Originally Posted by
KiddSisko
Here's what I know about temperature guages:
First of all, I have an outdoor thermometer fixed to my southeast window here in Topanga. When the sun hits it directly around 10am and it reads 120F, I know it's because of the direct sun. By noon, in the shade, I know it's reading normal. It was maybe 96 up here today. Same thing applies to just about every outdoor temp guage -- direct sunlight, or radiating heat from a nearby parking lot or roadway (or AC units) will upwardly misrepresent the actual ambient temperature. And I'm guessing the same applies to bike temp guages. Maybe not over-reading by 10 or more degress, but it has to be affected. What do the bike guage manuals say about direct sunlight and misreadings?
Bike temperature guages may misrepresent the actual ambient air temperature due to sunlight or radiant heat but unless you do your cycling in shade 10 feet off the ground they can be a pretty good indicator of what your are actually feeling. I was out on Saturday in Grimes Canyon. Air temp in the shade was about 101 degrees. Out on the road it peaked at 120
primarily due to the punishing heat radiating off the asphalt. In such conditions I don't give a rats ass what the true ambient temperature is.