antispam

My buddy has nitrogen ... says he has to adjust the pressure depending on the weather.. usually does it during peak winter and peak summer.

He is keeping nitrogen only because the tire shop refills them for free (he knows a tech there). My take is nitrogen in tires offers no discerning advantage.

Notorious Tech

Well, if you really used nitrogen you'd understand how much more stable it really is. It's not effectied by temperature swings at all compared to your 78% variety Especially on the bike, it's pretty important to keep the tires at a constant pressure.

"Air is about 78 percent nitrogen, and it is free. But air also contains oxygen (about 16 to 21 percent) and water vapor. Filling tires with 100 percent nitrogen has some important advantages over filling the tires with air.

One is that nitrogen molecules are larger than oxygen molecules, so tires leak less gas over time. Proponents of nitrogen inflation say tires filled with pure nitrogen maintain their pressure longer without having to add make-up air.

In October 2007, Consumer Reports released the results of a test they did on nitrogen filled tires. They inflated a number of used tires, some with air and some with nitrogen, then let the tires sit for a year. The air pressure in all of the tires when then measured to see which ones lost the most/least air. The Consumer Reports test showed the air-filled tires lost an average of 3.5 psi from their initial 30 psi inflation pressure, while the nitrogen-filled tires lost 2.2 psi of pressure (1.3 psi less). Though the difference was not dramatic, it did prove nitrogen-filled tires lose less pressure than air-filled tires. Critics said the Consumer Reports test would have shown more of a dramatic difference between air and nitrogen had the tires been subjected to real world driving conditions (which causes tires to lose pressure even faster).

In a Canadian large-scale truck fleet test, nitrogen-filled tires have shown measurable gains in both fuel economy (3.3%) and tire tread life (up to 86%!).

Another benefit is that pure nitrogen doesn't heat up as fast as air, so the tires run up to 20% cooler. This reduces tire wear and the risk of a sudden blowout when driving at high speed during hot weather.

Also, getting rid of oxygen eliminates oxidation that can attack tires from the inside out. Getting rid of the oxygen and water vapor inside the tire also eliminates the rust inside steel wheels, and corrosion inside aluminum wheels."

http://www.aa1car.com/library/tirepres.htm

snagitseven

All I can say is, I've been using plain old mother earth air in my tires for almost 50 years on over 30 cars (over 240 tires) and I only have to adjust air three or four times a year that I check once a month or so, have never had a high speed blowout (other than hitting a huge pothole), never had a rusted out wheel and never had to replace a tire prematurely due to oxidation. As to gas mileage, I would think that has to do with maintaining correct tire pressure more than having a bit more nitrogen in the tires.

For those that believe it's the best thing since peanut butter and want to spend money on nitrogen filled tires, by all means, have at it. I'll stick with the ordinary old school air from my conveniently located, inexpensive home air compressor 'cause I'm an old school kinda guy. Besides, I need the exercise.

newmoon

I don't believe this. It goes against some of the basic principles I learnt in high school chemistry. Specifically, that all gases increase in pressure with an increase in temperature, including pure nitrogen.

In fact one time I did have my tires filled with nitrogen because it was part of a $99 coupon for a wheel alignment. And I measured the pressures cold and hot, and they did still increase.

But I don't think you'll believe some random guy on the internet, so why don't you just do the simple experiment and actually measure the tire pressures of tires filled with nitrogen when they are cold and hot?

HyperS4

I was only giving my explanations why nitrogen can be better, I dont really care if it works or not. I dont put it in my tires.

MileHighJC

So the conclusion I draw from this conversation (which I do appreciate by the way) is that if my dealer would refill my new tires with Nitrogen at my 5K service for free, then I have absolutely nothing to lose... and perhaps a little less likely to lose pressure over time (although probably not much of an advantage because the P zeros will go back on in the spring), and maybe a little less pressure variance as temperature and altitude change (maybe a discernable advantage as I do drive in a wide variety of temperatures and altitude).

If it was going to cost me $40 to fill them with Nitrogen, I can't see that it would be worth it, especially as the tires will be swapped back to the summer tires in 6 months.

Diogenes

Are you a COSTCO member? They routinely use nitrogen for their tires.

snagitseven

For money, I presume.

Notorious Tech

Wow, you must have it against nitrogen. Jeesh! Costco, Discount Tire, Tire Rack all have FREE nitrogen. Dude, you've said you don't believe in it, move on!

snagitseven

You're right. With good reason. I once had a good friend who almost died of an overdose from a bad batch of nitrogen. He got it at Costco.