Remember to air up those tires!

[SandyLS]

My grandson (12 years old) went on our first supported ride of the year last weekend, The Women on Wheels Ride, Mason Michigan. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. We both enjoyed the great fruit and cookies at the rest stops and the yummy lunch. Only negative was that we were so slow. Everyone passed us. I decided it must have something to do with riding with the kid even though he assured that he could go faster and I did make him stay behind me. (I thought that way I could keep better track of him on the roads) We had all day to do our 18 miles so there was no rush. The whole idea was to have a great day of bonding with the grandson, mission accomplished. At the end of the ride our speed was just under 12mph.
When we got home Hubby took one look at my bike and said that the tires looked like they could use some air. I bought my new road bike in April and have put on about 500 miles since then. Some how, it never occurred to me to check the air pressure. After all, they didn’t look flat to me. Guess what, the bike rides much better with air in the tires!
Grandson says that he will go riding with me anytime, just what I was hoping to hear.

[Pax]

Good tip! It's easy to ignore 'em if they look fine.


I had to go out an buy the appropriate type of pressure gauge this weekend, the one for my motorcycles and car only goes up to 60lbs. and the tires on the road bike need to be around 100-115lbs. Oops!

[Steph_in_TX]

Maybe we are a tad anal, but we check tire pressue before every ride. With a couple of trips out of town and other things, my bike sat for a couple of weeks and lost some pressure. I can't imagine what you'd lose over 6 months. Enjoy the new ride!

[bikerchick68]

yikes! yep, always check air pressure every ride... and also always check your quick release skewers before every ride to... you just want to make sure they haven't somehow loosened up on ya... it would be bad to have a wheel come off while riding...

glad you had a good ride with your grandson... what a cool thing to do together!!!

[newrider]

Sandy, airing up my tires was the quickest way for me to increase my average mph, too (you'll be amazed!) "I never air up my car tires, what do you mean my bike tires need air before every ride??"

Congrats on the quality time with your grandson. Neither of you will ever regret it!

[caligurl]

i check my tires before i leave on each and every ride... i give them the thumb push test!

[Grog]

Road, high-pressure tires can loose up to 3 lbs pressure a day. I re-inflate mine every other ride or so. Makes a BIG difference on speed and protects wheel rims.

[SpinSis]

I check the air pressure before every ride and often find myself between 5-10 lbs under. Tire gauges are cheap (check out Nashbar.com)...as I reminded my BF this weekend. We were prepping for a 20 mile ride Sat. morning and I was filling my tires. I offered to fill his and of course he said yes (grr...me in my nightgown wondering why I offered). His tires were only at 60lbs! Thank goodness I checked! He had no idea they had gotten that low!

Safe riding to all.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I not only check my tires each time I ride - I always add air. While you can get by with adding air every couple of days, I highly recommend running your tires at the recommended pressure, and that isn't going to happen if your pump and your bike don't have a regular acquaintance.

--- Denise

[mtbdarby]

WOW, am I glad I read this thread. I'm used to riding mountain bike at 30 psi. I can't believe road tires are supposed to be over 100?!!! Perhaps that's why I'm a little slow on the road, lol.

So I'm converting my hybrid bike to a road bike. Any ideas how I figure out what kind of tires to put on it? I was going to do a recovery rider tonight - any takers on if I check my pressure and put some air in my tires? Oh veh!

Dar

[shewhobikes]

I was late for a 52-mile ride Saturday morning and hurriedly threw my gear together, gave the tires the 'thumb test' and pushed off. I could not figure out why I was having such a hard time. Got dropped early and never caught up till the rest stop. Headed out again and my friend Steve said, 'Your back tire looks low.' Sure enough, we put CO2 in and I was off and running.

Believe it or not, that's the first time I've ever headed out without checking tire pressure with the gauge and adding air. I won't make that mistake again!

Thanks for the tip on the leavers. I'll make that part of the routine from now on.

Congrats on riding with the grandson. Good times!

[KSH]

Yea, I bought this nice tire pump, and I am scared to use it, because I can't seem to get the attachment to the tire (?? what is the stick called where you put the air in ) ) on and off without a HUGE struggle.

I hit my hand the first time I tried to do it on my own and it hurt for 2 days.

So now, I look pathetic and ask guys to pump my tires up. Sad, I know.

[Monica]

The other day I was at the bike shop and they pointed to me that the pressure in my tires was too low. I had a little pump I was carrying with me for emergencies (never used it) but I was using the service station with the adapter once in a while.

I ended buying a nice pump and then got the ‘Air Pressure 101’ course from the kids. That was so much fun because they were so happy to show me even if I am more than old enough to be their mother.

Now I check the pressure before every ride and almost every time I have to add some air.

Monica

[maryellen]

i'm a firm believer in checking (and invariably filling) the tires before every ride. Using a good quality floor pump makes the process a breeze.

Maryellen

[Honeywell23]

I like to check things on my bike before going too. It's called.. "HUNI GO LOOK AT MY BIKE" you gotta love having a guy who rides and knows more than you