Quick glance tire pressure check

[cruppelt]

I had a few folks wonder at our Auburn Tech-meet at Bryans house why I didn't want to put in the popular steel elbow valve stem with my new back tire. I put in the very short straight stem off Curvy Girls ebay shop instead, and here are the pictures as to the why.

These pressure indicators weigh just about the same as a 1/4 ounce weight, and I've tested them to start showing enough yellow at a quick glance to know that you're low at being just 2 PSI under. They can be ordered in even numbers at every 2 PSI, and I've bought both of these as 42s (personal choice, you can get one 40 and one 42 if you want). Here is the best part: They were $1.60 each including shipping (do a quick ebay search and you'll find them). This is the third bike I'm using these on, and I'm also using these on our cages as well.

I've put a 1/4 ounce weight on the opposite side of the wheel for now; I know it's not perfect since the weight is farther away from the center of the wheel then the pressure indicator, but it seems good enough for now until I get a chance again to fully balance the wheels with these things on. I could not notice any difference on the road, and I went up to about 100mph real quick to check if I could feel any imbalance.

Sorry for the dirty rims , I have a 1/3 of a mile gravel access I go over every day, and I've given up cleaning the wheels too often... :dribble: I also have extremely hard well water, so just rinsing the gravel off would leave white drying marks that are then nearly impossible to ever get rid off again, so every washing has to have a full wipe-down included.

Back wheel with the short curvy girl stems

Weight on opposite side of rim

Front wheel with long rubber stem. I already have a short steel one for this as well, just waiting for the next front tire.

I know this is not anywhere as nice as a full monitor system that also shows you temp and resulting pressure change, but for me with the bike always being parked in an attached garage, it's priceless to be able to just glance at the wheels in the morning before I commute to work, and to know as a result that they're not low!!!

 

[canucklehead-biker]

Very elegant and cost-effective alternative to a full-up monitoring system. I'll have to check them out. Thanks for the post.

Griff

 

[Wee Willy]

Sorry for the dirty rims , I have a 1/3 of a mile gravel access I go over every day, and I've given up cleaning the wheels too often... :dribble: I also have extremely hard well water, so just rinsing the gravel off would leave white drying marks that are then nearly impossible to ever get rid off again, so every washing has to have a full wipe-down included.

Yeah...those rims are were pretty disgusting to behold. :dribble: Just make sure it doesn't happen again.

The little colored thingys are pretty cool though.

One item to note-these devices depress the valve in the stem so they can access the internal pressure. This means the valve in the stem no longer seals the tire...now the valve cap is doing that job. Not good or bad...just a thing to note. When using these just check that the seal is clean and serviceable each install.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

W2

 

[Patriot]

they might leak on their own...if they are manufactured properly and seal well at first, the rubber seal deterioates over time and they will generally leak down the road eventually.

Just be careful and be aware.

I'm happy to check my pressures ever few weeks which gets me down there to examine the rims, brake parts, etc. I also find that more than 3-4 psi off my target pressures front and back make a difference in how the bike feels to me in spirited twisty riding.

Wish you well.

let's ride safe and be careful out there,

Mike in Nawlins'

 

[cruppelt]

they might leak on their own...if they are manufactured properly and seal well at first, the rubber seal deterioates over time and they will generally leak down the road eventually.

I've tried them on another car before, but I had them on my van the longest now continuously. It's been well over 5 years now, and absolutely no leakage. I understand what you are saying logically, but I think just the fact that you do not have to remove them to check air pressure every so often and then recap again, helps the rubber to seal well for much longer then it might otherwise.

Also, if you really want to buy a few extra to change them every couple of years it would not break the bank! :lol:

 

[RadioHowie]

I use a visual method as well....

If it looks like this

it needs air,

 

[cruppelt]

One item to note-these devices depress the valve in the stem so they can access the internal pressure. This means the valve in the stem no longer seals the tire...now the valve cap is doing that job. Not good or bad...just a thing to note. When using these just check that the seal is clean and functional each install.

Thanks for pointing this out - funny thing though since I was looking into the high priced pressure monitors out there before I went back to my tried and trusty low cost method.

The often ridiculously expensive pressure monitor systems out there come in exactly two flavors; one uses a transmitter piece that goes on the inside of the valve stem. I have read about quite a few of these failing. At that point you either rip the tire off just to replace that transmitter, or you have to wait until the next standard tire change before you get data again.

But the other flavor uses transmitter caps that are on top of the valve stem, exactly the same way as what my things do. So I guess if you want your valves to keep doing their designated job, you just gotta stay away from them!!

 

[LDRydr]

I had a set of these on a previous bike, and one leaked. Luckily it was in the garage. I threw the other one away.

The thing to remember about the "expensive" TPM systems is they alert you when the loss occurs. The cap-replacement ones only show you when you stop the bike and look at them. When the bike is stopped I don't mind stooping down and checking them each day with a gauge. But I have a Smartire TPM system for when I ride, not for when I'm stopped. If I just ran over something and pressure is dropping, and I'm about to head out across the very hot desert of Nevada in the summer I want to know about it before I get too far out, not when I start feeling the bike handle funny. BTW, my TPM sensors are inside the rim, and also show temp.

YMMV of course.

 

[Patriot]

I've seen stems/caps that only check the pressure when you press the button on top of them...I believe Slime makes a set like this

(Slime 20091 Quick Check Tire Pressure Cap Indicator

 

[S76]

Thanks for the post. I think they are pretty neat. Yeah, they could leak, a normal vlave stem can leak, but at least this thing will tell you if it does.

I think the value is this. Every time you check your air pressure you loose some air. People that check their tires often find they need to add air often, so they conclude, you better check your tires often. Well maybe they need air because they check their tires too often. If people would stop checking their tires so often they probably wouldn't need any air so often.

Or something like that......Where was I going with this?

Oh, yeah, with these things you don't have to loose air to know what's in your tire. I'll bet with these things you only need to add air like twice a year or something.

Cruppelt,

Do you find using these you seldom need to add air?

 

[C&C]

Good idea, but, earlier version of this theme were notorious for leaking. Perhaps the version you are using are of better quality; these devices are all but ignored by the automobile community as hazards.

 

[FJR Flyer]

+1 on the Curvy Girl short metal stems. I put them on after I had a rubber stem crack and leak (after less than a year installed). I use the TireGard monitor with the stems.

 

[cruppelt]

Double post!

 

[cruppelt]

Cruppelt,
Do you find using these you seldom need to add air?

My answer to this is with the 1/3 mile crushed rock gravel road I have (I moved to this house in December of 2004), and these things on all my tires (one bike and three cages), I only EVER needed to add air so far if I actually have either a rock pushed in through the tread or actually a nail from the turn-in across the median on the highway. And I DID have a few of these happen over the years with my cages!!! So I only ever needed air when the tires needed special attention due to a puncture of some sort, with one notable exception. I've cupped one Michelin Gold Standard front tire on my bike at the time in 2006 because I ran low based on a stupid FAILED VALVE, and ever since I've had these things on my bikes also; before that I just had them on the cars. Depending on the bike though you might have to change the valve stems first to be able to use these things, some bikes do have factory 90° stems. Adding weight to bent stems is not a good idea in my book.

As to the comparison of these while doing a LD ride, OF COURSE a built in system is a much better and safer way, I never intended to say that it wasn't!!! But for my 36 mile commute to work, the quick glance every morning definitely beats putting the pressure gauge on and loosing at best a fraction of a PSI every time...

Good idea, but, earlier version of this theme were notorious for leaking. Perhaps the version you are using are of better quality; these devices are all but ignored by the automobile community as hazards.

As I tried to point out, I HAVE been using exactly the same style of these things for quite a few years now, and I have never had one leak on me yet. I always make sure the valve stem top is clean when I put them on, but that's about it. I've always bought the same style though as pictured above, I know there are other styles out there, can't comment as to those. I also have a mini compressor on all my cars and now also on my FJR. If one of these starts to leak, I can always pull it off and use the valve in the tire again.

 

[FjrVfr]

Cruppelt - I like the cost/benefit ratio on this one. I just ordered up a set along with the short stems. They'll go on with the PR2s I've got waiting in the garage.

Thanks for posting!

 

[HotRodZilla]

these devices are all but ignored by the automobile community as hazards.

Not entirely true. Our Nissan Murano came with a set of them and Chevy, Toyota, Hyundai, and a couple of others mount them regularly. I don't think the ones on our Murano looked as good of quality as these ones do and they never leaked in the 3 years we had that car.

Hell, for what equates to about $4 a set shipped, you could buy a set every year and never worry about them leaking.

 

[dcarver]

Hopefully these are better. I tried various mfrs in 06, and all failed open to leak. With this setup the shrader valve is open, tire pressure hits a diaphram thus raising the green 'flag'. All of mine had diaphram failures. Keep us posted - I think they are a good idea assuming they are better made these days.

 

[johndaub]

I use the TireGard monitor with the stems.

I bought the TireGard monitor despite the warnings on the possible leakage since tje valve stem is held open. This was last July and I still have not convinced the manufacturer that they should not operate the way they do for me. I plan to write a review here on my frustrations but will summarize it here:

The monitor usally reads the last updated pressure for a couple of hours to a couple of days to a couple of weeks. It seems to randomly update and often it is only one of the tires (sometimes front, sometimes rear, rarely both). The manufacturer says that "that is how they work, they do not update until the pressure changes enough". I said that, upon warming up for a few miles, the pressure should change 3-4 psi in the positive direction. They said that that may not be enough for an update but argued whether the tire pressure really changed upon riding unless I verified with a gauge. It is great when the temperature changed changed this spring to check the temperature using the TireGard: The TireGard said the tires were still the 35 degrees from February but, when I left the house, it was 65 degrees (air conditioned tires?). Further, the monitor is designed to turn off on its own after 20 minutes of no signal from the tire sensors. What that means in practice is, if the tire pressures are not changing "enough" every twenty minutes, the monitor turns off. I was finally on a long trip and had to turn the monitor on most every 20 minutes. If you do not notice that it turned off when you hit that nail, tough luck. Before you all blast me, I really think that my monitor is defective but I have already spent money to send it back once and all they did was replace the sensors. I want to be sure I know what they will do before I spend another $15 to send it back.

On another note, my first set of sensors did seem to leak, but the replacements do not seem to (except when I take them off since the TireGard had not updated for two weeks). It is possible that they are sensitive to how tight you put them on (instructions say something like "not too tight").

 

[Woketman]

Got a link to buy these on eBay or where ever? Great find, thanks!!!