Why road cyclist's are so fit!

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Finally got round to buying a road bike after lugging aroung 15kilos of mountain bike for the last 2 years (hard going for my 100km sunday morning ride!).

Anyway I was messing around with the tire valves and new bike pump (mmm what is this presta thing?). Managed to deflate the tire in 2 seconds flat... literally.

Tire's are rated from 100 to 130 pounds. I have heard that it is hard to inflate them to this rate but I had no idea!

Finally got them up to 100 but what an effort. How the hell do you get them to 130?

Bloke at the LBS said the pump he sold me would be ok... yeah right, maybe when I metamorphosise into godzilla's lovechild.

I saw a presta to schrader adapter on ebay, reckon's you can use a pump at the servo. Does anyone out there do this? Is it safe?

Cheers

Easiest is to get a floor pump. I use a Silca floor pump to top up my tyres everyday, and the only time I use the mini frame pump is when I get a puncture on the road. There are a few around -- you shouldn't have to pay more than 60 to 80 bucks.

By the way, 130psi is too much, except maybe for big fat guys on super smooth roads. :)

Easiest is to get a floor pump. I use a Silca floor pump to top up my tyres everyday, and the only time I use the mini frame pump is when I get a puncture on the road. There are a few around -- you shouldn't have to pay more than 60 to 80 bucks.

By the way, 130psi is too much, except maybe for big fat guys on super smooth roads. :)
I have a floor pump which was ok for my mountain bike, don't know what the rated pressure it outputs, I will get an adapter and give it a go.

I saw a presta to schrader adapter on ebay, reckon's you can use a pump at the servo. Does anyone out there do this? Is it safe?

Cheers
Yeah they work fine. I use a compressor to pump up my tyres at home and it is schrader while my tyres are presta. Never had a problem using the adaptor.

BTW, you should be able to pick one up for a few dollars at your local bike shop. I think we paid $5 for ours.

Yeah they work fine. I use a compressor to pump up my tyres at home and it is schrader while my tyres are presta. Never had a problem using the adaptor.

BTW, you should be able to pick one up for a few dollars at your local bike shop. I think we paid $5 for ours.
thanks for your responses, might have more questions later... dont go away!

You probably won't get the pressures you need at the servo.

As per the others, use a floor pump. Hopefully your mountain bike one will do the job.

Torpedo7 have one on special at the momenthttp://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/GYPUFNN33&contentId=weeklyspecials.html

Torpedo7 have one on special at the momenthttp://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/GYPUFNN33&contentId=weeklyspecials.html
Mountain bike one was an old car pump, doesn't maintain the right pressure.

Instead I just bought one of these, rated up to 120psi.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/had_beans/pumppic.jpg

Mountain bike one was an old car pump, doesn't maintain the right pressure.

Instead I just bought one of these, rated up to 120psi.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/had_beans/pumppic.jpg
I saw one of them on our local internet trading site...
Wondered how good they are.

Can you please let us know?
Cheers.

I saw one of them on our local internet trading site...
Wondered how good they are.

Can you please let us know?
Cheers.
Has already been mentioned on the forums http://www.cycling.net.au/t341606.html

but I will let you know how it goes, when it arrives.

cheers

The adapter is really cheap, I bought three because I reckon I will lose one or two...they are very very good idea, keep one in my saddle bag, and yes, they will work at the service station...adapter makes pumping really easy as it screws onto the valve (if you have a threaded valve) so the pump shouldnt blow off !!

very good value

I put in 115 each day. I let out the pressure after each ride to about 80

115---me likes a nice even number


also you can check the sidewall of the tires you are using. they might tell you what max psi to fill.
and dont forget the proper rotational direction if they are directional tires

The presta to Schraeder adapters are OKish. Most servos have pissweak compressor resevoirs that are built for low pressure, high volume and can only deliver about 60psi. Good for emergencies only. The other problem is that servo's aren't always going to be in the vicinity of you next flat.

So you can try CO2 but it's an expensive way to pump up a tyre, especially if you stuff it up and fail to actually inflate the tyre.

Hmmm.. back to the pesky pump, which just happens to be the best option. A lot of the work involved in pumping up a tyre with a hand pump come from trying to hold the pump on the valve AND stop the pump stroke from shearing the valve off altogether. You can make life easier by eliminating both.

First use a pump with a locking mechanism. Second, buy a pump that converts to a mini floor pump, or buy one that has a pump head that protrudes out past the sidewall of the tyre when inflated. You can simply place the protruding part of the pump against something solid (like a wall, rock, telegraph pole, riding buddy's head, etc) so that all you need to do is pump. Best if you can do this standing upright so you can lean into the pump stroke to get 120psi with very little arm effort