The new and the old.
Lezyne offers a digital pump gauge retrofit that I couldn’t resist. For $35 US one can pry out the old and thread in the new. The primary benefit for me was reading a digital scale rather than a needle on a gauge, way down there. Yes, I’m old. The new gauge reads out in single digits. The old needle gauge reads out depending on one’s eyesight and ability to see where the needle stops relative to the 2 psi marks. Houston, we have improvement.
The new Lezyne gauge also goes to 300 psi (20.6 bar)! FFS, who cares? This is a bike pump, who needs the 150 psi to 300 psi pressure? The Park and Silca both go up to 220 psi (15.2 bar) which is still 100 psi more than even track racers use. I dare a pump manufacturer to make a road pump that goes from 50 psi to 150 psi. Frank could use it as it still goes up to 150 psi and everyone else might have much more accuracy from the dial. I kid Frank.
The Lezyne digital gauge also claims a maximum 3% error which I assume means plus or minus 1.5 psi at 100 psi. Everything and I mean everything has an error associated with it and I appreciate knowing this error. Nothing is absolute, not even death. I’m not dead yet. The real question is what happens when one hooks all three of these pumps to one manifold. The Silca and the Lezyne were only off by 2 psi but I would not have been surprised to to see them off by 10. The Park and Leyzne were spot on which is reassuring because the Park gauge looks to be a very professional piece of work. Anything is accurate until one has two or more of them for comparison.
Yes, I know this last paragraph will be ignored and I should move it to the top. Should you care more about tire inflation? Yes, you should. Since not one person clicked on this link in my post about chains (yes I’m watching all of you, Google analytics knows everything), the take home message was this: Aero wheels do make a real difference in speed and tire pressure is the biggest (only?) influence on perceived “vertical compliance”/ride stiffness/road feel/comfort. With 25mm tires, one can experiment with lower pressure and not flirt too much with pinch flats. It’s just air; a very cheap way to dial in your ride.
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@gianni saves Velominati again.
Even I've dropped from my beloved 120 to 115 on my 26mm tires, and I have to say I notice the difference. For me, the biggest thing about lower pressure is that shitty tires (by that I mean anything less than FMB) start to flex under power when a fat guy is the one pushing on the pedals; so long as I'm not feeling the flex, I'm happy. (I mean the lateral flex, as in the flex in the direction of bicycle, when you push hard and you feel the rim and tire not move in unison but the tire slightly behind the rim. I can't stand that when I'm huffing and puffing up some climb and the last thing I need to know is that some of my power is going into flexing a tire, not going uphill.)
But when I ride the 26ers at 120 I do notice that I'm getting bounced around more, and I do seem to go slower, or at least I seem to struggle a bit more on the same climbs.
Anyway, I love my Lezyne and I'm now interested in that gauge. My only complaint about their pumps is that with my valve extenders I sometimes can't get the head on tightly, and wind up eventually stripping down the thread. But Branford Bike carries them so I just go get another one for $10.
@SamV
Your bike, kit, bidon, etc. all weigh something, too.
Not true! I clicked that link!! I've had that guy's plaid shirt floating around in my head since!
My riding pal raves about a certain pump head that can go onto any floor pump. Can't recall the make/name right now though, so I'm fucking useless.
Still using a basic Park Tool pump that my VMH got in Prague when she was living there. She thought Park Tool was an Asian company trying to sound Western, but not too edgy...
@Fausto
My father is a mechanical engineer. I love running things by him that I read online or in a forum. Most of the time, he points out that they're a load of BS.
I'm not too picky about tire pressure. The best thing I do each year for my cycling is getting rid of winter hibernation weight. Once that happens in spring, I feel much better and can get back to enjoying my rides. The obvious-yet-amazing thing is that if I'm eating right and sleeping right, everything else falls into place for me, from work to cycling.
@Nate
True. My Bike weighs ~9kg including the wheels. The bidon is another kilo. Let's call it 10 even. Even at 67kg (including kit, helmet, sunnies, shoes, tube, CO2, levers), we're still talking 27/40 which is just north of 60 psi on the front and 70 psi on the back.
@SamV
You are just going to have to put Heavy Water in your Bidons.
@Teocalli
Fucking awesome. I'll have the lab manager at work order some for me. Won't the guys at the club be impressed when I roll up with radioactive refreshment.
Is Heavy Water the type of stuff the dopey fools drink that is laden with carbon footprint morality luggage because it was shipped around the world to your selfish hands?
@Ron
Err...well....no. Then again on the carbon footprint front it's definitely worse, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_water
@rfreese888
It's guaranteed that my tubes won't take air if I don't let a bit out first. I'm relieved to hear it's not just me.
I'll bet I'm also not the only who has a ritual of always doing one tyre before the other at a certain point in the pre-ride preparation.