Tire pressures

Mountie

Well-known member
Apr 29, 2018
421
254
Canada
What is everyone running for tire pressures I’m 15 stone or 210lbs and am running the 18 carbon expert. Front 19 psi and now going to try 22 psi in the rear. 20 seemed a bit soft in the rear.
 

StuR

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Patreon
Apr 28, 2018
449
730
Forest of Dean
Experimenting with 22 front and 25 rear
2.8 inch butchers on a Levo and Kenevo
I'm 14st in my BD suit
Seems to be a sweet spot for me but im no expert
No pinch flats , gives plenty if grip without being too draggy
Tested over about 1000km
 

kcarbon

Member
Founding Member
Feb 3, 2018
241
140
australia
Well I know it will depend more on the tyre your using and , your weight & terrain your riding over.
I have ridden my levo comp carbon close to 3,000km now .
I ride over rocks, sand dirt & dusty tracks, very rare through mud but I have. I'm 11 stone. this is my second levo, my first was 2016 HT fatty had the 27.5 X 3.0 Purg, when I first got the new bike was getting used to it. but I noticed the tyres did not roll as well down hill's , also the butcher 2.8 felt harsh. so I got some new 27.5 X 3.0 Purg's front & rear like my first levo. these tyres can run lower pressure than the Butcher 2.8 . they roll much faster over rough ground & down hill. I have them tubeless I run 12p.s,i front 15p.s.i rear. as I said coming up to 3,000km ( front tyre still good, rear tyre knob's just about warn off ) personally I love them! love the whole bike.
 

Mountie

Well-known member
Apr 29, 2018
421
254
Canada
Sorry I forgot to mention I’m running tubeless. Also I have noticed in high g outs the bike feels really loose and flexy I’m thinking my 19psi in the front may be to low.
 

kcarbon

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Founding Member
Feb 3, 2018
241
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australia
my tyres flex, but I'm used to it and I get traction, so happy. personally I have more weight on the rear tyre. when I first got the bike the LBS had set up forks too hard, I was experiencing front tyre bounce over rough fast down hill, thats when I went to the 27.5 X 3.0 & dropped front tyre pressure to 12psi stopped the bounce. I got the LBS to keep taking fork spring pressure out, till I could go flat out over rough down hill. I became much faster. also was used to soft front tyre and had no flats or problems. 11 stone
 

Ryder

Member
Apr 24, 2018
200
164
UK
12 psi is really low but if it works for you all is good. I run my 2.8 tyres on my emtb and my normal bike at about 18 front 19 rear. It is more critical on the normal bike as too high it is bouncy and too low it squirms too much. Also Kcarbon I amy be mis reading but did you take your bike back to the dealer to have air removed from the fork?
 

kcarbon

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Founding Member
Feb 3, 2018
241
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australia
12 psi is really low but if it works for you all is good. I run my 2.8 tyres on my emtb and my normal bike at about 18 front 19 rear. It is more critical on the normal bike as too high it is bouncy and too low it squirms too much. Also Kcarbon I amy be mis reading but did you take your bike back to the dealer to have air removed from the fork?

Hi Ryder, yes, you read it right. you see the LBS did not have a lot of experience with setting up the forks. & the information they got. told them what pressure I needed for my weight. but it was rock hard I was forced to ride slower down hill. but I was not buying a pump as how I see it. once they are set right. your not going to need the pump. but LBS was more than happy to help. I think it helps them too. now it's a lot better & LSB have gained more knowledge on the subject and said next service they will do more adjustment to it for me.
yes 12psi does sound very low in normal terms. but when you take into account , the 27.5 X 3.0 purg..... Specilized tyre is a low pressure tyre with a maximum pressure of 20psi . I've seen people say they did not like them , but I love them. & as they say, when your on a good thing, stick to it!!
now I glide down rough hill's almost & as the tyre low pressure it rolls really fast over rough ground.
cheers
 

Ryder

Member
Apr 24, 2018
200
164
UK
Thanks for the clarification. Not wishing to come across as a know it all (believe me I am not when it comes to suspension!) but I would recommend getting a shock pump and doing the air in fork and shock yourself. It is no harder than inflating a tyre and it is useful to play with pressures to find what you like, just like with tyres.
 

kcarbon

Member
Founding Member
Feb 3, 2018
241
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australia
Thanks for the clarification. Not wishing to come across as a know it all (believe me I am not when it comes to suspension!) but I would recommend getting a shock pump and doing the air in fork and shock yourself. It is no harder than inflating a tyre and it is useful to play with pressures to find what you like, just like with tyres.

hey thank's for that I might try that, but the girl's at LBS are keen to fine tune and set up for me. they did say what they would do, but I was not paying much attention. will be interesting to see what feels like after there next set up, then will get a pump.
I'll tell you one thing I forgot to mention, the 36 tooth crank sproket, it is a really worth while upgrade!! ( if you like being faster!! )
 

Ryder

Member
Apr 24, 2018
200
164
UK
Don't forget that about 10psi gets lost when you attache the pump (air moves into the hose) I spent ages costantly checking and adding 10 psi to my first set of forks!:oops:
 

Mabman

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Feb 28, 2018
1,048
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Oregon USA
Best way to determine "your" best tire pressure is to air up, ride a sample track that best represents your normal riding conditions and air down in small increments until the feel becomes bad. Air back up in increments until it feels right. Note this psi on a gauge, it doesn't really matter how accurate the gauge is as long as you use it consistently as a base line.

My personal psi using a 2.3 on an i35 700c rim in the front is 15. I use a 650b rim in the rear with a 2.8 tire and I also use 15 in it. Both tubeless.
 

Cyclone

New Member
May 10, 2018
93
33
Location
I've been looking into pressures a lot since looking at an ebike and the general consensus is to sit around 15psi above your usual non ebike pressures to allow for added bike weight how the weight is distributed (on discussed on the other review forums etc) many statung that adding an extra 10/15psi above what they normally run had reduced front washing out.

Also this has been referenced a lot on the other forums too, not sure it applies but could be useful as a baseline.
What tire pressure should I run in my MTB? | ENDURO Mountainbike Magazine

What could be a good test is if Rob takes the wife's Levo Carbon back out and adds 15psi and tries it again on the same track as his review stated the Levo washed out in corners and he fell off 3 times, but I think he said he was running 15psi front and rear and had no confidence in the front of the bike. Pressure could explain that if the tyre was collapsing under the weight.


If it's improved great, if it's worse, at least me know and have a reference point :)
 

Mountie

Well-known member
Apr 29, 2018
421
254
Canada
I ran 22 rear 20 front today and it felt good mixture of loamy Singletrack and dusty hard trails. Thank for all the input everyone much appreciated.
 

idahoskiguy

Member
May 16, 2018
63
64
Idaho USA
Ride a lot of dry slick (hardpack with sand and rocks) conditions and find 16 front, 18 rear to works quite well with the 2.8 Butcher Grid tires.
 

SteveVentoux

Active member
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May 13, 2018
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Bucks
@Guys with Levos....

Do you need to acquire any special wide rim tape for the Levo wheels, or can you just take out the tube and sling the junk in with the tape already on rim there from the factory ? I've previously ghettoed standard 25mm rims on other bikes with Gorilla Tape but obviously won't be wide enough for the Levo rims.

Thanks,

Steve.
 

ccrdave

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Wheels should be tubless ready from the factory
 

SteveVentoux

Active member
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May 13, 2018
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Set up the new Levo tubeless today, 20 min job, just removed the tubes, popped in the supplied valves, sealant in and track pump up. Exactly as @ccrdave said (y)

Another step closer to getting the beast out on the trails.
 

Stumpy

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Staff member
Patreon
Jun 17, 2018
641
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Essex, UK
Set up the new Levo tubeless today, 20 min job, just removed the tubes, popped in the supplied valves, sealant in and track pump up. Exactly as @ccrdave said (y)

Another step closer to getting the beast out on the trails.

What kit did you use?
 

SteveVentoux

Active member
Patreon
May 13, 2018
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Rims already taped for tubeless from new, plus the valves were in a bag that came with the bike, so I just added some Stans sealant I had and job done.
 

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