TimothyH

Checking tires by hand is not checking pressure. Your fingers can only tell you how hard the tire is, how much the surface of the tire deflects.

An air pressure gauge is the only practical way to measure pressure.


-Tim-

reverborama

Before every ride, although if I am only running a few blocks to the supermarket I might just give them a squeeze.

pdlamb

But with experience, a thumb check can tell you if the pressure is low enough that you need to pump the tires. Depends on the tire and pressure, obviously. But there's not much difference in ride between 90 and 87 psi in my 700Cx32 tires.

Jaxjag

I don't get to ride everyday so I check each time I ride. But my pressure gauge is on the pump and I always need at least a couple pumps even on back to back days to get them to my preferred pressure.

winston63 

I'll buck the trend: with my AWOL, I check the pressure maybe once every two to three weeks. I've almost never lost much air in that time. On the other hand if I'm riding my Kona I'll check before every ride. The AWOL has 42 mm Trigger Sport tires which I run at relatively lower pressure and they just don't seem to lose much air over time. The Kona currently has 28 mm Espoir tires and they do lose air relatively quickly.

TimothyH

If tires are low enough that one can tell by feel then they probably should have been pumped up long ago.


-Tim-

Wileyrat

I check my tires and spin the wheels, then top off the air before every ride.

pdlamb

I usually pump to 90 psi, a thumb check will catch low pressure between 75-80 psi. Slow riding usually is noticeable at about 70 psi, and pinch flats aren't a problem above 60 psi. So the thumb check works well for me.

YMMV.

rydabent

I check before every ride for the simple fact that you can see if a tire has lost more than the usual small amount. That would indicate a small leak from a thorn or something might be present. It is much easier to repair a tire at home than on the trail.

TimothyH

Think about what happens when you ride though.

As an example, an aggressive road rider on a fast group ride could brake very hard into a turn. This could transfer weight so that nearly 100% of the load is on the front tire. Crit and road racers actually practice this.

In your example, 70 psi is when low pressure gets noticeable. My question to you is whether 70 psi (or 75, or 80) is enough for your weight when pushing the bike hard.

OldsCOOL

Good point for the single track MTBers. I keep the tires soft for traction but love diving into corners. Too soft and the tire takes damage with a possible wileout, too hard and traction suffers.

John00

My rear tire doesn't seem to leak at all, the front one very slowly, I give them the a thumb test usually before rides, but only need to top them off about once every month.

GeneO 

I generally pump every ride, but sometimes when I am in a hurry and I am pretty sure they are OK, I just do a feel check. No less often than every other ride though; it doesn't take much time.

.

Wilfred Laurier

Update: I rode my bike on some errands around town yesterday and did a pressure check before starting. With average force my thumb went about 3mm into the front tire and about 2mm into the rear tire, which means to me that I have at least a few more days before I need to add air.

pdlamb

Yep, I was thinking about what happens when I ride.


That's the YMMV part. 75 psi is plenty for my riding. Ergo, the thumb check works fine for me.


Do you ride crits or road races on 32s? They're great for things like commuting because they hold air well enough that you don't have to pump before every ride (although checking is still a good idea), and for lousy roads like you might find on a country ride because they absorb shock so much better than 23s pumped to 110 psi. But again, YMMV.

wphamilton

I have very similar habits, and about the same pressure levels, as pdlamb does. Speaking personally, I don't dive hard into corners when the pressure is lower, and I'll go easier riding over anything rough. In a sense, riding softer when the tires are softer. It's not nearly as vague and subjective as one might think - I can tell you right now that the pressure is 80/85 front/back on the road bike I commuted on this morning and I didn't thumb-check it this morning. I think that if you ride at different pressures habitually you eventually get a feel for it (and I also know that I aired it up last weekend, and how much it loses)

rumrunn6

for the road bike, every ride, but I don't ride much. for the hybrids I just squeeze them with my fingers

Western Flyer 

I pinch the sidewalls before nearly every ride no matter how short. That’s accurate enough to tell me if I have a slow leak or a completely flat tire before I take it off the stand where the bike will have to go back up to make the repair.

Commuting around home I top off the tires with a gauged floor pump once a week.

If I’ve patched a tube I’ll put a gauge on it for a couple of days just to check that I made a good repair and didn’t miss a tiny pinhole.

When doing long distance touring and assuming no flats after a day or two, I know exactly how much pressure is being exhaled and how many pump strokes are needed to top each tire off - usually between 5 to 10 strokes every other day with no gauge being required.

practical

I give my tires the eye test. When I sit on my bike I look down at the rear tire and see how it looks. If it looks a little low, I top it off. If not, then I don't. I usually need to top off about once a week, depending how much I ride.

Flip Flop Rider

maybe once a week

Bearonabike

+1

10 Wheels

With Presta valves, before each ride.

Jumpski

I use my floor pump each day I ride.....

jimmuller 

I pump up my tires with a pump that has a gauge before every ride. On my commuter bike I may skip a day but prefer not to. All but one of my uber sports bikes have sew-up tires with latex tubes so they can lose 30psi in a day. Pumping them up before each ride is essential. The only pinch flat I've ever had was on Gatorskins when I realized after the fact that I had been forgetting to check them.

decosse

Each time I ride.

My Specialized Vita hybrid uses "urban" treaded Spec. Nimbus (28 x 700) with Spec. Schrader-valve tubes. They are supposed to be at 115-125 psi (I go 110-115) but seem to lose about 10 psi overnight.

The LaPierre Sensium with Presta-valved Conti's inside Michelin Dynamic Sports run about 100-105 psi, and only lose a 1-2 psi. I use the pressure gauge on my floor pump, so they always get a couple of strokes.

I used to check every week, but after setting out and having a tire go flat 4 miles from home from what had turned out to be a slow leak, I upped it. I look the tires over pretty well, too. My riding is usually urban/suburban streets with bike lanes which are prone to be full of glass, thorns, etc.