Tyre pressure and punctures.

[Hutch118]

Folks, this will seem like a stupid question but it's this.
My tyres are pumped up with a track pump to the correct pressure before I head out. If I have a puncture, I have a small hand pump I can use but I've read that these can't pump up to the required pressure a racing tyre needs. I suppose it's maybe not that critical but what does everyone do when this happens? Is it just a case of pumping it up as hard as possible before fixing it properly when I get home.

Hutch.

 

[outlash]

Pretty much. You can buy mini track pumps that are a little bigger than those dinky ones that will pump a tyre up to full pressure but they're not strictly necessary. I use this one: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/airwave-motion-floor-mount-mini-pump-2015/rp-prod126133

Tony.

 

[Gez73]

Pretty much unless you can carry C02 canisters. I recently bought a Lezyne mountable pump that is designed like a track pump and can get to decent pressure. The best I could manage prior with a Topeak pump was about 40psi, well below the recommended for my tyres. Only other option is to do what you can on the road and get the track pump on your tyres when you can.

 

[MikeW-71]

Depends which mini pump you have. There are many that are very capable of inflating to 120psi (you might not need 120psi). It's a bit of a guess without a gauge, so nice and firm so it "feels about right" will get you home.

 

[Hutch118]

Cheers for that, I just wasn't sure but figured it would be something simple.

 

[TissoT]

Hutch
You said it in one . A mini pump is a quick fix to get you home
The track pump is used to gain the correct pressure using the gauge .

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

If I pick up a puncture and can't get it up to pressure with the mini pump, I normally stop at the first bike shop I come across and ask to borrow their track pump.

 

[Slioch]

Just pump it up as hard as you can. So long as you've got a semi-decent mini pump you should be able to get enough pressure in to get you home ok.

I normally pump my road bike tyres up to 110 psi using my track pump before any ride. Last week I got a p***ture whilst out, fixed it, and used my hand pump (a Topeak Pocket Rocket) to put as much pressure back into it as I could, stopping pumping just before my eyeballs exploded out of my head. I think I counted around 170 pumps.

This put enough pressure into the tyre to be able to ride the 20 miles back home relatively normally, just backing off on the speed on corners a bit in case the tyre decided to try to roll off the rim. It certainly didn't feel too different from usual, so I assumed I had been able to get a reasonable amount of pressure back into it.
When I got home I checked the pressure, and it was just 60 psi I had got into it, which I was a bit surprised at it felt as if there was more.

Anyway, moral of the story is that running on lower pressures is perfectly do-able so I wouldn't get too hung up on it.

One thing I would suggest though is to practice using your mini pump in the safety of your own home. There's a definite knack to using it correctly so as not to damage the valve stem or rip the tube.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I get 100-110 from my mini-pump a topeak, forget which one its thousands of miles since I used it, and over 11,000 for the front. Though DX springs to mind, mind you the might be to do with cpus, so many flipping numbers.

 

[raleighnut]

Topeak Road Morph will hit 120psi easy and has a pressure guage.

 

[Dirk]

A CO2 cartridge will put more than enough gas in to get you home and only takes a couple of seconds. I usually carry a small mini pump as a back up.

 

[EasyPeez]

The track pump is used to gain the correct pressure using the gauge

Slightly different question to the OP but on the same topic so didn't think it warranted a new thread...

I'm a newbie to road bikes, have only had mine 4 weeks, no p*******s so far so no practice with pumps and presta valves etc for me as yet, but as I'm coming up to 550 miles I thought I ought to check the tyre pressures. I did 43 miles last night no probs and the tyres feel pretty rock hard to me, but when I got home and connected up my track pump (Joe Blow) it was reading just 20psi on the front tyre! I find this hard to believe tbh - would a road tyre with 20psi feel hard still? Cos mine did - hardly any give in them at all when pressed with my thumb. I gave it 4 or 5 pumps and this took it up to around 85psi but by this point the pump was giving lots of resistance to pushing down and I was worried I might explode my tube. I connected it up to the rear tyre and same story - reading 20-30 psi initially, then soon up to 80-90 but lots of resistance from the pump at that point. Tyres were def hard before pumping and afterwards were like rock.
My tyres are 25mm Conti Grand Sports and claim a max psi of 120.
I use the bike for commuting on bad roads quite a bit so some 'give' in the tyre is not necessarily a bad thing comfort wise, but I was really surprised at what the pump was reading last night and how hard it was to get beyond 80psi. Am obv keen to avoid punctures so would appreciate advice on what pressure I need to run them at. Do I need to force more air in? Or could I have a dodgy gauge on my pump (it's only a few months old and barely been used)?
Cheers, Andy

 

[sittingbull]

@EasyPeez .

When you connect the pump head to the valve just a small amount of air escapes from the valve as you dislodge the valve core, enough to take the gauge to 20 psi, the pressure inside the tyre/tube is much higher than this. It's only when you add additional air from the pump that the valve seal inside the tube gradually opens/closes and the pressure in the inner tube equalises with the pressure inside the pump connecting hose. It's only at this point that you get a true reading of the tyre pressure.

Essentially the gauge is reading the pressure inside the pump connecting hose that is required to force open the inner tube valve seal, which will be the same, or fractionally greater than the pressure in the tube.

Sometimes the reverse of what you've noticed can happen. When you start pumping the gauge goes instantly to 90 plus psi. This is because the valve seal is "stuck", it will release itself at which point gauge pressure drops. It's a good idea to depress the valve core once or twice before connecting the pump to prevent this.

Tyre pressures depend on personal preference for comfort and resistance to pinch-flats amongst other factors.

I run 23mm at 100/115 psi (front/rear) and 25mm at 80/90 psi.

Above 90 psi you may well have to put your body-weight behind each stroke of the pump.

 

[raleighnut]

Slightly different question to the OP but on the same topic so didn't think it warranted a new thread...

I'm a newbie to road bikes, have only had mine 4 weeks, no p*******s so far so no practice with pumps and presta valves etc for me as yet, but as I'm coming up to 550 miles I thought I ought to check the tyre pressures. I did 43 miles last night no probs and the tyres feel pretty rock hard to me, but when I got home and connected up my track pump (Joe Blow) it was reading just 20psi on the front tyre! I find this hard to believe tbh - would a road tyre with 20psi feel hard still? Cos mine did - hardly any give in them at all when pressed with my thumb. I gave it 4 or 5 pumps and this took it up to around 85psi but by this point the pump was giving lots of resistance to pushing down and I was worried I might explode my tube. I connected it up to the rear tyre and same story - reading 20-30 psi initially, then soon up to 80-90 but lots of resistance from the pump at that point. Tyres were def hard before pumping and afterwards were like rock.
My tyres are 25mm Conti Grand Sports and claim a max psi of 120.
I use the bike for commuting on bad roads quite a bit so some 'give' in the tyre is not necessarily a bad thing comfort wise, but I was really surprised at what the pump was reading last night and how hard it was to get beyond 80psi. Am obv keen to avoid punctures so would appreciate advice on what pressure I need to run them at. Do I need to force more air in? Or could I have a dodgy gauge on my pump (it's only a few months old and barely been used)?
Cheers, Andy

If the tyre felt hard I'd go for dodgy guage, take it back to the shop if it is still under guarantee and ask them what they think.

 

[KneesUp]

I used to have a little metal adaptor so I could use garage air lines. Of course they were all free then