Tire pressure on gravel roads

[Aggie_Ama]

SheFly is correct there is no "rule" on pressure. Our trails are super rocky and we Texans run low pressure to compensate the fatigue on our bodies but I am talking "baby head" rock gardens not gravel. It is also constantly loose due to excess droughts. Having squish in my tires makes me feel like I am not bouncing off obstacles and get a grip. Plus with cactus and other prickly plants I know very few people who aren't tubeless here which also changes variables in tire pressure. I have been tubeless almost two years but it is only recently I stopped running very firm tires. I also didn't notice as much with a longer travel front fork (120 mm vs 100 mm now) and rear shock (5" now 4") on my Gary Fisher. So tire pressure isn't the only factor in how the ride feels.

Probably get a starting point and investigate different pressures. Run super high, run super low, run medium. Find your happy place.

[Catrin]

Interesting! The main purpose on this first off-pavement ride is to pop the seals on the rear suspension so my LBS can customize it to the weight of me and my gear - and of course to ride my lovely Jamis They can approximate it pretty darn well, but they explained it would be best to do it this way. They said to expect it to feel odd until we get things dialed in.

I've no idea how much travel I have on this bike, but we will see I am hoping the weather breaks while I am at my conference in Reno next week. I've been focusing on getting enough miles on my Gunnar this week for my fitting next Friday - and for the new bike tune-up. Will start working with the Jamis after my return when, hopefully, things will be a little warmer and drier So far I've only ridden Ms. MG once on pavement.

Depending on the kind/depth of the gravel on this trail, I will start my experiment at 60 psi and go from there.