Fifty Plus (50+) - Pumping up

I went to ride my singlespeed, Lucky, today because it's been a while. Well, lo -- and behold! -- her tires need some air. So, I whip out the floor pump and start pumping like a mad man (the tyres need 140 pounds of air) but I can't get much over 60 in there. Am I doing something wrong, is the pump unable to perform this task, or is my upper body strength so pitiful that I can't complete this task?

Then, to add insult to injury, I slowly pedalled to the LBS that did the conversion for me to have them pump me up, about 1.5 miles away. The suckers are CLOSED until 11:00 a.m. What kind of bankers hours are those???

Hmmmmph...

1. 140 psi is a lot! Why do you want your tires that hard? I only use 100/110 psi in my tandem.

2. Pumps make a difference. A pump with a long skinny barrel will be easier to pump up to high pressures. If you have presta valves and didn't unscrew the little nut or didn't "burp" the stem, that could explain your problem too.

3. Those are "biker's hours" not banker's hours. The bikd shop guys need that time so that they can ride their own bikes.

Gary,
One of the best bike accessories I have ever purchased was a compressor. At 140 be careful.

Gary,
One of the best bike accessories I have ever purchased was a compressor. At 140 be careful.

Second on both points. As mentioned by retro 100/110 on the tandem but that is with 1.4 tyres. Even my solo only gets 120psi for a serious ride but only 100 for a good ride. Mind you- it is easier to roll at 120 but if the ride is over 3 hours then the body can't take it.

The compressor side- I have a cheap bosch rechargable that will get my tyres up to 90psi. Well it will do two tyres and then it makes a lot of noise and does nothing. (Sounds like my daughters).

A good floor pump will be capable to 100psi. so what have you been sold? Either you are not using it properly or it is time to upgrade the pump aswell as the bike, and the legs, and the lungs and---

Gary......I know you are a "hard" guy, but maybe 140psi is a bit much. I weigh a wispy 170, ride 25mm's, and generally put 95 in back and 90 in front. I ride a variety of surfaces and don't seem to suffer from pinch flats. Harder tires, as all seem to agree, give the impression of speed, but only on very smooth surfaces. They bounce too much on rougher roads, are more prone to flat, have less traction (think sand on the road and you're leaning the bike to turn!) and will rattle your teeth fillings on a long ride. If you have 28mm on Lucky, even more reason to lower the pressure. In fact, 28's or 32's would be great on Lucky. (Assuming Lucky isn't so old that she has 27inch wheels.)

The Max pressure stamped on the tire is just that...a top end....not necessarily or even usually the ideal.

Can we all say on the count of three, 1--- 2--- 3--- KA BAM!
:eek:

Gary please be careful. We don't want Lucky to blow out and take your leg off! Don't exceed 95 psi.

Bob

I think you didn't really want to ride that day. The pump, sensing your ambivalence, refused to cooperate. Gary, drop the money to get that bike you want, and start riding. After a 5 year break from riding, I dropped the dough last february. I'm now 55 lbs lighter and losing the weight was a pleasure. In fact, I miss it when foul weather gets in the way of riding.

Well, there's only one thing worse than being an idiot, and that's demonstrating it for the whole world to see!

Yes, 140 pounds was way over the top; I credit faulty memory for that. When the LBS finally opened and I got Lucky there (which they remembered instantly and fawned over like a newborn babe), they told me 100 pounds or so was ideal. Then they told me about my presta valve, and how you have to open it, bleed it, etc.

Oh? I say.

I then had to endure the deafening silence, knowing full well these guys are professionals - they'll save the guffawing until after I leave the store.

But I learned something from you all and from them, so perhaps it's worth it. Got a nice 14 mile ride on Lucky afterwards, and remembered why she won't be my every-day bike -- 58' frame is too big, saddle is too hard, blah, blah, blah. That said, it still was fun and she's still way cool for short hops to the library, gym, 7-11, etc.

And my pump works just fine, when the damn valve is open!

I think you didn't really want to ride that day. The pump, sensing your ambivalence, refused to cooperate. Gary, drop the money to get that bike you want, and start riding. After a 5 year break from riding, I dropped the dough last february. I'm now 55 lbs lighter and losing the weight was a pleasure. In fact, I miss it when foul weather gets in the way of riding.

I hear ya. And I can feel something stirring deep inside my wallet. It's going to happen, and probably sooner than I think. I do have to figure out how to get through this tax season first, but...

It's inevitable, me thinks!

(Just got a circular from Trek in the mail, and the 1500 is on sale at the end of the month. Uh oh.)

Don't be bothered by presta valves Gary....I still go out half asleep in the morning, clamp on the pump head and then, after two gut-busting strokes, realize I've forgotten to unscrew the valve. Later I'll tell you how I sometimes leave without water bottle, sometimes pump, or forget my helmet's not on my head. My neighbors regularly see me padaling back grumbling 5 minutes later.

P.S. Buy a damned bike....but, if you do, we'll lose the BF institution we call "Gary's Search for New Bike".....sort of a Holy Grail thing. ;)

I was going to say that those are "off season hours" until I saw that you are in San Deigo. (Must be nice.)

140 Lbs.?? Yikes! I run conti Grand Prix tires on my fixie. They pump up to 120 Lbs, max.

D.G.
http://www.matthewsbikes.com/techcorner/prestavalve.htm#

Here's the link to help with this "little problem".
Presta Valve Adapters screw'm on and pump'm up.
Nice and easy.

D.G.
http://www.matthewsbikes.com/techcorner/prestavalve.htm#

Here's the link to help with this "little problem".
Presta Valve Adapters screw'm on and pump'm up.
Nice and easy.

That was amazing. You guys are amazing. The internet is amazing. And I just took my second ride for the day, getting another six miles in before the sun set. I'm amazing too! :D

BAck in '85 a guy built a 4 man recumbent "trike" and tried for 65 MPH. Never made it past 62+. Had two tires on each front axle and 4 tires on the rear axle. Ran 180PSI nitrogen from a gas cylinder to reduce rolling resistance. Blew a tire every other run but each axle had a spare so no crash. He never could get the prima donna cat 1 track racers he had borrowed from the Colorado Springs velodrome to run at the optimum time of day. Rory O'Reilly was there but his big feet would not fit within the fairing.

So, in net effect, you pumped your bicycle pump hose up to 60 psi.

I am sitting here

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

I switched my Schwinn to Presta valves, but never realized that you don't have to push the valve open with the pump hose/clamp as you do on the Shrader valves. When I purchased my new bike, the Presta valve stems were shorter so that the pump hose/clamp would contact the wheel before travelling far enough down over the valve stem to depress the little screw thingy and open the valve.

I actually took the bike back to the store to comlain about it ("how am I ever going to be able to pump up these tires - can't even push the clamp over the valve far enough to open it!!"). At that point, they showed me how the valve can be opened by the pressure of the air as you operate the pump. Was I ever embarrassed. As it turns out, the gush of air that one hears when disengaging the hose clamp is coming from the hose, not from the tire. I never knew that, either.

Go figure.

Caruso

<< 140 psi is a lot! Why do you want your tires that hard? I only use 100/110 psi in my tandem>>

I use 140 psi in my Vredestein Tricomps. They are rated to 145. I weigh 225 and I find this pressure to be good for me. Only one flat in >3000 miles.