Or if you’re in the US, “tire” pressures…
I’m off to France next weekend to ride the Paris Roubaix Challenge. I’m tackling the long route, so get to ‘experience’ all 30 pavé secteurs. I’ve been following Roubaix for long enough to have seen most of the tips the pros might use, except for tyre pressures. Even when you do get to hear their closely guarded secrets they likely don’t relate directly to me (heavier, slower etc).
Anyone ridden this and care to offer any advice?
I’m 86kg on a 8kg titanium bike. 23mm inner width rims (Reserve), 32mm GP5000 AS TR tubeless. The SRAM and Silca calculators put the ‘wet’ pressures at 50psi front/ 55 psi rear, so I’m tempted to start with that and tweak during a brief recon.
I’d love to hear from anyone who can give me some pointers or even general advice for my pavé initiation.
TIA.
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For context, I’m a lot smaller than you at 67kg. For my gravel bike I often run 30c and 35c tires. This is with TPU tubes. For rougher roads (think chunks and babyheads) I’ll typically run around 38-40 psi. And even so I’ll occasionally hit bottom and be certain I’m in for a flat. If it was tubeless I’d drop it down a tad. When doing a pinch test, I want a nice pliable give to the casing, but not so much that it’s “easy.” Eye-balling your setup, will wager you’ll end up around 46-48 PSI.
Regarding calculators, I’d tried a bunch and they almost always end up on the high-side for me.
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The answer to this is: as low as you can go without flatting. The pros are generally running low 40s to high 50s, depending on their weight. But the pros are going to have a slightly different experience - one, faster, obviously, but two, they are almost always going to be riding blind in terms of line choice. You’ll have lots of people around you but should be able to see where you’re going at least. That means you can go a little lower than they can.
Because you’re running tubeless you can get away with the occasional rim strike, and those Reserves are pretty strong. So I would start at that 50/55 and then do some recon to try to drop. But make sure you’re doing that recon on a bad sector, at speed. My guess is you can get away with something like 45/50 on 32s.
Other tips!
- Take a close look at your bike - is anything attached that could fall off? Lights, bell, etc. Tighten it down or remove it.
- Take all rings/watches/etc off.
- Have a blast. Don’t be afraid of the gutter. Take it all in and sprint in the velodrome! If you’re around Sunday and spot any of the EC crew, give us a shout.
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Fab, thanks both. Looks like i’m not too far away then. Forgot to say I ended up with 32mm due to Ronan’s tyre width/pressure article that suggested wider is more comfy, but not faster. I decided I needed all the help/watts I could get 
I was worried about going too low, as I still have 115km of tarmac to cover, but I guess that’s a lesser problem and a small price to pay for getting over the pavé intact. I have a recon route which has 3, 4 and 5 star sectors planned. Whether I’m able to take them at speed is another story but I will play with pressures then.
Thanks for the other tips. I had thought about my ring and I’m going to have to set a reminder otherwise I know I’ll forget.
Will definitely be around on Sunday for the pros. Will you all be wearing poppies and carrying L’Equipe under your arms for easy ID?
Looking forward to it!
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FYI I did the Sportif 2 years ago on 35mm GP5000s. They were setup tubeless with inserts. I’m a small/light rider and ran them at around 40psi. Had a blast across the cobbles with no sense of penalty on the road sections. 40psi is still plenty hard enough for some road kms.
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We’ll likely be in EC merch unless it’s too cold!
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I rode the mid distance sportive last year. Roughly 110kg on 28mm tires at 65/75 psi and felt rim a few times. Next time it will be much larger tires and lower pressures. I was jealous of the gravel bikes cruising over the cobbles.
Like Caley says, tighten it down or remove it. My saddle bag blew apart many times on some recon rides.
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Thought I should circle back, post event.
I ended up with 46/48 psi or thereabouts for the event. I suspect I could have gone lower, but with limited cobbles experience, and limited time to experiment, this seemed to work.
I got zero punctures, or any tyre issues at all for the entire ride. The pavé of Arenberg unseated my chain and I had to stop. Getting clipped in and going again was a challenge. Otherwise, no blisters, no crashes, no mechanicals… just sore arms and legs!
Thanks for all the advice and encouragement.
C.
P.S. I did a pseudo sprint in the velodrome but too knackered for a two arm salute in case it turned into a disaster finish line photo 
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Awesome. Glad it went well for you!!
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