2019 Rad Rover tire inflation?

[Pay Jota]

Just got my bike today. The manual says inflate to 20 psi and dont over or underinflate. But 20 seems awfully firm on dirt. How low can I go on these Kendra Juggernauts? The assembly video said 18-22. No lower?

 

[mrgold35]

I found 18-22 PSI worked very well for paved/hark-packed roads, max acceleration, range, and maintaining a high cruising speed. I've taken the Kenda as low as 10-15 PSI when trail riding. I would only go that low if you are riding low double or single mph on single track with rocky/sandy/loose soil and/or hilly terrain with very uneven surfaces (rocks, branches, ruts, etc...). I wanted the max contact patch for traction when on single track.

The only issue is pinch flats at low PSI if the terrain is really challenging. Even at 15-18 PSI will result in more riding resistance, shorter range, slower acceleration, and lower sustain top speed of paved roads. I would check into a suspension seatpost, more comfy seat like Cloud-9, padded shorts, play with the PSI, and adjust the tension on the front forks to soften the ride a bit more if your dirt riding is mostly prepared hard-packed walk/jog/bike paths.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

I've gone to 8 lbs on soft sand. I don't think I'd go much below 12-15 on any kind of hard ground, but you can certainly play with it and see what works for you. Normally, I keep the tires on my RadRover at 20.

TT

 

[atariguy]

I've got the 2018 model, which recommends 30 psi on pavement. I take it down to about 5 for snow.

 

[Pay Jota]

I found 18-22 PSI worked very well for paved/hark-packed roads, max acceleration, range, and maintaining a high cruising speed. I've taken the Kenda as low as 10-15 PSI when trail riding. I would only go that low if you are riding low double or single mph on single track with rocky/sandy/loose soil and/or hilly terrain with very uneven surfaces (rocks, branches, ruts, etc...). I wanted the max contact patch for traction when on single track.

The only issue is pinch flats at low PSI if the terrain is really challenging. Even at 15-18 PSI will result in more riding resistance, shorter range, slower acceleration, and lower sustain top speed of paved roads. I would check into a suspension seatpost, more comfy seat like Cloud-9, padded shorts, play with the PSI, and adjust the tension on the front forks to soften the ride a bit more if your dirt riding is mostly prepared hard-packed walk/jog/bike paths.

At what pressure do you think "pinch flats" become greater than a 50% chance?

Given that the bike is so much greater at attaining acceleration, attaining a high cruising speed and range than my other manual powered bikes, I will trade off a lot of those for better traction on medium soft dirt, depending on the break even point.

 

[mrgold35]

Pinch flats wasn't an issue with soft/sandy soils. It happened to me in the Sandia foothills with very jagged rocky terrain. I had the PSI around 12-14 to help with traction; which, it did. The sharp corners of the rocks, +70lbs rover, and me at +270 lbs flexed the tire too much. I now just keep my PSI at commuter setting of 20-22 on/off road.

The only time off road +20 PSI let me down was when I was riding single track near the Rio Grande river and ran over some fallen branches. Ran over a spike shaped limb on the branch and it put 1/2 inch hole in my tire/tube. I think the tire would have just flexed at a lower PSI.

Trail flats are few and far between. 95% of my flat are from commuting. Goat-head stickers and road debris. All the road debris gets pushed into the share the road bike lanes. Hard to see a screw at 5:30am at +20 mph.