Tire Gauge, Mine is off 10% which one should I get

[ibike2havefun]

I check it before a ride. That's the last time until the next ride or I get an alarm which I haven't.

+1

I have always assumed (and we all know what that implies) that the 42 psi spec was a cold spec, and that the engineers at Mother Honda accounted for the rise in pressure due to operation when they formulated the baseline number. Or, turned around, maybe they worked out the target operating pressure and derived the cold pressure that would be needed at the start, in order to get to the target pressure when riding.

In either case 42 psi cold is the only number I use.

 

[richpeabody]

Soooooo, I think I may have found my poor wear problems with all my tires since I have owned the ST. While on my last trip my buddy checked my tires for me as I was still getting ready. He thought I was running 40PSI so he checked them for me. I always run 42 front and rear. Come to find out my Acugauge is not accurate! I thought the Acu part stood for accurate but it measures 4psi high (I was only getting 38psi when I thought I had 42. I think that is a HUGE difference! We checked it with 3 different gauges and mine was the only one that was different.
What gauges do you guys use or recommend? I'm tempted to get a few cheap ones and check it with multiple as it appears testing with only one can cause you problems.

 

[richpeabody]

Years ago Schrader was the standard of the industry....
Today Jaco appears to be the best

 

[DeanR]

I have seen my rear tire pressure vary from 40lbs. to over 50lbs. during a day of riding. The front does not vary as much but can easily vary from 36 to 42lbs while riding depending on ambient temperatures and riding conditions.

On summer days my tires pressures routinely go from 42/42 to 47/51.

 

[Coop]

yes, but it seems to be a habit of this forum to take a simple concept and try to turn it into a science project of unnecessary complexity.

It's kind of fun to watch. On one board, the project was to see how many miles synthetic oil can be run before it breaks down. That was before Mobil came out with that gillion mile Mobile 1. I wonder what their next project was.

 

[ST Gui]

Viewing Acu-Gauge's site it looks like what you get at Amazon and the like is the B side (their M-line). For the 'real deal made in USA by US citizens' etc M-line you have to contact them for a list of retailers and use a password at the door – 'Psst! Joe at Acu-Gauge sent me!'. I expect pricing to be more than the $20 RH60X.

 

[Brant]

+1

I have always assumed (and we all know what that implies) that the 42 psi spec was a cold spec, and that the engineers at Mother Honda accounted for the rise in pressure due to operation when they formulated the baseline number. Or, turned around, maybe they worked out the target operating pressure and derived the cold pressure that would be needed at the start, in order to get to the target pressure when riding.

In either case 42 psi cold is the only number I use.

tnman, I would suggest using a quality tire gauge from NAPA.

 

[Brant]

yes, but it seems to be a habit of this forum to take a simple concept and try to turn it into a science project of unnecessary complexity.

Very much agree dwalby!

 

[fnmag]

Very much agree dwalby!

 

[ST Gui]

I arbitrarily decided that being within two P.S.I. of true is good enough for me. I satisfied myself that the Milton pencil gauge achieves that. Because it is so small and convenient that is all that I use now.

Amazon (US) has the S-921 and the S-928 Air/Water filled (??) gauges for $6.45 and $6.99 respectively. I think that'll do.

On a road trip awhile back my ST buddy's $1.99 made over there gauge self-destructed so this may be a good investment.

 

[MidLife]

Air/Water filled (??)

Means the gauge is suitable to use with water ballasted tires (as done for added traction with agricultural vehicles for instance).

 

[ST Gui]

Means the gauge is suitable to use with water ballasted tires (as done for added traction with agricultural vehicles for instance).

Thanks. I had no idea there was such a thing. Well, maybe sorta. As a kid, a friend and I put water in other people's tires as a prank. It was funny if we did it to someone's bicycle tires. I feel better now that I've confessed my criminal past.

 

[the Ferret]

I ride every day so I don't check my tire pressure before every ride. I do check them weekly, unless I would notice one that looked flatish or felt resistance when backing my bikes out of the garage. After a week they may be a pound or two low on my gauge. I just use the same gauge every time. One time it was really hard to back out so I pushed it back in and checked the pressures and the rear tire was at 25 pounds. Inspection found a small nail in one of the sipes.

Have always said don't trust your tire gauge to be dead nuts accurate, but if your ride, steering and handling feel good at 40 on your gauge (which may be from 38 to 42 in reality) everything is fine. If steering feels sluggish, or handling sloppy or it's difficult to push backwards you may want to check your tire pressures and make sure they are reading what they are supposed to on "your" gauge (even though it may be off..but who really knows)

 

[SMSW]

a friend and I put water in other people's tires as a prank. It was funny if we did it to someone's bicycle tires.

I wonder what the statute of limitations is on this heinous crime. Wait! Do I hear sirens.....?

 

[Walleye]

I screwed up a really nice, trusted and ergonomically comfortable digital gauge left by a trucker at an air station. It was necessary to use Slime in my lawn tractor tires that I used like a bushhog and they were full of thorns, used the digital and it got Slime in it and gave readings all over the place. Put Slime in some bicycle tires 20yrs ago and a few days later couldnt get a gauge reading nor put air in with a hand pump, had to take it to the service station to get enough pressure to blast the Slime out.

 

[ST1300 Alicia]

If I have access to a Gauge I always add 10-15 psi extra just in case I pick up a nail or something. If you'll thump the tire hard with you Mag Light and listen you can hear what full sounds like. Everytime I go for a ride I take my Mag Light out of the tank bag and Thump the tires. I learned this trick from a Old Trucker. It's been working Great for me for years.

 

[mello dude]

Ok, I'll bite... A while back when I got pissed off at the cheapo gauge I had been using and took a sledgehammer to it, I decided to get something stupid outrageous for replacement and got this Longacre gauge with a 3 1/2 inch dial. It holds pressure until you release it, and 2 bleed valve buttons on the head, and the chuck swivels to fit wherever you need it. Its a bit OCD, but I get a certain giddy satisfaction of using something that works stupid outrageously well.

 

[dwalby]

I understand the bleed valve, but what's the advantage of having two??

 

[bstig60]

A TPMS is well worth what you pay for it.

 

[fnmag]

Ok, I'll bite... A while back when I got pissed off at the cheapo gauge I had been using and took a sledgehammer to it, I decided to get something stupid outrageous for replacement and got this Longacre gauge with a 3 1/2 inch dial. It holds pressure until you release it, and 2 bleed valve buttons on the head, and the chuck swivels to fit wherever you need it. Its a bit OCD, but I get a certain giddy satisfaction of using something that works stupid outrageously well.

It's always good to splurge every now and then.