Gauging Interest

Another box from Topeak shows up and I get to play bike mechanic make believe.

I get excite about tools.  More excite when they're something I can actually use.

I've written in the past about how important tire pressure is to me on a rigid single speed.  One to two PSI either way can make a huge difference in ride quality.  It takes me awhile to figure out pressure for different front tires, but once I know it, I stick with it.  Used to be 16.5PSI in an Ardent 2.4, but for me, right now, that's 15PSI in a Rekon 2.6.  11PSI in the Minion DHR+ 3.0.

If I count the gauges in my house right now (including the ones on floor pumps and my compressor), I'd come up with six.  Now it's seven.

The Topeak Shuttle Gauge Digital has arrived.

It does what any decent air pressure gauge should do.  The head rotates so you can read it in just about any position you, the bike, or the wheel are in at the moment you decide you need to get with the checking of the things.

And there's a convenient bleed button for s-l-o-w-l-y letting out a little pressure at a time (crucial for anal compulsivity happiness).

A bunch of other features you can find on just about any digital air gauge designed with bikes in mind; auto-off, .5PSI accuracy, Presta or Schrader compatibility... ho hum and sigh.

What makes it different?

You can hook it directly to your pump head and get an accurate reading while pumping...

as opposed to something closer to 20PSI than 10PSI, so mebbe 18PSI or 17PSI or 19 PSI that you'd be guessing with on most floor pump gauges.

Also, if you're an over-pumper and then bleed down kinda person, the thumb lock lever will keep it locked on the valve while you bleed out the excess air as opposed to a gauge you might fumble with letting out a whole PSI or two when you only wanted to let .5PSI go.

You might say, "I don't need all these features in a gauge," and I'd get that.  Kinda like those multi-tools with a bottle opener for someone that uses SPD pedals and has a brain.

But...

This will be handy when traveling and borrowing pumps with high pressure gauges that don't read to 1PSI, and the locking feature will be kinda nice when I'm trying to get a super accurate reading when I'm rushing around in the minutes before a race situation with trembling hands.

I like it.  All the other pressure gauges got bumped down a peg, and mebbe my finicky, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't SKS unit will live out its remaining days on "a farm in the country."