Why do people advise checking tire pressure daily?
04-14-15, 08:59 PM
#26
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People with thin lightweight tubes and high pressure tires lose air more quickly.
I check by squeezing the tire, maybe not daily but frequently enough to not be surprised if I developed a slow leak. With thicker tubes and 90-100 pressure I might lose one psi per day, certainly less than two and the rate diminishes as the pressure gets lower so I'll go as much as two or three weeks between airing up.
If you don't care whether the tire has 80 or 100 psi (I don't) then there's no reason to air it up frequently.
I check by squeezing the tire, maybe not daily but frequently enough to not be surprised if I developed a slow leak. With thicker tubes and 90-100 pressure I might lose one psi per day, certainly less than two and the rate diminishes as the pressure gets lower so I'll go as much as two or three weeks between airing up.
If you don't care whether the tire has 80 or 100 psi (I don't) then there's no reason to air it up frequently.
I just expected to lose air quicker because EVERYONE stressed checking pressure every single day.
I'm just kind of confused why my real world xperince doesn't match the advice of every single cyclist I've discussed the matter with. Curiosity and all. I'm a noob to all this.
04-14-15, 09:18 PM
#27
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Flats of any kind suck, but pinch flats are at least somewhat preventable, so maybe there's an element of guilt and shame at past experiences behind it? 
On my bikes, I have specific pressures in mind for each tire size, so I don't inflate them much above those targets (unless the bike is going into storage for a while.) That necessitates more frequent checking and pumping, but I don't mind.
On my bikes, I have specific pressures in mind for each tire size, so I don't inflate them much above those targets (unless the bike is going into storage for a while.) That necessitates more frequent checking and pumping, but I don't mind.
04-16-15, 08:49 PM
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You don't, not with your track record of pressure loss. Once a week would be sufficient IMO
04-16-15, 09:14 PM
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I pinch test before every ride. If ether tire feels even imaginarily soft... I put the pump to both tires. I don't keep "tire inflation records"... But I doubt the tires ever get ridden on more than three times without being connected to a pump.
04-17-15, 07:56 AM
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I might add that making sure your tires have the right pressure wards off pinch flats. Also as I say I always check the pressure before I ride. Generally the pressure is only down a few pounds. But--------------if all of a sudden the pressure is down more than usual, I start checking for leads caused by thorns or small glass chips.
Bottom line here is it is better to be able to fix leaks at home than on the road.
Bottom line here is it is better to be able to fix leaks at home than on the road.
04-17-15, 09:16 AM
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I air up my tires before every ride...a couple of pumps in each tire is about 30 seconds total. Changing a tube on the road because of a pinch flat is about 5 minutes total...I'd rather ride my bike for those 5 minutes than change a tube.
04-17-15, 12:52 PM
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It takes about 30 seconds to top my front and rear tire pressure.
04-17-15, 02:17 PM
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I do a pinch test before every ride, and actually check/top off pressure once a week or so. I usually check/top off before an especially long ride (for some definition of especially long that varies throughout the season).
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04-18-15, 09:11 AM
#35
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Why do people advise checking tire pressure daily?
In my experience when tubes get old they start losing more air...
04-18-15, 09:30 AM
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It depends on how they are stored. I've seen lots of tubes that are 30 years old and welded to the tire that still hold air quite adequately. If the same tube were stored open on a garage bench, it would be a pile of rubber dust inside of 5 years.
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