How do folks inflate their tires?

[Mr. Protocol]

I went on a (very minor) odyssey the other weekend, looking for a good solution to inflating the tires on my new i180. The righthand tire tends to go soft every couple of weeks.

The problem is that the valve stems on the i180s, unlike the i167 and i170, are really back in there, not poking handily out to the side. It's tough getting to them, and it takes a fair amount of practice (for me anyway) to get anywhere near competent at getting a true pressure reading on a tire gauge.

Ideally I'd like to use a tire pump with a gauge on it, but all the tire pumps I've found have pressure gauges oriented towards bicycle tires: they start at 20psi and go up to 200 and above. This is wrong for Segways by about a factor of ten.

Right now I'm making do with a hand-held tire pressure gauge that I got for free at the Sacramento Segfest, and a bike pump with no gauge. To avoid having to change off too often, I overinflate and then let air out till it's right.

This is a pain.

Has anybody found a tire pump with a gauge in the right range for a Segway?

[Sal]

I use a Radioshack digital tire gauge, with a Topeak handheld tire pump. Both can fit snugly in the upper pouch of the 25.o bag, and take up almost no room at all.

-Sal

P.S. With my pump (topeak - without a pressure gauge), I calculate about 10 pumps per psi.

Think Different
www.apple.com

[SegwayUtah]

This seems to be the "perfect" pump to keep at home:
http://topeak.com/products/pump_010.html

It has a digital gauge on it that gives you real-time pressure.

Here's a site that claims to have it for ~$35.

http://www.bicyclebuys.com/Items01.asp?NavID=moreinfo&SKU=0119694

Chris

[cmonkey]

I got tired of pumping.... so I got one of the co2 cartridge pumps.... yes I have to overfill and let air out, but once you get used to it, it's real easy. The pump is just a bit bigger than the cartridge, and guage from segfest is always on my keychain.

I love my magic carpet!

[W9GFO]

Slime seems to do a good job of holding the air in...

Rich H

The Un-Official Segway Battery FAQ
http://www.spinfoot.com/SegwayBatteryFAQ.html

[Mr. Protocol]

quote:Originally posted by SegwayUtah

This seems to be the "perfect" pump to keep at home:
http://topeak.com/products/pump_010.html

It has a digital gauge on it that gives you real-time pressure.

Here's a site that claims to have it for ~$35.

http://www.bicyclebuys.com/Items01.asp?NavID=moreinfo&SKU=0119694

Chris

Thanks. I do have a digital tire pressure gauge but the head is so fat it's really hard to get a good seal on the i180 valve stem, which as I said, is really buried waaaay back in there. A tire pump with a digital gauge looks like the ideal solution. The valve stem is still really inconvenient but now I'll only have to deal with it once per inflation.

I ordered one of these.

[SegwayUtah]

I'll second Rich regarding Slime. Use "Slime for Tubeless Tires" (the car stuff). It works great.

Chris

[macgeek]

what about those tire air extenders, it adds 2-3" more of valve

Jonathan

"Think outside the car"

[Mr. Protocol]

quote:Originally posted by macgeek

what about those tire air extenders, it adds 2-3" more of valve

The problem is that the valve stem doesn't need to be longer, it needs a 90-degree bend in it. It used to have such a bend: till the i180, all Segway tire valve stems pointed pretty much straight out to the side. In the i180, due to the wheel inserts, they point straight away from the hub, and you have to reach pretty deep into the hole in the wheel to get at 'em.

[yosgof]

My tool of the trade is http://www.topeak.com/products/pump_018.html

- Yossi
http://gallery.photo.net/photo/3365119-lg.jpg