Seized pressure gauge

I have one of these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-micro-floor-drive-hp-abs-pump-with-gauge/

Over the winter the grease inside it has dried up so it doesn't move freely anymore.

If I clean it out with white spirit, should I be careful what I re-grease it with? I don't want to cloud the plastic.

You shouldn't need to use a pressure gauge in the first place. Most people are born with two, one on each hand and they call them thumbs. Pressure gauges are stupid things attached to pumps, to appeal to idiots and make them spend more money. They are completely and utterly pointless. They add more complexity, weight and expense to your pump. They provide extra chances of leaks and further opportunities to go wrong or fail (as you're experiencing now). They take the energy that could have been usefully employed putting air in your tube, to push an inaccurate needle, round a hard to read dial. Their only function is to satisfy the wants and needs of complete mechanical incompetents or those anal and sad weirdoes, whose day will be spoilt, if they know one tyre has 2 pounds per square inch, more pressure than the other.

As a practical measure, you should know exactly how hard or supple you like to run your tyres and know what that feels like to your thumb. Their benefits of thumb pressure gauges are many. They are free, simple, easily calibrated, self lubricating and unless you are a complete moron, difficult to loose in a cluttered work shop. With a little practice, you can get tyres easily within a couple of pounds of each other and that is plenty fine for the needs of a any and all cyclists and that includes the pros.

The benefits of a pressure gauge are reliable comfort and grip.

You can make do without but that's not the point.

Also that's not the question they asked.

Excellent third post.

The only thing worse than blindly following metrics over common sense is belittling those who find them useful as a rough guide.

In any case, do you think I can tell what the pressure is with a precision better than 5 PSI with that thing? Of course not.

Bit of finish line it is.

Silicone grease, if you haven't got any can bring you over some.

Silicone grease, if you haven't got any can bring you over some.

Ta for the offer. Will check the shed first as I think there's a can in there.

I wasn't at the time, trying to belittle you. I gave you bloody good and sound advice based on (although you don't know it), many years of professional mechanicing experience. I took the time and made the efort, to inject a bit of humour into my post. Hopefully I got you thinking about what is important to know about your tyre pressures and what is not. Perhaps as a result, you will become more self relient, confident and competant in looking after your bike. It might also give you good pointers for which features to look for, when purchasing a pump in the future.

Bicycles are simple machines and there is much to be appreciated in that simplicity. But in our world, there is a tendancy to make things overly complex in an effort to reach greater level of perfection. Often the results are less than satisfactory but people don't seem to understand. You spent money on an idiot device, which you don't need and dosn't work. But even if it worked flawlessly, it would never be able to significantly improve your cyling pleasure. It will still be harder to cycle up hills, than down. You will still get rained on. You will still get cut up by ignorant motorists. Arse holes will still try to steel your bike. You got the exact same advice in the exact same manner that I dispence daily to customers walking into Spa Cycles. Some walk out not purchasing anything and are better off for the experience.

I would never have thought to put grease in such a device, I would go for the lightest oil I had readily available. For me, that would not be FinishLine (my favourite general cycle oil) but machine oil, either from my hair clippers or girlfriend's sewing machine.

Had you considered a fresh career in a field that requires fewer social skills?

I think he is doing quite well trying to stifle demand for something which he thinks as clearly unneccessary given his expert thumbs. Those of us without these expert pressure sensing genes in our thumbs who just want to know if the tyre is there or thereabouts hard enough to get us home and onto a proper pump are clearly in the wrong. Calling us idiots because of our faulty genetic makeup is not helping, blaming our parents might be useful for not passing these thumb sensors on (although the missing gene may go back generations, possibly pre-dating the pneumatic tyre and cursing our entire blood lines).

Buried in his piece is some sound advice, sewing machine oil, I was about to pop on with a suggestion of good old 3 in 1, but I won't bother now.

His post is a bit like recycling the metals from old PCB's though- is there something of value in there? Yes, but the price of extracting it from the dross is too high to make it a viable proposition.

^^ Repped and ^ repped...

5 star thread, will keep checking for updates...

but machine oil, either from my hair clippers or girlfriend's sewing machine.

You're trying to convince us you have a girlfriend?

I think not.

I've seen the light now.

In the bin with my pressure gauges, torque wrench, heart rate monitor, speedometer, tape measure, kitchen & bathroom scales, geiger counter ( wtf am I doing with one of those? ) and all those other pointless measuring devices that evolution should have provided me with.

Currently checking the spoke tension on a new wheel build with my tongue.

**Friends **

snail has not made any friends yet

.

You got the exact same advice in the exact same manner that I dispence daily to customers walking into Spa Cycles. Some walk out not purchasing anything and are better off for the experience.

Can I offer you a job? It sounds like you'll be needing one soon...

I took the time and made the efort, to inject a bit of humour into my post.

Don't mistake snarky comments for humour as well.

There is a world of difference.

I've seen the light now.

In the bin with my pressure gauges, torque wrench, heart rate monitor, speedometer, tape measure, kitchen & bathroom scales, geiger counter ( wtf am I doing with one of those? )

You can tell by how much skin is hanging off just how much you've been exposed. Also, fewer annoying noises.

I've seen the light now.

In the bin with my pressure gauges, torque wrench, heart rate monitor, speedometer, tape measure, kitchen & bathroom scales, geiger counter ( wtf am I doing with one of those? ) and all those other pointless measuring devices that evolution should have provided me with.

Currently checking the spoke tension on a new wheel build with my tongue.

I use a simple scale of Evolutionary gubbins

Face red? Heart rate increased sufficiently
Hair moving? Speed adequate
Still see penis? Not fat yet / scoble alert
Hair dropping out? Radiation increased radically

Thus far I am adequately served, though my tyres feel rather soft...

Those of us without these expert pressure sensing genes in our thumbs.

it's called evolution bitches

I bet you only have 5 toes on each foot as well don't you...

I used to shop at Spa Cycles too.

deletes account

But they have a grumpy mechanic, they must be good

I can imagine the conversations that go on in their workshop...

"snail we've had another complaint from a customer, apparently you fitted some marathon plus tyres to their bike and then sent them on their way with 40 psi in the tyres, why was that?"

"they were rock solid when they left here, I even used my thumb on them as well as giving them a bit of a kick with my foot, they're probably using a wholly inaccurate method to check the pressure like a guage or something"

I use a simple scale of Evolutionary gubbins

Face red? Heart rate increased sufficiently
Hair moving? Speed adequate
Still see penis? Not fat yet / scoble alert
Hair dropping out? Radiation increased radically

Thus far I am adequately served, though my tyres feel rather soft...

I reckon my tyres are ok. I'm more than a little concerned about those other things though :-/

Maybe you just have an inflexible neck or your crotch is outside your optimal focal range.

Maybe you just have an inflexible neck or your crotch is outside your optimal gocal range.

Perhaps I should ask dj about his special stretching routine...