a clear view, i push my limits.
a little more remembering made me realized why i am running 36 psi in the rear tire: rim damage. long story shortened: several months ago i went out riding at one of my favorite places, riding it the way i like to ride it, and i had about 33-34 psi in my rear tire which seemed fine for the climbing and slower stuff. then i got to the fun part, and while bombing down the hill and really railing the corners something hit my rear tire so hard it bent the rim with a big "smack." i was very bummed because the rims are sun equalizer 29's and they weren't cheap. plus i had to do the whole junk task of changing a tube, not being able to pump it up enough etc, etc, not to mention losing out on finishing the bomb downhill because i had way too low pressure from not being able to pump it up enough. basically ruined the rest of my ride.
on the other hand, 28 or even a little lower seems just fine in the front.
another story: 2 weeks ago at northstar, i was having a great time riding all day with 36 psi in the rear tire (2 ply tire). then on my last run i decided to really pinnit down a somewhat rocky trail. i had a great run down, went to my car, loaded-up and went home. next morning had a flat on the rear - yep, big pinch slice. luckily i have big dh rims on that bike, so no rim dings.
there have been other such incedences, but i will not include them here. overall, i have had the best "general" luck with 36 psi rear on a 2.1-2.35 tire with a single ply casing. maybe i am missing out on the benefits of lower pressure, but maybe i need the higher pressure to keep things together?
so, does anyone think that i should still try lower pressures, or have i hit my "pinch limit" already? i will say that i HATE GETTING FLATS out on the trail, and i WILL NOT GO TUBELESS.
i REALLY want to be able to go with lower pressures, because i DO know all about the tire conforming to the irregulaties using less energy to continue forward vs non-conforming, and i have ridden with lower pressures and experienced the way the tires "float" over the ground. but.....i have experienced problems going lower than 35 psi with the tires i like to use, so............
?????????????? what next????