Can you check by pressing two thumbs full force on the tire, for example you should roughly see very little movement maybe a couple of millimetres. This is a crude way to test and you should use a gauge but like I said should the tires be rock solid and a full double thumb press should pretty much show no impression. Or is that too inflated?
Tire pressure
- Thread starter jsmoke
- Start date
Caporegime
Get a tyre gauge.
are you drunk?
I'm just a novice, trying to learn like you pro's.
Come now, don't play the injured soldier. Nevermind the finer details, you didn't even state if it's a road bike or mountain bike.
Soldato
that's a completely pointless test. how do you know how much pressure you're applying with each squeeze?! get a pump with a built in guage, they can be had for just a few quid.
Commissario
I like my 95 psi (indicated).
Soldato
Think op owns a push bike, or is a bit special
Soldato
I got one of these recently : https://www.topeak.com/global/en/products/gauges/351-smartgauge-d2
Turned out 100 PSI on my (admittedly old & cheap) track pump is actually 60 to 70 PSI.
Turned out 100 PSI on my (admittedly old & cheap) track pump is actually 60 to 70 PSI.
What he said, topeak d2 is a good guage.
Sensible answer.. The thumb test is only good enough to let you know whether your tyres so flat your in danger of getting snake bite punctures or not (that's when the rim hits the ground and pierces the inner tube).
The correct pressure for you depends on a lot of factors, your weight, your riding style, the type of tyre you have.
Too much pressure and the ride will be harsh, too little and you'll get snake bites.
A digital guage is a good idea so you can tune the pressure to your personal preference.
For example, 25psi is too low on my mountain bike, much above 30psi is too firm. 27psi is just about right.
There's no way you can tell a 2 or 3 PSI difference just by gripping the tyre with your hand.
Edit, road bikes will generally run a lot more pressure than that, but the key thing is to get a reliable pressure guage, so you can repeat readings, compare like for like pressures.
Even if the guage itself is not 100% scientifically accurate, you'll have a repeatable benchmark to check against, and cheap alalog gauges can be all over the shop.
Sensible answer.. The thumb test is only good enough to let you know whether your tyres so flat your in danger of getting snake bite punctures or not (that's when the rim hits the ground and pierces the inner tube).
The correct pressure for you depends on a lot of factors, your weight, your riding style, the type of tyre you have.
Too much pressure and the ride will be harsh, too little and you'll get snake bites.
A digital guage is a good idea so you can tune the pressure to your personal preference.
For example, 25psi is too low on my mountain bike, much above 30psi is too firm. 27psi is just about right.
There's no way you can tell a 2 or 3 PSI difference just by gripping the tyre with your hand.
Edit, road bikes will generally run a lot more pressure than that, but the key thing is to get a reliable pressure guage, so you can repeat readings, compare like for like pressures.
Even if the guage itself is not 100% scientifically accurate, you'll have a repeatable benchmark to check against, and cheap alalog gauges can be all over the shop.
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All totally depends on tyre type/TPI, tyre width, rim width, rider weight and what you're riding. I can squish mine with my little finger but I'm running wide tyres (28mm) on wide rims (21cm) and want comfort (70PSI front 75 rear).
Soldato
I'm 13.6st, I run 120PSi on 23mm tyres. And I do let the PSi dip, I just use two thumbs at each size, if it feels kinda hard it's ok, if it feels kinda soft it needs a pump.