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I am pretty new to bicycles.

Got my hands on Kenda Kwest 100 PSI tires with presta valves and I have a couple of questions about inflating them.

  1. Using a floor pump, do I need to pump them a bit over 100 PSI? When taking the pump head off, it feels like the PSI drops a little bit due to airflow.

  2. What's a good floor pump? I just moved and the movers lost mine.

Please kindly let me know. Thanks in advance.

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  • Even though the tires are marked at 100 PSI, most people should be running much less than 100 PSI: sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure
    – Batman
    Mar 31, 2016 at 15:56
  • Just to clarify, the tubes have Presta valves, not the tire :) you should only lose a very marginal amount of air pressure. Nothing to really worry about.
    – Nate W
    Mar 31, 2016 at 15:56

2 Answers 2

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Yes, you let a little pressure out when you disconnect, but just a little. If your pump has a gauge on it, you can check by pumping the tire, reading the gauge, disconnecting the pump, reconnecting the pump and reading the gauge. I only lose 1-2 psi.

We don't do product recommendations here-I would just go down to the local bike shop and get one.

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  • This is a common misconception. See the other answer.
    – ojs
    May 7, 2016 at 7:59
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The puff you hear when you disconnect is mostly air remaining in the pump hose, not the tire. The tube valves are very fast to reseal when you pop the pump off.

Most quality tires have a range of pressures. Some controversy exists on the "best" pressure to run, the current thinking has folks running about 5psi under the upper limit. As someone earlier alluded, Sheldon Brown's website is a wealth of vetted information. Bike shops tend to have the bike pumps that last and work the best.

Personal note, I like a gauge up where I can read it without magnification or stopping my pumping to squat down to read it. Glad you're riding.

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