mdezrin

I recently bought Conti Gators for my road bike. The shop that put them on said that I should deflate my tubes when I'm not riding (even for a few hours) and especially if it is hot. He said I'll get blowouts if I leave them too long at max pressure (120).

I should have asked more questions but is this really an issue? Is it a function of the tube or the tire? Both? Or just hot temps? If true, wouldn't that also mean I should not inflate to a full 120 on really hot days because the heat from the roads will also cause the air to expand?

Thanks for helping to try and clarify if this is really an issue.

JerrySTL

What size and how much do you weigh? There's a good chance that you don't need max pressure anyway. I'm 215 lbs and ride on 700x25 Conti GP4000s. I put 95 psi in the front and 105 in the rear.

I've seen a couple of tires pop while in the sun. Just last week my daughter's bike had a tire do this. Her husband put 120 psi in the tires and she had it in the back of her car. The tire blew out through a previous cut that was booted. The other time was on a tandem that had rather old tires on it.

pdlamb

Where do you live (and ride)? If you inflate to 120 psi in a 70F shop and then go ride long steep downhill runs in the Mojave desert, you might be courting trouble. In more reasonable climes, it shouldn't be a problem.

A closely related question might be, why do you pump your tires up to 120 psi? Ease off a bit, say to 100 psi, and you can ignore the heat and leave the tires alone. You might even find the ride is a bit more comfortable.

Bill Kapaun

That would mean you couldn't go for a long ride?
BULL

GaIslander

I ride in the summer in Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida with 90 degree temps. Whats the old expression?, "hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement" ? All I use are Conti Gatorskins. I pump them up to 120 psi all the time and I have never had a problem. I wouldn't worry about it.

Jarrett2

I've been running Gators at 120psi for about 3,000 miles.

I ride in 104 degree Texas summers.

No deflating, no blowouts.

Look for a new LBS

lostarchitect 

Tire pressure should be a factor of your weight, the bike's weight, and the tire size. You very likely do not need them to be at 120psi and you are getting poorer ride quality and more flats by riding them this high.

If you give us all the relevant info we can help.

SkyDog75

No, it's not an issue. You can leave those tires fully inflated to their maximum rated pressure for any length of time without risking a blowout.

As for the "hot day" comment... Air expands with heat and thus tire pressure increases as the tire gets warmer. But it would take a significant increase in temperature to increase pressure enough to cause a blowout. So long as you don't air up your tires to max pressure at the North Pole and then go for a ride in Death Valley, you'll be fine.

Blowout fears aside, you may want to think about running at lower pressure anyway. Maximum pressure isn't necessarily ideal pressure, which varies with rider weight and tire size.

You can easily find all sorts of info and graphs via Google relating to ideal tire pressure. Here's a page with lots of good info:
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2010/...-and-pressure/

dsbrantjr

Here are some articles which may help you to make an informed decision regarding tire pressures:
https://www.bikequarterly.com/images/TireDrop.pdf
https://www.bccclub.org/documents/Tireinflation.pdf