tyre pressure

davala95

Hi all,

Recently I have been trying to get my tyre pressure nice and high but I don't seem to be able to do it.
I ride with schwalbe blizzard tyres.

I can get them at a high pressure eventually but they don't stay there for long (week max) They aren't punctured because the will stay at a reasonable pressure for ages then. Can anybody recommend a floor pump that will help me get me my desired pressure quickly.

Thanks

rothers_bikeo

http://www.sks-germany.com/?l=en&a=product&r=floor%20pumps&i=2191753745&RENNKOMPRESSOR

sungod

^^^this

bear in mind that road tyres are low volume, so pressure drops quite fast, especially with thinner tubes, i find losing 15-20psi a week is typical, with latex tubes it's even more

if you want consistent pressure, expect to top-up a couple of times a week

sumosprintstar

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... ump-spares

wilshawk

Dont obsess over PSI, its a mugs game. You only need enough pressure to ensure the tyre holds shape and is not 'bulging' at the sides when you are on the bike, any more than that is sacrificing comfort and adding more air weight for no extra gain. Pumping up once per week should be enough.

The back tyre carries a lot of weight so benefits from being pumped to the max recommended on the tyre wall. This is more than enough though and if it loses a little pressure over the week it will still be doing fine. The front tyre should be given far lower PSi, about 2/3 of the tyre max level. This is fine because it carries less weight and because it absorb impacts it needs a little softness.

Any track pump should be good for quickly getting the tyres up, I use a £20 Halfords one and its effortless and quick to get to 85 Psi.

CiB

The usual argument for running at higher pressures is to avoid snake bite punctures when you hit a stone or the edge of a pot hole at speed. There was a fad for running at silly pressures not so long ago but 100+ is the norm; still gives enough comfort and absorbency but stops most pinch flats. I stick some air in mine as & when, maybe every couple of weeks or so.

ricklilley

I have been running on approx 125psi front and rear for ages, but after a conversation with some guys at work who suggested that was too high i went out today with 115 in the front and 120 in the rear, not convinced that ths was enough though.
I'm currently using a track pump i bought from Halfords, works ok, but after recently using a friends Lezyne with the air bleed valve, i want one of them next!
I usually check and top up my tyres once a week.

sungod

best pressure depends on tyre size(s), your weight, and road conditions

unless you're pretty heavy, 125psi sounds really high

90-100 front, and 100-110 rear seems typical for c. 23mm tyres

ricklilley

Well i weigh 92Kg, currently running on Vittoria Rubino Pro Techs 700/23

I took the 115/120psi figures from Vittorias website recommendations, comfort was fine, but at times it felt like the tyres were squirm,ing around under me.

Wacky Racer

I can't believe the pressures some are running at! I run at around 90/95psi and top up every week, and I have no problems at all, and I've not had a puncture for years. A decent track pump gets me up to 95psi in seconds, no effort.

cycologist

New bike had Vittoria Zaffiro tyres fitted. i ran them at 120 psi and thought that they were not very good which refelcted the fact that they were only a cheap tyre. Since lowering the pressure to 100 they seem to be much better, particularly in the wet, and perform much better than i would expect for a tyre costing less than £10. Comfort has also improved and I've not had a pu*ncture after over 4000 mls.

thescouselander

I used to run high pressures in excess of 110 psi. After much experimenting I've settled on 80psi for the front and 90 for the rear on my Conti Gatorskins 700x25. I find this provides the best comfort and best rolling performance and I've only ever had one pinch flat when I hit a huge rick at high speed.

Hoopdriver

I also can not believe some of the silly pressures at which people run their tyres. I weight a too-comfortable 13 stone and on my road bike keep 90-95psi in the rear, 85-90psi front. Tyres are 25mm Conti 4-Season. I ave no trouple whatsoever with flats and the ride is quick and sporty and comfortable.

twoshots

I always inflate to 115/120psi on my Vittoria Pave's, but then I don't check them for weeks so I run less for most of the time. I'm 14+ stone and the Pave's seems to like a bit of extra pressure. The crappy Michelins that I wore bare seemed brutal above 95psi.

I use a cheap Joe Blow track pump, I attempted to get by with a mini pump for a while until I snapped a valve right off in a rush!

evil_breakfast

thescouselander wrote:

I used to run high pressures in excess of 110 psi. After much experimenting I've settled on 80psi for the front and 90 for the rear on my Conti Gatorskins 700x25. I find this provides the best comfort and best rolling performance and I've only ever had one pinch flat when I hit a huge rick at high speed.

adm1

I weigh 12-12.5 stone, run Conti GP4000s 23mm tyres with Mich something or other ultra lightweight tubes. I run them at 100psi, which "feels right". I am running 23mm rims.

The tubes lose 10-15 psi overnight, so before every ride I pop the track pump on and give a couple of quick pumps. Takes about a minute - and I know my tyre pressure is correct for each ride.

The Conti tubes I was running previously were lighter than the Mich ultralights (but don't advertise themselves as such) and lost less air. Go figure. I'll replace the Mich ones as and when I get punctures. I still checked the Contis every ride though.

Mikey23

Similar to me then. Does seem a heck of a lot to lose overnight. I had a spell when I was losing a fair bit overnight and in the bath found a small discharge through the valve. Latest pump up seems to have stopped this and no change for about two weeks. No idea why. Any thoughts?

sungod

Mikey23 wrote:

Similar to me then. Does seem a heck of a lot to lose overnight. I had a spell when I was losing a fair bit overnight and in the bath found a small discharge through the valve. Latest pump up seems to have stopped this and no change for about two weeks. No idea why. Any thoughts?

might be a loose valve core - some are removable, the conti ones usually ship with the cores fairly loose, use a core tool or pliers and do the cores up *tight*

thescouselander

evil_breakfast wrote:

thescouselander wrote:

I used to run high pressures in excess of 110 psi. After much experimenting I've settled on 80psi for the front and 90 for the rear on my Conti Gatorskins 700x25. I find this provides the best comfort and best rolling performance and I've only ever had one pinch flat when I hit a huge rick at high speed.

LOL - The dangers of predictive text!!! Just to clarify, it was actually a rock that I hit.