Tyre Inflation Advice

[mick1836]

Yesterday whilst halfway into a 40 mile ride I stopped for a snack & coffee only to find upon resuming my front tyre flat , my Cube Agree C:62 SL which I purchased last February is fitted with Schwalbe One 700x25c tyres.
I did a quick visual check of the tyre for any obvious causes for the deflation but didn't see any so I proceeded to inflate the tyre with the Lezyne Alloy Drive ABS pump which I purchased with the bike.

Now I inflate both tyres to 100psi using a floor pump with gauge back home so here's my first question,

Is the Lezyne hand pump capable of inflating a tyre to 100psi and if so after how may 'pumps' I was able to resume after 50 but could feel the tyre wasn't its normal 100psi inflated self.

After about 1 mile the tyre had deflated again so I removed the tyre & inner tube to better check for the cause. I found a pin prick hole in the inner tube but no signs of any object through the tyre wall in the same area, I carefully fully checked the rest of the inner tyre wall but found nothing so I preceded to fit a new spare inner tube which I again inflated with 50 - 60 'pumps'. I resumed my journey back home but found to my surprise after a mile or two the tyre had again deflated.

I eventually got home after several stops to re inflate the tyre.

Now this got me thinking about whether to carry a CO2 inflator but having never used one. Second question, does the CO2 cartridge only inflate one tyre? and to what pressure would it inflate it to?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[Soltydog]

Not sure how many 'pumps' to get to 100psi, but I've never managed it with a hand pump,
CO2 would probably only inflate 1 tyre fully, so you either need to carry a spare cartridge or a hand pump as back up. PSI from a CO2 cartridge depends on size of cartridge & size of tyre. I did see a chart listing PSIs for different tyre sizes, but cant find it at the mo.

edit - link to psi chart http://reviews.mtbr.com/inflation-c...2-sizes/screen-shot-2016-08-01-at-12-48-36-pm

 

[Pale Rider]

A tiny sharp in a tyre - as you have - can be bordering on impossible to find.

If you know the area, a few passes with some emery cloth on the inside of the tyre may at least blunt the sharp you cannot see.

Your hand pump might get the tyre close to 100psi if you do enough repeats.

Bear in mind the 'push test' on modern tyres is not a reliable indicator of pressure due to the puncture protection belt.

Do you need 100psi?

After an arms race of ever increasing pressures, the general thinking now is 80-90psi is plenty for even a narrowish road tyre.

 

[raleighnut]

Topeak Road Morph pump,


Like a mini 'track pump' will hit 100psi easy.

 

[mjr]

Hand pumps rated to 120-160psi can usually reach 100 in practice without a silly number of pumps. Get one with a gauge because even if you carried a separate gauge, swapping between it and the pump would be annoying at the roadside.

CO2 will inflate to whatever you leave the valve open until. Again, get an inflator with a gauge like http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-hybrid-co2-mini-pump-race/

 

[byegad]

I carry CO2, a couple of spare bottles for it and a pump. I use the pump to get the pressure up until the tyre is partially inflated then CO2 to get to riding pressure. Once home let the tyre down and re-inflate with a track or foot pump as CO2 passes through the inner tube wall far easier than normal air.

 

[Ian H]

Bear in mind the 'push test' on modern tyres is not a reliable indicator of pressure due to the puncture protection belt.

Squeeze the sidewalls.

 

[Sharky]

....... I found a pin prick hole in the inner tube ........

If I can find the hole in the inner, I would always patch it on the roadside and keep the good tube as backup. If the tyre is kept in the same position and unsure whether the cause of the puncture has been removed, the patch will give extra protection and hopefully get you home. If the tyre goes down again and is in the same place, then diligent inspection might spot it and you still have a good tube to fall back on.

 

[Racing roadkill]

On my bikes with pneumatic tyres, I use a gas inflator with a 32 gram canister. That is plenty to get 2 25mm tyres up to 80 psi. Just remember to fully deflate the tyres when you get back home, then pump back up to full pressure with a track pump.

 

[Dan B]

I've never liked the idea of CO2 because what do you do with the empties? Can they be refilled? Recycled?

 

[HLaB]

Yesterday whilst halfway into a 40 mile ride I stopped for a snack & coffee only to find upon resuming my front tyre flat , my Cube Agree C:62 SL which I purchased last February is fitted with Schwalbe One 700x25c tyres.
I did a quick visual check of the tyre for any obvious causes for the deflation but didn't see any so I proceeded to inflate the tyre with the Lezyne Alloy Drive ABS pump which I purchased with the bike.

Now I inflate both tyres to 100psi using a floor pump with gauge back home so here's my first question,

Is the Lezyne hand pump capable of inflating a tyre to 100psi and if so after how may 'pumps' I was able to resume after 50 but could feel the tyre wasn't its normal 100psi inflated self.

After about 1 mile the tyre had deflated again so I removed the tyre & inner tube to better check for the cause. I found a pin prick hole in the inner tube but no signs of any object through the tyre wall in the same area, I carefully fully checked the rest of the inner tyre wall but found nothing so I preceded to fit a new spare inner tube which I again inflated with 50 - 60 'pumps'. I resumed my journey back home but found to my surprise after a mile or two the tyre had again deflated.

I eventually got home after several stops to re inflate the tyre.

Now this got me thinking about whether to carry a CO2 inflator but having never used one. Second question, does the CO2 cartridge only inflate one tyre? and to what pressure would it inflate it to?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

With a tiny hole like that a hand pump doesn't fully open up a hole and you can ride it home whereas a CO2 canister immediately opens it and deflates the tube so much its unride-able. In the event the CO2 is wasted and if thats all you carry you are stuck Many a time I've ridden home and noticed the tyre was a wee bit soft and topped it up to pressure with the track pump only to find it was flat a bit later.

 

[vickster]

I've never liked the idea of CO2 because what do you do with the empties? Can they be refilled? Recycled?

Most just seem to chuck them in the gutter or a hedge along with gel wrappers

 

[Svendo]

With my Topeak mini morph and a bike hut clone I have, it takes 150 pumps to get to ~100 PSI at home in the warm and dry. On the roadside Im never as efficient so aim for 200 and usually find it's between 80-100 PSI when I get home.

 

[RoubaixCube]

Topeak Road Morph pump,

View attachment 392470
Like a mini 'track pump' will hit 100psi easy.

Ive got one of these (Turbo Morph G to be model specific) Not had to use mine yet touch wood. The morph was an upgrade from a Topeak Rocket pump which would easily do about 60-70PSi with a little effort if i remember correctly. Thats enough pressure to see you to the nearest bike shop/petrol station or get you home if its only a few miles more.

 

[mangid]

Isn't the Alloy Drive is for mountain bikes, it's a higher volume lower pressure, Max 90Psi quoted on the website.

I have a Lezyne Road Drive on my bikes, and I normally reckon 180+ strokes to get above 90psi, so 2 strokes per psi, yes I do count.

Co2 on a 23mm tyre gets me to just above 100, that doesn't use all the Co2 in the canister, but seems to be the max pressure. For some reason they go down a lot quicker (over a week will lose 20 or so), so I normally reinflate with the track pump when I get home. I always carry 2 canisters, it is a lot less phaff than pumping away.

Rule is the find the bugger that caused the puncture. Keep going until you can stand the cold no more, in all likelihood it is still there.