pressure gauge on track pumps..useless?

Just got a track pump (axiom propel air). The pressure gauge seems way off. Have to pump the tyres rock hard to get it to show 20 psi and it shows different reading if I take it off and put it back on again.
I'm I right in thinking at the £30 mark for a track pumps, the pressure gauges are usually a cheap inaccurate add on, or is it just mine?

It doesn't really matter as long as you pump them up the same each time

that wasn't my question uplink though, was it? 😀

mine's fine.

Well the pressure will go down once you take it off and put it back on.

I've not studied it but I've had other folks' 30psi being way harder than mine. (woof etc)

that wasn't my question uplink though, was it?

No – but how do you know that it isn't correct & the others [& your thumb] are incorrect? 🙂

Every one I've ever used, including ones for the car, have been useless.

8 years old £20 Joe Blow stills shows a reliable 120 psi every time I, eh, blow.
Tested with digital gauge couple of years ago and was only ~3psi over. I cant comment on the reliability of more modern pumps.

Silca gauges seem accurate when compared to each other and other pressure checkers*. They may look old school but are still used by lots of pro teams.

* including my car's electronic doo dah 🙂

I have an Edinburgh bike co-op, one which is utterly rubbish. Tyres will be rock hard before they show 20psi. Seems to be a bit better if you pump a tyre up from flat, but is useless just to plug it on to check/adjust pressues when already inflated.

I have a digital one for the car which is rather handy when combined with the track pump. Can top up the car tyres in no time and then check with the digital one. Unfortunately the digital one won't fit presta valves.

I've got a Joe Blow Max that seems to be fairly consistent. I can't really comment on it's accuracy, as I've nothing to compare it with, but as long as it's consistent it isn't really that important.

I use a cheapish BBB track pump. It seems fairly accurate to me.

My Joe Blow is decent, though it has an annoying lag- the gauge spikes up then has to settle back down to match the tyre. Actually my Tesco one wasn't bad at all either, it read about 5psi over all the time but it was so consistent, that didn't really matter.

Another accurate several year old Joe Blow here too. In answer to your question I would expect a £30 pump to have a reasonably accurate guage; if it was me I'd check it against a guage I knew to be accurate and if it was consistently wrong I'd be after an exchange or a refund…

Lidl track pump is very aCcurate

I've got the Propel Air DLX and it's been fine. You do have to tap the gauge sometimes though.

My Park Tools one is fine. Double checked with a digital gauge recently and was spot on.

does anyone make an mtb specific track-pump?

sounds daft i know, but gauges with a scale upto 140 or whatever don't seem sensitive at the mtb end of the gauge (25-35psi).

i'd love to see / buy a track pump with a gauge that goes up to 50psi.

…it makes sense to me anyway.

You do have to tap the gauge sometimes though

Like they do in films? 🙂

Like they do in films?

Yeah pretty much.

I've recently got a Joe Blow Sport after the previous Beto one lasted 8 months (it looked good but the gauge bust and the valve fitting was a pain). It registered about 10PSI less than the Beto and the needle does have to settle down after pumping. I've no idea which pump is right and but as long as it's consistent I'm not bothered.

Well the pressure will go down once you take it off and put it back on.

The noise of air escaping is air from the pump air line not the tyre. Taking the pump on and off should't have a significant effect on mtb tyres, maybe a little on road tyres and a little more on shocks.