So just awaiting a new to me bike with 27.5 2.8 rear and a 26 X 4 front tires is it best to get a digital gauge to check the tyre pressure or can I just get away with the track pump gauge lenzye model?

I would like to get the most out of the bike…..

Yes. I normally run at 7psi thought I’d be wild and try 6.
Felt like my tyre was going to come off.

Nah. I’ve managed for years without.

Digital gauge will certainly help see a consistent number, which is what you want for tuning at low pressures. Used a topeak digital on holiday recently to check and set DH tyre pressure with procore fitted (as no other way to check procore correctly inflated), happily read consistently between the 50psi and 15psi range we were using.

Be aware though that even though they are digital they are still calibrated at a higher pressure so the ‘truth’ of the number you get may still vary compared to other gauges. Not really a problem as the consistency is good so just need to remember to take (and give) advice on pressures with a pinch of salt.

For my fatbike I got a low pressure specific analogue one, nice piece of kit but not cheap.

Short answer:
As Stato highlights, what you want is a consistent reading so stick with the same gauge, once you’ve made up your mind what you are using.

Long story:
I have a Lezyne track pump but the gauge has no markings/indication under 20 psi so everything would have been guess work.

I then got a topeak smarthead gauge. That worked well enough. Although mine then went a bit ‘odd’ after a few months. I could not get a reading off it.

I’d seen the topeak fat bike pump on sale and bought one but, despite having a sub 30psi gauge, when compared to a friends topeak gauge it was completely different. Judging by limited experience of fatbike tyre thumb squeeze the digital gauge felt more accurate. (In fact he gave me the gauge as he didn’t use it in the end). I did experiment with both plus my Lezyne and another track pump all at 30 psi on my mtb and it was the fat bike pump that was ‘out’ the most in the end. 😡

I’d love one of those analog ones but think I’ve spent enough on tyre pressure already 😆

Digital gauges might be easier to read but don’t kid yourself that they are necessarily more accurate.

OP if you’re the sort of person that can actually feel 1 psi difference in a 26×4 then a digital gauge will come in useful

It’s the consistency and being able to measure in smaller increments rather than absolute accuracy that is the benefit of a decent gauge. Even the Topeak digital gauge is pretty coarse at low pressures where you need to be able to measure in fractions of PSI since going up or down 1 PSI can be 10% or more change.

Not known to be psi sensitive…..

Going from 8psi to 10psi on a fat/plus tyre is the equivalent percentage change of going from 30psi to 36psi on a standard tyre (i.e. small changes have a bigger impact at lower pressures) so pressure accuracy is important, yes.

However, as others have said if you find the sweet spot for you and then stick with the same track pump then you shouldn’t have a problem as you’ll maintain consistency.

I’ve just bought the topeak smart head one for use with the fattie, it seems to work ok

Better off going by feel and experimenting.
Dependence on a gauge will only lead to confusion.

Better off going by feel and experimenting.
Dependence on a gauge will only lead to confusion.

Going off feel all the time is great unless your tired and cant tell, or dont want to stop after riding 5 min to find out the tyre is too soft (but by how much?). Ride by feel to work out what you like, pressure gauge to work out what that is, then you can get straight to that point for next time. Or even better, straight to a different point for riding different places/terrain! Wow, its like, amazing.

I have a Lezyne trackpump with a digital gauge – cannot vouch for it’s accuracy but at least it gives me a reading between 5 and 10 psi which is where I run my tyres. Even 1-2 psi can make a difference to how a tyre handles. The only time I’ve gone on ‘feel’ has been in the Arctic where it was simply a case of dropping the pressure to the point where you can ride without the rim bottoming out/tyre burping and get some grip rather than pushing – final pressure was probably 1psi

I’ve had http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361102408905?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT on my Ebay wishlist for a while, but given I’ve not been cycling much at all due to bad health and when I have I’ve been running ~28/30PSI on tarmac, I’ve not felt the need to more accurately guage an off-road ~10/12PSI than my Phaart Trump Deluxe.

I ordered one of those analogue gauges that STATO linked to and either it’s not working or my track pump is massively inaccurate. If it is that means I have been running my tyres massively under inflated for years, decades even. Track pump says 18 psi and gauge says 12 psi (29+ chronicle)

Track pump probably goes to 150psi though, so there will always be some inaccuracy at the extremes. My track pump barely registers anything below 20, infact id guess the friction in the needle causes more than 2psi error at any point on the dial!

(that’s not to say the new gauge is more ‘true’, but at least it shows the same value each time, to a finer level of accuracy).