As you know I have been out of action from the 8th of May due to my thumb accident and only finally managed to start riding again from last week.

The first thing I have noticed was that the bike felt gummy and not as responsive as I am used to, particularly in the corners. I thought the tyre pressure felt a bit low so I went to the petrol station to check/inflate the tyres and to my surprise the front tyre had about 10psi left and the back one 14.5psi. I got them both up to 33 and now the bike feels proper again.

Amazing what 2 months of inactivity can do to your tyres.

Have you checked your pressure lately?

Yep but i would never trust those industry/petrol station pump readouts as ive pumped my tyres up before, came home and checked the pressure with a proper air pump at home (like those wee red ones only its yellow and about 3 times the size) to find that it had over inflated them by around 5psi on each tyre.

Also the reason your tyres loose pressure is that rubber doesnt hold air in, it over time allows air to push out through tiny mirco holes and there for reduces the pressure with in your tyre. The thicker the rubber the slower the process. Therefore tubed tyres will go flater quicker (9 times out of 10) over non tubed.

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Plough on

Should'nt you also check tyre pressures when cold i.e. you have not ridden the bike as when you do the tyre pressures can slightly increase due to heat?

I check mine every few weeks or when I can be bothered. When the last time I checked them was just before they were fitted to the bike again after a full set of tyres were fitted, the tyre fitters pumped them up to 35 psi because I was not around to tell them what I wanted. I got home and adjusted them to 31 front and 33 rear. Scrubbed then in and had some significant head wobble when pushing the bike, I dropped the front to 30 and it transformed the handling, its perfect. I dropped the rear to 30 as I like the soft feeling it gives so for me with Avons on 30/30 is perfect for my setup and body weight.

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I find the best way to get accurate tyre pressure is to pump them up with one of those big bicycle pump to when the gauge is at about 34-35, then I attach a proper pressure gauge and let out until accurate (I run 34 at back and 32 in front).
I find also that the gauge on the pumps are completely useless.
I check mine weekly and usually need to adjust slightly every other week.

Also, mind you that the pressure will change according to the temperature.

Shame on you - I keep a stick type pressure gauge in my tool roll and check the pressures approx every 300 miles/weekly.

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Tony is right about cold tyre checks.
I have a smallish compressor with a tyre inflator in my shed plus I have a digital gauge that I use to keep a propper eye on them, plus I go for the mark 1 check EVERY TIME I get the bike out for first ride of the day!

YES YES YES!!!

Checked pressure front & back before I left last week & all was good. We hit some lovely windy roads 3 days ago only the bike was all wallowy. Went to the nearest tyre place to find out that the front was 21 and rear 18! Wa Wa Wee Wee!!!! Was rippin those corners like nobodys business

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I check mine every 3 days (with my own pressure gauge), I also knock on the tyres and make sure they sound right every day.

I also run my hand round each tyre/ visually inspect them every evening when I get home to see if anything has got stuck in them.

A bit over the top you might say but it has enabled me to find bits of flint , drawing pins, staples, thorns etc before they get worked right in and cause a puncture on a number of occasions.

that is the way to do it H00v3rman, although we not always have the time to do it, you are right on target there!

Well done.

Should have read this before, My X has been creeping out in the corners a little lately and it was only yesterday i noticed the tyre was not looking that good, rather than wearing flat my rear seemed to be concaved slightly, then i pushed it with my finger and it was very soft, took a slow ride to the garage and it was at 8 psi, pumped it up to 30 and rode home nice and steady, this morning it was flat as a pancake. So not only have i lost a days pay, but have to find a rear distanzia form my bike at a reasonable price, as this one is worn out now. At the moment the best i have is �130 fitted for the rear, not a happy biker at the moment.

If i cant get a distanzia, whats a good back tyre that will be ok with the distanzia on the front.

Jason