Originally Posted by
Bill in VA
I stopped using a pressure gauge for a bicycle after about 6 uses, for the same reasons. I now only use the educated thumb to feel how hard or soft it feels. I used to use Silca the floor pump gauge, but only to get to the point where I check with my thumb and give it a pump or 2 more of let some air out. Never has a snakebite flat, so it must be working.
Originally Posted by
noimagination
Agree. The thumb test is good enough for bicycle tires.
(May be different if you're a racer - I wouldn't know, never raced.)
A Gatorskin at 80psi feels significantly stiffer to the thumb test than a GP5000 at 100psi.
I'm not saying you should be using a separate pressure gauge, but it's worth looking at your floor pump's gauge to at least get some consistency when you use it, especially if you have more than one bike or set of wheels with different tires.
Originally Posted by
kenshireen
I weigh 180 and average 15 mph when riding. I will drop my pressure to 110/100. I have never had a road flat... only had a flat when my bike was sitting in my garage on the rack.. could not figure... heat was not bad
Consider giving this a listen:
https://cyclingtips.com/2016/08/cycl...and-pressures/
There is a strong tendency for you to *feel* like you are faster when your tires are pumped harder but aside from the increased vibration, there isn't really much to prove it and there are other factors at play such as the 'suspension losses' that they talk about in this podcast, but also the fact that tires wear faster when pumped harder (because you put more pressure on a narrower part of the tread), are more likely to get punctures (because the tread/casing can't deflect around the sharp object), etc.
Also, a recent GCN video tries to combine the effect of 'rolling resistance' and 'suspension losses' on a graph to understand how there might be a sweet spot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dx_y0KVkj8