Tire Wear, Tire Pressure and Helmets

Brian has three questions; he wants to know if his tires are worn and need replacing and if they should lose pressure on a regular basis. His third question is about his new Giro helmet, he needs advice on fitting. Here is what we have to say

Question:  I have done over 1000k on my road bike, should I replace the tires with new ones?

Do road bikes lose air frequently?

I recently bought a Giro havoc helmet, but after receiving the same & trying it on with the adjustment to max it still does not fit snug, extra pads were given with the helmet, pl advise where should these be fitted to make the helmet fit right? Thanks for your time.

Hi Brian,

First its hard to say whither you need to change your tires or not, 1,000 kilometers is a good distance to get out of your tires, but there are a lot of variables here, your weight, the road conditions in your area, if your tires are at the correct pressure and the age of the tires before you start to use them. All these things affect how long your tire last.

The best thing you can do is look at the tread, is it cut or worn. Inspect the center of the tread for cuts, if it is cut throw it away before it lets you down. Run your finger over the tire, if it feels like it is flat in the middle then its worn, throw it away, it can affect your riding and as it is thin in the middle it is more likely to puncture and leave you with a flat tire on a bike ride. You should really check your tire before every ride or at least once a week; better that than getting stuck in the country with a puncture.

Your second question, “do road bikes lose air frequently” yes they can, butyl tubes (black ones) don’t lose much, but need to be checked regularly for pressure, if you live in an area where the temperatures vary a lot from night to day then they will get soft quicker. Lighter Latex tubes (white ones) are more porous and can go down over night, with them you need to check the pressure every day or ride.

Your helmet problem is a tough one to answer from here. You need to experiment with the pads until it feels comfortable, your head is not a uniform shape, so you need to use different width pads in different places to get a snug fit. It’s always the same when you get anew helmet, but once you’ve got it right it’s not a problem, it’s unlikely that you will put weight on your head!

I hope this helps, but its trial and error with helmet fitting.