my tire guage reads 3 lbs low. Several guys in the pits guages are all over the place as well. I hate to buy a new guage and 3 weeks later it is in same situation. Who builds the toughest guage? Are the digital ones less or more impervious to abuse? May just keep mine and keep eye on it. john
I have a Accugauge (sp?) it's a regular dial gauge and even after several years it still reads correct pressure (I check it every other weekend against the expensive tire gauge Moose has). My teammate has the same brand and it is correct also. I have seen lot's of tire gauges including those oil filled ones being way off.
Tell me about it man. My SV was chewing tires up. 2lbs makes a difference I will tell ya that. Messed with suspension, bike felt great then find out my guage is 2lbs low. Used a different guage (accurate one), no more tire eating. I compared mine to two other guages.
I did a Code school last year. Before the first session, a guy came around with a small air tank checking everyone's air pressure. The gauge he was using was one of those "brass spring-loaded rod"-types that every gas station insert-a-quarter compressors have on the end of the hose. (!) I asked him about the accuracy of it and he said, "well geez buddy, don't let XXXX (head mechanic) hear that," because apparently he'd be offended at the idea that someone was questioning their methods, or some such. Meant to check it against my Accugage but I never did. Anyway, I was surprised at what I saw to be a rinky-dink way of checking pressure at a well-regarded track school. Yes, I think a few pounds makes a big difference.
Just check it against the tire guys gauge. I would guess that they have theirs calibrated every so often. At the GNF or cycle jam one year, the Dunlop guy had a thing to check you gauge against their calibrated set up. If you are off a pound or two, your tire gauge isn’t junk, just compensate for it. Mine is 2 lbs off, so I just wrote on some duct tape on the back of the gauge –2 and if I want 32 lbs, I make sure it reads 34.
yep I think that is what I will do, keep it and just check it now and again. It is an accugage, by the way. I do know that the tire guys' guages have been known to be less than accurate, which is somewhat alarming. john
Yea, at a track I ran at the Dunlop guys had a gauge checker too. Some of us started to notice that our gauges were all off about the same 3 lbs. One guy who used a $300 gauge at his job that was used to calibrate other gauges brought it to the track and sure enough the Dunlop gauge was off 3 Lbs.!! So I wouldn't rely on theirs either. Most of the digital gauges I've seen (around $20) are pretty accurate but not as convienient to use as a dial gauge with an air release on it. So I just use the digital to check the accuracy of the dial gauge every so often.
I have a couple digital wal mart cheepo's (9.99 I think) and they read the same as each other, checked with the tire guys once and they were dead on.
The BIG Michelin truck at the AMA races has a cool deal to check your gauge and a pyrometer check device too....very cool deal check them out next time
