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tyre pressure

frosty99frosty99 Posts: 115
edited November 2011 in Road beginners
Got a flat on Wednesday, changed the inner and pumped up by the roadside, got home fine and went out today, felt fine but the thought it wasnt pumped up enough niggled me the whole way and is still niggling me now.

I don't have a pressure gauge but pumped them up as much as physically possible with the hand pump and things feel pretty solid.

Is the 'squeeze test' enough or do I need to go a measure the pressure?

thanks alot
Frosty

Posts

  • CafewandaCafewanda Posts: 2,788
    The min and max psi are on each tyre so see what they are and, if you can, go to a bike shop and use their floor pump. I'd buy one for home use too, if you can. They are great.
  • ben16vben16v Posts: 296
    pretty solid can be anywhere around 80psi in my experience whith my hand pump which is not quite enough in your road tyres but is fine to finish your ride/get home, agreed on a track pump so you can get your pressure right and its so much easier just be aware that different tyres and conditions will require different pressures eg my old schwalbe marathon i liked at 100, my gatorskins up at 115 and tubs on the race bike as high as the pump will go 160
    i need more bikes
  • EarlyGoEarlyGo Posts: 281
    frosty,

    If you have the spare cash then just buy a track pump. Road tyres always go down over time and it's impracticable to pump them up with a hand pump every time you go for a ride. Also the pressure of the tyre affects how the bike handles and the ride quality so you don't want to be guessing with the 'squeeze test'. £30 will do it!

    Regards,

    EarlyGo
  • BobbinogsBobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    Totally agree about the sagacity of investing in a track pump. The Bontrager Charger works great and can be had for under £20 if you shop around.
  • frosty99frosty99 Posts: 115
    Thanks all, sounds like the floor pump is the way forward, will get one asap.
  • giantorangedalegiantorangedale Posts: 79
    Edinburgh cycles own brand pump is on sale for £9.99 at the moment.Get's a good review aswell.
    should of used giantorangecannon
  • sumosprintstarsumosprintstar Posts: 171
    giantorangedale wrote:
    Edinburgh cycles own brand pump is on sale for £9.99 at the moment.Get's a good review aswell.

    +1 Excellent value
  • deswellerdesweller Posts: 5,175
    Nah just get yourself a decent frame pump and you'll never need a floor pump.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • cougiecougie Posts: 22,512
    Got to disagree there - no frame pump comes anywhere near a decent track pump. And the gauge is essential too.
  • Rich HcpRich Hcp Posts: 1,355
    I've got an Edinburgh Cycle Co-Op track pump and it's excellent.

    I use a frame pump as a get me home.
    Richard

    Giving it Large
  • deswellerdesweller Posts: 5,175
    Rich Hcp wrote:
    I use a frame pump as a get me home.

    If you can't get over 100psi on your frame pump within 100 strokes then it's no good.

    I've never understood the concept of a bike-mounted pump as a 'get-you-home'. If you puncture 20 miles into a 120 miles ride then you want the damn thing to reach the pressure that you normally run the tyre at!
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • Lossie LoonLossie Loon Posts: 65
    DesWeller wrote:
    Rich Hcp wrote:
    I use a frame pump as a get me home.

    If you can't get over 100psi on your frame pump within 100 strokes then it's no good.

    I've never understood the concept of a bike-mounted pump as a 'get-you-home'. If you puncture 20 miles into a 120 miles ride then you want the damn thing to reach the pressure that you normally run the tyre at!

    If there's a choice between riding home on a reduced psi or walking all the way home, I'd choose the former.
  • NavrigNavrig Posts: 1,352
    I would suggest a floor pump simply because it is easier to achieve higher pressures however I would challenge the apparent inherent belief that the gauges on these pumps are accurate enough to truly differentiate between a real 85-90-95-100+ psi.

    As longs as you use the same pump each time you pressurise your tyres then there is an increased chance that the pressures are relatively correct. So if you prefer an indicated 100psi for summer road riding and 120psi for racing then a gauge will give you a higher pressure for racing, and that is as accurate as you are likely to get.

    Even then I suspect the gauge accuracy will vary with age/use/temperature and so on.
  • deswellerdesweller Posts: 5,175
    Lossie Loon wrote:
    DesWeller wrote:
    Rich Hcp wrote:
    I use a frame pump as a get me home.

    If you can't get over 100psi on your frame pump within 100 strokes then it's no good.

    I've never understood the concept of a bike-mounted pump as a 'get-you-home'. If you puncture 20 miles into a 120 miles ride then you want the damn thing to reach the pressure that you normally run the tyre at!

    If there's a choice between riding home on a reduced psi or walking all the way home, I'd choose the former.

    I prefer to ride the rest of the route with my tyres at the correct pressure. Riding home on soggy tyres would strike me as a failure to select the correct equipment.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • keef66keef66 Posts: 13,123
    That's why I went for the Topeak Road Morph. I can properly inflate the tyre after a roadside repair.

    Used it exclusively for a couple of years before investing in a Joe Blow Sport for garage use.
  • handfulhandful Posts: 920
    I just bought a Joe Blow Sport and it's great, on offer in Halfords at the moment for £25 if anyone's interested. If you need any other accessories they are also offering 3 for 2 so if you have a couple of mates wanting a track pump you could buy 3 for under £17 each. :!:

    http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_categoryId_165661_productId_178303_langId_-1?msg=&cm_mmc=Shopping-_-Google%20Product%20Search-_-Bikes/Bike%20Accessories%20&%20Bike%20Helmets/Bike%20Pumps-_-Topeak%20Joe%20Blow%20Sport%20Bike%20Pump&source=shopping&cm_mmc=Affiliates-_-AffiliateWindow-_-47868-_-n%2fa&awc=1672_1320736251_c1df28e2b8c589757708a2696b2e5f4f
    Vaaru Titanium Sram Red eTap
    Moda Chord with drop bars and Rival shifters - winter/do it all bike
    Orbea Rise
  • racingcondorracingcondor Posts: 1,434
    +1 on getting a track pump.

    Frame pumps work but as a rule they take forever to get you up to pressure and having a pressure guage is very helpful above about 60psi.
  • cougiecougie Posts: 22,512
    +1 on the Joe Blow. If you havent a track pump - I'd go for one of those on offer.
  • wishitwasallflatwishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    +1 for Joe Blow
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