bought a new Milton patented pencil style gauge 20-120 psi. pumped the road bike rear tire to 100psi, pencil gauge reads 98, not bad at all! pumped the front to 90psi pencil gauge reads 86, again not bad at all. when I use the pencil gauge I can hear/feel some air loss as well, so I don't usually measure the tires after initially pumping them. all in all, not losing as much as I thought. I think you are mostly right, most of the air I hear & feel is coming from the hose & I have a long hose. the pump is a craftsman. adapted an old hose & chuck that I liked from a previous pump. I find the Craftsman gauge to be reliable


related, after pumping the bike 2 weeks ago, 2, 25 mile rides during that time, the tire pressures today were in the mid-70s. I guess it pays to pump them fresh, once a week maybe, if I'm using it regularly. not gonna pump it if I'm using the MTB of course