New road cyclist needing help on tyre PSI....

GarethHunt

Hi, I'm new to road bikes and the valve for pumping the tyres up is different, how much air is needed and can anyone suggest the best pump to buy?

Eternal-Bcb

I use a Topeak Mini Dual G. Excellent pump and small enough to put in a saddle bag on mount to my frame. It has a tyre pressure gauge and is dual action so it pumps the tyre on both movements of the cylinder.

About £20 from Halfords, highly recommended!

super_prestige

You are best buying a cheap track pump, and a mini pump to take on a ride.
You will be able to put 100 psi in to the tyres with a track pump.

Gizmodo

Tire pressures http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure
A useful chart here http://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf
Work out your total weight (you + bike and gear) . Split that 60% on the rear, 40% front and the use the chart to lookup the pressure.

You should have a track pump for your home, Topeak Joe Blow about £25, and either a pump or CO2 cartridge to carry on your rides.

rolf_f

Gizmodo wrote:

You should have a track pump for your home, Topeak Joe Blow about £25, and either a pump or CO2 cartridge to carry on your rides.

Definitely not 'a pump OR CO2 cartridge'. If you want CO2 that's fine but make sure you take a pump as well unless you have an understanding support team!

pinno

Rolf F wrote:

Gizmodo wrote:

You should have a track pump for your home, Topeak Joe Blow about £25, and either a pump or CO2 cartridge to carry on your rides.

Definitely not 'a pump OR CO2 cartridge'. If you want CO2 that's fine but make sure you take a pump as well unless you have an understanding support team!

Is this a the beginning of a cat fight ??

'Kin hell. Cake stop and Bottom Bracket has lost its edge so much Rolf and Gizmodo are here !! Whats the world coming to ?
I thought I would do something else on the forum for a change and what do I find?

Gotta go - baby to feed...

GarethHunt

Thanks guys!

simon_masterson

Super Prestige wrote:

You are best buying a cheap track pump, and a mini pump to take on a ride.
You will be able to put 100 psi in to the tyres with a track pump.

You should be able to attain that pressure with a mini pump as well. If you can't it's rubbish and debatably unfit for purpose.

If you and I go out on a jolly and you pack a mini-pump, and we are unfortunate enough to puncture simultaneously, I will be standing around feeling smug while you take a virtual age to pump your tyre up since I use a framefit, but in my view it's perfectly acceptable to use such a pump, as it's much more important to minimise their happening in the first place; unless you are racing there are plenty of good puncture-resistant tyres that do a very good job indeed.

pinno

Latex inner tubes help prevent punctures as well as babies and skin rash !

Gizmodo

pinarello001 wrote:

Latex inner tubes help prevent punctures as well as babies and skin rash !

I tried Latex inner tubes and never had so many punctures. Admittedly most of them were my fault, I seemed to get lots of pinch punctures when fitting them, but had 1 real puncture on the road. I went back to butyl and not had a problem.

pinno

Gizmodo wrote:

pinarello001 wrote:

Latex inner tubes help prevent punctures as well as babies and skin rash !

I tried Latex inner tubes and never had so many punctures. Admittedly most of them were my fault, I seemed to get lots of pinch punctures when fitting them, but had 1 real puncture on the road. I went back to butyl and not had a problem.

Sounds like your a bit agricultural and ham fisted. They are a bit delicate to fit and any spoke holes with a tiny bit of burring will penetrate. Also pinch punctures if you fit them in a hurry. I swapped over from Latex after the Caledonia Etape/Road tacks debacle and I haven't looked back. They roll like tubs to me. No spoke holes on my two sets of wheels, perhaps that has been a factor and Campag rims are soooo bleedin tight, speshly with new Michelins. I am on Conti's now, easier to fit.

On the subject of agriculture, you'll be glad to know that scientists have finally found out the difference between BSE and PMT. One's mad cow disease and one's a little agricultural problem.

rolf_f

pinarello001 wrote:

'Kin hell. Cake stop and Bottom Bracket has lost its edge so much Rolf and Gizmodo are here !! Whats the world coming to ?
I thought I would do something else on the forum for a change and what do I find?

Crikey - here's me regarded as a Cake stop/Bottom bracket inhabitant rather than a lowly commuter for a change! But yes, CS and BB have so lost their edges that they wouldn't even count as butter knives anymore!

Anyway, I've never tried CO2 but there seem to be enough tales on here of people having terminal CO2 problems that it is probably worth encouraging a beginners to think twice before being entirely dependant on CO2.

pinno

Rolf F wrote:

pinarello001 wrote:

'Kin hell. Cake stop and Bottom Bracket has lost its edge so much Rolf and Gizmodo are here !! Whats the world coming to ?
I thought I would do something else on the forum for a change and what do I find?

Crikey - here's me regarded as a Cake stop/Bottom bracket inhabitant rather than a lowly commuter for a change! But yes, CS and BB have so lost their edges that they wouldn't even count as butter knives anymore!

Anyway, I've never tried CO2 but there seem to be enough tales on here of people having terminal CO2 problems that it is probably worth encouraging a beginners to think twice before being entirely dependant on CO2.

Don't use CO2 - use Helium, makes you funnier not ashen grey

Anyways, maybe Workshop/Beginners etc aint so modded ! wahey...