Road Cycling - Newbie Question No. 4: Inflating Tires

Here are some basic questions about inflating tires:

How often? I've been riding every day, so I've been inflating my tires every day before the ride. Is this too often? Is once every second day sufficient?

How exact does tire pressure need to be? Sometimes I get it a bit above, sometimes a bit below the recommended pressure for my tires (100 psi). How much tolerance is there? If recommended pressure is 100, can I go to 110 or 120, or must it be exactly 100 every time?

Assuming I pump the tires to exactly 100, there is always a small amount of escaped air when pulling the pump from the valve. I assume this is normal? Can this be safely ignored? Sometimes when removing the pump quite a bit of air escapes - in this case I normally release the valve and start again. Is this correct?

Should tires be left fully inflated between rides?

What are the benefits of higher or lower pressure tires?

Any other tire pumping suggestions or tips?

Ross

Filling your tires every day is a good idea. Tubes lose air slowly, and though they probably wouldn't lose a crucial amount of air in one day, if you pump them every day you guarantee that they have enough pressure. The maximum pressure is a recommendation, but you can put more air in the tire. If you are inflating the tires to 10 pounds or so above the maximum recommendation, you are ok. The tire will take a lot more air than the maximum pressure before it blows off the rim. Whether you should inflate the tires to the maximum or above depends on your personal preference. Do a search of the forums and you will find some discussions.

You can inflate to less than the maximum pressure, too. Whether or not you get pinch flats depends on the conditions of the road, your weight and the pressure in your tires.

Ross,

How often - check it once a week or so.

The tire pressure does not need to be exact, but your should not be inflating 10-20 pounds over the recommended amount. You would be better off a few pounds less then over the recommended amount.

A small amount of air escaping when removing the pump is normal and can be ignored. If a lot escapes, check the level and re-inflate if necessary.

Should tires be left fully inflated between rides? - yes

What are the benefits of higher or lower pressure tires? -
lower: smoother ride
higher: less rolling resistance

Mine need topped off every couple days.

The only possible drawback to inflating somewhat over rated pressure is that the ride may feel too hard for you.

The lower the pressure, the greater likelihood of flats.

I run my tires at max rated or slightly above. A hard-inflated tire will tend to flick sharp foreign objects out of the way instead of allowing them to penetrate. Just make sure your tires & tubes are in good shape.

Originally posted by RossB
Sometimes when removing the pump quite a bit of air escapes
If you have presta stems, the escaping air is most likely only the air in the pump hose.

I know BMX tires the are rated for 85psi but can be safely taken to over 120psi; how true this is for road tires I don't know.

A good tip for avoiding pinch flats is to use a wide rim. A narrow tire will achive the same effect. And rub talc on your tubes before installation so they can move around inside the tire a little bit.

They determine the max pressure of a tire by inflating it until it blows off the rim, then dividing that amount by three, that is how they get the max pressure. So if your tires say 100psi max, then they could be pumped up to 300psi before they blow off the rim, so I think that 120 would not be a big deal.

Pumping up your tires daily is not really necessary.

And as noted above, they figure the recommended pressure based on the rim blowoff pressure.

At over 100 lbs, rolling resistance really does not change much. If you inflate more, you might just get a harsher ride.

A way to determine if your tires have enough air is look down at where they contact the road when you are riding. This assumes a) that you can see that well and B) that you can do this without crashing. If the tire bulges much at the contact point, you probably need more pressure or you will get a pinch flat. If the tire bulges very little, you are fine.

Heavier riders need to put in more pressure then light weights. And larger tires such as 25 mm require less pressure for the same rider then say 20 mm tires. So a 200 lb person on 20 mm tires would need a fair bit more pressure then a 140 lb person on 25 mm tires. Oh by the way, for some reason tire companies can not decide what a mm is. I have seen some 23 mm tires that were larger then other 25 mm tires.

My sew ups are inflatable to 190 psi. I rode them at 150 psi once and it was like riding on wheels of stone.

I pump up max twice a week.They dont lose enough inbetween to worry about.The ride isnt harsh if ya got steel.

How do you like your Fuji bike, shokhead? I'm drooling over Fuji Team.

My front is 700x20 110psi Max. rear is 700x23 120psi Max. I inflate both at 125 psi everytime I go out for a ride, mostly for flat prevention purpose.

I like it a lot.Performane gives you lifetime tuneups.If u get one from performance,join team performance a couple of weeks before you buy to get money back so to speek.

Thanks for the tip, shokhead.:) I'll look into it.

I've got the Fuji Team also and I love it. Very smooth.

TE

Originally posted by The Extreme
I've got the Fuji Team also and I love it. Very smooth.

TE

What year? Have you tried both Aluminum seat stays version and carbon seat stays version? If so, what's your opinion?

Originally posted by allgoo19
What year? Have you tried both Aluminum seat stays version and carbon seat stays version? If so, what's your opinion?

It's a 2003. Actually I didn't know there were 2 different versions and I probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. Either way, I love the bike.

TE

2004 Fuji Team has Carbon fiber seat stays and it seems that they are going to make the model that way for at least some time. I was curious to know if it is an improvement or the other way. It seems that all bicycle makers are following the same trend. Since you already own one, you could be the first one to tell the difference. Let us know.

i fill up my tires to 100psi(cold) every other day. After two days tire pressure drops to about 90-92psi. although its perfectly ok to ride at this pressure, I do uphills on most of my rides, so I do need my tires to be in optimum shape..