I know bike tires will lose pressure in colder seasons because the air temp causes the pressure to drop, but is the inverse true? Does bike tire pressure go up in summer due to heat?

If so, do I need to deflate the tires a bit in summer? Do bike tires ever explode because of a temperature change?

  • MeanEYE
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    43 months ago

    In short, keep the pressure constant, because 8bar will be 8bar in winter and in summer. It’s kind of a 1kg of steel vs 1kg of feather type of deal. It’s still 1kg.

    But if you want the details, yes pressure will increase with temperature, they are directly related. Charles’s law state “The absolute pressure exerted by a given mass of an ideal gas is inversely proportional to the volume it occupies if the temperature and amount of gas remain unchanged within a closed system.” Since in bike tires volume is constant, it’s given that pressure is the one to change.

    And yes, tires do explode. I had mine explode when bike was left on the sun but it had underlying issue. Under normal circumstances they are usually engineered to withstand normally expected temperatures. Also tires get hotter when they are ridden and they also experience sudden raise in pressure when running over pot holes and similar.