High tire pressure or low pressure?

[dustNbone]

I can barely pump (using foot/hand pump) the tires up to 40psi and it starts to get quite hard to push the pump down.

A pump designed for higher pressures will have a smaller piston, less square inches of piston area equals more pounds per square inch.

 

[parajared]

parajared...that's just what I run on the front of my trike - two Maxxis Hookwork 20x2". I run them at just around 58 psi on average, which is one-half of their rating (110 psi). The comfort is good, and improves down to 45 psi, and efficiency doesn't suffer much - it does in the 40 psi range. I also found them to be anti-shimmy, compared to the Big Apples I tried originally. Love those tires.

They have some pros and cons:
pros:
-cheap ($15 from Amazon.com) so cheaper than even crap Wal-Mart tires (Innova/Bell)
-long lived: outlast Schwalbe Big Apple and Innova
-grippy: out grip Innova and Big Apple (pavement)
-rigid: as a recumbent trike rider I appreciate that the tires don't flex during harsh corners
-great wh/mi vs innova

cons:
rigid: impossible to change a tube with just your fingers, takes some very careful placement with those tire spoons to generate enough torque to blip the tire bead on and off the rim and not completely wreck the tube.
Absolutely suck at gripping loose dirt.