The importance of tyre pressure

[Garry]

Hi everyone, here's a useful tip for new A-Bike owners:

I just had my tyres pumped up to the correct pressure today. I'd always assumed it came from the shop correctly inflated, but I was amazed at the difference and how much faster it runs now! I love this bike even more

Garry

[Izzard]

I purchased my A-bike on eBay (it was sold as "used only twice" / "as new" and I used "Buy It Now" to get it for £135 including recorded delivery). Hopefully I've scored a bargain.

I've also ordered lights for for front and back (£5.97) and a cycle helmet (£15.19). Then I went to www.cyclaire.com and bought one of those 'original' pull-cord pumps (apparently that will work well with the 90 PSI tyres (£16.95). Just waiting for it all to arrive now! I will pump up the tyres when I get it.

Total spent: £173.11

[Amuro Lee]

Hi everyone, here's a useful tip for new A-Bike owners:

I just had my tyres pumped up to the correct pressure today. I'd always assumed it came from the shop correctly inflated, but I was amazed at the difference and how much faster it runs now! I love this bike even more

Garry

Yes, I used to assume that the tyres were pumped up to the correct pressure when I bought it from the shop. However, when I used a pump with a pressure gauge to test the tyres, I found that they were pumped up to 30psi only!
So everybody should pump the tyres up to the correct pressure when you have just bought it from the shop before your first ride.

[laucnj]

hi,

i'm from singapore & have had my a-bike for over 2 weeks now. a question regarding the tyre pressure. will any type of bicycle pump work to inflate the a-bike tyres ? must i specifically buy a bicycle pump that has the correct valve ? thanks for any advise.

[Amuro Lee]

hi,

i'm from singapore & have had my a-bike for over 2 weeks now. a question regarding the tyre pressure. will any type of bicycle pump work to inflate the a-bike tyres ? must i specifically buy a bicycle pump that has the correct valve ? thanks for any advise.

Use a normal bicycle pump is okay. But I suggest you to buy a pump with a pressure gauge on it which can pump the tyres up to the correct tyre prssure.

[laucnj]

Use a normal bicycle pump is okay. But I suggest you to buy a pump with a pressure gauge on it which can pump the tyres to the correct tyre prssure.

hey amuro, thanks for your advise. do you also know if the a-bike spare parts are readily available in hong kong now ?

[Amuro Lee]

Use a normal bicycle pump is okay. But I suggest you to buy a pump with a pressure gauge on it which can pump the tyres to the correct tyre prssure.

hey amuro, thanks for your advise. do you also know if the a-bike spare parts are readily available in hong kong now ?

Hi laucnj,

A-bike spare parts are not available yet in the Hong Kong Web Site:
http://www.abike-shop.com/abike_parts.htm

However, I think we can contact the distributor in Hong Kong if there are damage parts which have to be replaced.

Here is the information of the distributor in Hong Kong:
MHM Marketing Co., Ltd.
Tel: (852)27598988
Fax: (852)27598778
website: http://www.abike-shop.com
email: mhm@mhm.biz.com.hk

Amuro

[laucnj]

Use a normal bicycle pump is okay. But I suggest you to buy a pump with a pressure gauge on it which can pump the tyres to the correct tyre prssure.

hey amuro, thanks for your advise. do you also know if the a-bike spare parts are readily available in hong kong now ?

Hi laucnj,

A-bike spare parts are not available yet in the Hong Kong Web Site:
http://www.abike-shop.com/abike_parts.htm

However, I think we can contact the distributor in Hong Kong if there are damage parts which have to be replaced.

Here is the information of the distributor in Hong Kong:
MHM Marketing Co., Ltd.
Tel: (852)27598988
Fax: (852)27598778
website: http://www.abike-shop.com
email: mhm@mhm.biz.com.hk

Amuro

thanks !!!!

[Amuro Lee]

thanks !!!!

You're welcome.

[Garry]

Actually there is a special kind of pump that is sold by Mayhem. I forgot the name, but it was discussed in this forum a long time ago, try searching this forum for "pump", for the full discussion. I don't know if a normal pump will work also but I suspect this one is much easier at least.

Garry

[Binch Shin]

The pump is Topeak Pocket Shock DGX.
Perfect hermetic pumping is possible.
And the ebay price is USD 32~40.

[Izzard]

I've destroyed both of my wheels' tubes by being too rough with the valves. For some reason, I found it very hard to fit my Cyclaire pump to the valves - I had to push very hard to get it on enough to pump. It can also be quite fiddly lifting the right-angled valve away from the wheel to do this.

In my experimenting I pulled too much on the valves and tears have appeared where the valve is attached to the inner tube.

It's my own fault - I've ordered two new tubes (ouch - expensive) and I'll be more careful next time. Just to let you all know: because the valve is not attached to the wheel (eg with a locking nut), it can be pulled out too far where it snags on the edge of the hole in the wheel that it passes through.

[Amuro Lee]

I've destroyed both of my wheels' tubes by being too rough with the valves. For some reason, I found it very hard to fit my Cyclaire pump to the valves - I had to push very hard to get it on enough to pump. It can also be quite fiddly lifting the right-angled valve away from the wheel to do this.

In my experimenting I pulled too much on the valves and tears have appeared where the valve is attached to the inner tube.

It's my own fault - I've ordered two new tubes (ouch - expensive) and I'll be more careful next time. Just to let you all know: because the valve is not attached to the wheel (eg with a locking nut), it can be pulled out too far where it snags on the edge of the hole in the wheel that it passes through.

I'm sorry to hear about this.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience. I'll be careful when I pump my A-bike next time.

[Amuro Lee]

Actually there is a special kind of pump that is sold by Mayhem. I forgot the name, but it was discussed in this forum a long time ago, try searching this forum for "pump", for the full discussion. I don't know if a normal pump will work also but I suspect this one is much easier at least.

Garry

I use this pump to inflate my A-bike's tyres.

[Izzard]

Looks perfect!

Today I found out why I was having such a hard time with the tyres: the Cyclaire pump I've been using has developed a fault where it leaks air, so it cannot go above about 20 PSI, no matter how much I pump. Naturally I assumed I wasn't attaching it to the tyre properly, which is why I was fighting enough to tear the tubes at the valve

Oh well, "we live and learn", as they say!