how often do you reinflate?

I seem to have to reinflate my tires a LOT lately, maybe its a temperature thing-- most days we've been having a 40+ degree fluctuation, maybe its realted to my attempts to ride my road bike on a nasty gravel road for a mile or two a day...

Michelain IronMan tires, I keep them near max at 115 pounds, but every few days, they are down to the mid 60s. I've set them in a tub, see no bubbles, assume no leaks.

Oh, and while we're on the subject, how many miles do you expect from a set of road tires? With a slick tire, how do you know when its time to replace it?

 

How old are your tubes? Old tubes lose air more quickly than newer tubes. Did you check the valves when you did your leak test? Valves can leak very slowly and can be effected by wide variations in temperature. I run Bontragers and keep them inflated to the max 120 PSI, but I am a heavier rider. I only have to re-inflate once a week at most.

The mileage that you get out of road tires varies with the tire, the riding surface, and your style of riding. I have gotten as high as 8,000 miles on good tires. I would ask my LBS about how to tell when my slicks needed replacement. I have been told that some tires have a wear indicator on them but I haven't found any yet.

 

I inspect tires closely, clean them, and check for glass or anything that may become a problem and pump.

My tires last me about 1800- 2000 miles on the rear. The front is double.

And I changed them both at the same time, but that's just me. Most I think rotate the front to the back.

 

Every ride. I just like to KNOW that they're at the correct pressure.

 

ditto

 

+1. I also check and pump my tires before every ride. Road tires lose air more quickly than mountain bike tires, hence necessisating more attention being paid to them.

I rarely have flats, and I attribute my "luck" to paying close attention to my tire pressures and checking them for embedded glass and other projectiles frequently.

Regards,

Super

 

+1. I like to know I'm up to pressure evrytime I hit the pavement.

As far as air pressure lasting, I have the same issues, pumping every few days. I think it's a function of the wide fluctuation in temps. I don't know the physics, but car tires react the same way, especially during spring and fall, with the fluctuation of temps. Maybe that the valve stem metal expands and contracts a bit, and it only takes a bit to lose 40lbs. of air. I also deflate my tires in the heat a bit when I put my bike in the back of a hot car. I've had that shotgun blast of a tube go off from the heat.

 

I check the pressure once a week, and seldom lose more than 10 lbs. I am using Conti 4000's and get about 3000 miles on the rear, that is after rotating it from the front which has 3000 miles.

 

I suppose the obvious questions are :
Using latex tubes?
Using CO2 inflators?

 

Before *every* single ride. No exceptions. I'm a firm believer that it is the main reason I haven't had a flat in the last 6500 miles.

 

Holy cow, have you entered this into the Guinees Books?

 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with inflating before every single ride. I always ride at 120psi, and whenever I gauge my tires before every ride, they always need about 10psi to bring them up to my riding pressure.

And I can't remember the last time I had flats on a ride (knock on wood).

So it works for me!

Regards,

Super

 

Ah well, good to know my experience is pretty much within the norm.

I have a co2/hand pump but never used it-- I haven't been carrying it on rides less than 40 miles. At home, I use a big electric air compressor, but the hassle of putting the presta/shrader adapters off and on in order use it gets old.

It isn't hard to check every time, its just inconvenient. By the time I get a good reading, I've usually lost enough enough pressure that I need to pump any way...

I'll have to put in some new tubes when rotate the tires.

 

road bike: every ride...just a good idea along with checking for glass/rocks etc.

also, you shouldnt rotate tires. just replace back as needed and when you buy a new, put on front and front tire goes to back or just replace both. if you have a weak rear tire, rotate it to the front and blow out going down a hill at 40mph, your gonna be a poster child for kevlar suits

mountain bike tires i rotate, however. I have yet to have a flat on a knobby tire... at least one that was caused by puncture. Tire lever holes are another thing

 

Road bike: before every big ride. I sometimes skip that step when I use it to commute on short distances.

I live in Montreal and get at least 5 flats a year. Our roads are some of the worse in the world. I straighten my wheels every week, somtimes more. I've had my Lemond for a year and a half and I need to change the back wheel this week. It just cannot be straightened anymore.

I pump up to 125 psi every time I inflate. It only takes about 75-100 km to take it down to 100 under these conditions (the wheels arer constantly hitting bumps, so I guess it forces the air out a lot faster!).

I plan to move to the Vancouver area for bike purposes. Anyone from there can tell me how the roads are?

 

Ditto.

And if I have the luxury, I like to inflate them to pressure the night before I go out riding. Unless there's something horribly wrong they won't lose a significant amount of pressure in the 6 hours I'm asleep, and if something *is* horribly wrong it will be horribly obvious as soon as I wake up in the morning (rather than becoming horribly obvious as I'm trying to ride out the garage door).

 

As a matter of fact, I inflate my tires to my desired pressure the night before morning rides. The pressure holds for the 6-8 hours before the ride.

I strongly believe that if one inflate their tires to desired pressure before rides, practices "tire hygiene" by checking for glass and other projectiles regularly, run their gloved-hand over tires after riding through the inevitable broken bottle on roads, then the number of flats one gets will be greatly reduced. I have been cycling for a long time, and I can say the number of flats I have had can be counted one one hand. I just do not get flats (knock on wood), and I attribute my "luck" to excellent "tire hygiene"

Regards,

Super