Best way to check tyre pressures

S

speshboy

Likes Bikes
Getting new wheels so I'm changing from Schrader valve to presta. That means I need to get a new tyre pressure gauge. 2 options- new pump with pressure gauge or new pressure gauge. For the pump option i'm looking at the Topeak Joe Blow Mountain pump.

http://www.topeak.com/products/Pumps/jb_mountain

Anyone tried one? Are the gauges on Topeak pumps accurate?

Any suggestions on a good pressure gauge?

Thanks
 
mitchy_

mitchy_

Llama calmer
i've got the joeblow sport ii and it seems pretty accurate going off my standalone pressure gauge.
 
c3024446

c3024446

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I just bought a JB Mountain. Boy that thing puts some air in quickly. Does require more effort to pump each stroke though. Gauge seems pretty good.
 
harmonix1234

harmonix1234

Eats Squid
Practice.
The good ol' 'Stick the thumb into the tyre' test.

Sounds unreliable, but do it enough and I guarantee you'll be able to pick it to within 5-10 psi in no time.
Last night I gave the 'ol thumb test to my roadie after not pumping it up for about a month. Figured it was around 80psi. Floor pump had it at 80psi on the mark.
Probably couldn't do it that good again though :)

I also have a digital pocket topeak guage which is very accurate, and the guage on my lezyne floor pump is also very accurate.
I think you'd be pretty safe using any commercially produced bike specific pump as long as it a reputable brand. They'd all have to have a tolerance for inaccuracies, but that would be so insiginificant.
Even if the guage was 2 psi out, which is a huge margin of error, it's only 2 psi in your tyre and you probably wouldn't notice the difference.
My Topeak digital guage had a little beeper in it and would beep three times when it had a solid reading to let you know. But the transducer in it stopped working and I had to pull it apart and re-attach the wires to it to get the beep beep again.
Small fry problems. But still a little annoying.
 
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MARKL

MARKL

Eats Squid
Absolute accuracy is irrelevant, it only needs to be consistent. You will find the pressures that work for you fairly quickly.

As above you probably won't notice the difference anyway even if they are out by 10%
 
S

speshboy

Likes Bikes
Thanks for the opinions guys. MARKL - think you're right, it just needs to be consistent. I looked at the Topeak digital gauge, pretty fancy but read a few reviews saying it was not consistent.

c3024446 - where did you get your pump from and how much was it?
 
rowdyflat

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
I know you will hate this but I never use a gauge .
After a few years of the the thumb push its a fairly good way to tell I even use it on car tyres.
 
S

speshboy

Likes Bikes
Gez there are some mountain bikers out there with really sensitive thumbs :) No point using those adapters. My current pump doesn't have a pressure gauge and my current pressure gauge only does schrader
 
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T-Rex

T-Rex

Template denier
The answer to your question kinda depends on where you sit in the food chain....

Ol' T-Rex, not renowned for his speed or agility, will just plop his fat arse on the saddle and check if the rims are touching the ground. If not, the tyre pressures are ok.

T-Rex Junior on the other hand, can feel 2psi difference in a tubeless DH tyre, so needs one of those Topeak digital tyre guages to set his pressures.

We have two Lezene high volume pumps, which are a very good quality track type pump, and I don't trust the built in guage on either.

The other advantage of having a separate guage, is you can use anyone's pump to set your tyres just the way you want.
 
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