Track pumps

UndercoverElephant

Hi Chaps,

I was inflating my tyres before the Sportive on Saturday, and the top of my Aldi track pump pinged off. It is now useless as useless can be. As such I'm in the market for a new one. Anyone have any recommendations? I reckon I can slip £30-£35 under the radar.

Cheers.

Wallace1492

Joe Blow does it for me:
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/topeak-j ... 60288.html

the_hundredth_idiot

I've a got a Park Tools one (PFP-2, I think) and haven't been very impressed. I went for mine because of the brand - but I have to deflate my tyres every time as trying to top up an already inflated tyre seems impossible. Bit of a pain.

Kieran_Burns

I just got one from Bike Hut. (Halfords) Works really well. I've been happily able to get up to 120psi with it and the reversable connectors allows for schrader and presta valves - you really don't lose a whole heap of air when fitting it either.

If it works....

il_principe

I've had this Park Tool Pump for I guess 4 years or so now and it's done me proud. Great bit of kit, very well made.

david2

Track pumps aren't something to get too worked up about really, simple, well developed technology, the ones worthy of comment are the ones that don't work as they should be the exception. Things to look for I guess are a steel barrel, a head that allows attachment to presta or schraeder valves and a reliable pressure gauge. My 15 year old Joe Blow satisfies those criteria as, I am sure, does any model made by Blackburn, Topeak or Park tools.
Get the cheapest one you can that has the three things I mentioned.

shoulder_of_orion

I have a track pump I picked up in a Condor sale 10 years ago for a tenner. It's been brilliant. One issue with it, it was leaking air out of the bottom, but I just needed to "twist the pipes a bit", (that's the technical term for it btw) and it was fine again.

A decent track pump is a massive labour saving device. I'm not the expert but I doubt you have to drop £30+ to get a good one.

Try PBK and wiggle and look for discounts...

Jamey

When threads about track pumps come up, people always say "I've got a Joe Blow and it's fine" without saying the model.

There are quite a few different Joe Blow track pump models, ranging from £20 to £80, see here:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/mc/cycle/7/Tope ... s_-_Floor/

It's a bit like me saying "my bike's a Specialized and it's fine" without telling you which model.

/Mini rant

beverick

Wallace1492 wrote:

Joe Blow does it for me:
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/topeak-j ... 60288.html

Another vote for the JB. The tube's a bit on the short side but it'll do 130psi with no problem.

Bob

Jamey

Aaargh!

UndercoverElephant

david2 wrote:

Track pumps aren't something to get too worked up about really, simple, well developed technology, the ones worthy of comment are the ones that don't work as they should be the exception. Things to look for I guess are a steel barrel, a head that allows attachment to presta or schraeder valves and a reliable pressure gauge. My 15 year old Joe Blow satisfies those criteria as, I am sure, does any model made by Blackburn, Topeak or Park tools.
Get the cheapest one you can that has the three things I mentioned.

I tend to find that it's the simple, well developed technologies which vary the most in quality. I'd much rather buy something which will last fifteen years, than repeatedly buy something which lasts six months.

spark303

I picked up a Specialized Air Tool Sport for £20 from J E James about 6 months ago. Its a bit plasticy, but has no problems in pushing out 120+psi.

kevinn123

+1 for Joe Blow

- dead easy to use for both Schrader and Presta
- no problem with getting the high pressures either

artaxerxes

I use a Blackburn Air Tower 1, never let me down and you can switch between Presta / Schrader without removing parts or fiddling about with the pump head.

R_T_A

Jamey wrote:

Aaargh!

I have this one http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Topeak_Joe_Blow_Sport_Track_Pump/5360013205/

...and so far I've not had any problems with it. Wiggle has 4.6/5 stars from 45 reviews.

prawny

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I just got one from Bike Hut. (Halfords) Works really well. I've been happily able to get up to 120psi with it and the reversable connectors allows for schrader and presta valves - you really don't lose a whole heap of air when fitting it either.

If it works....

I think this is the same as mine bikehut branded, metal barrel (alloy I think) auto head switching (amazingly simple) and pumps to 120psi easily I paid less than £30 for it.

Roastie

Edinburgh Bicycle do a good track pump for a stupidly small amount of money - £20 or so. The only complaint I have with mine is that the valve head doesn't like certain brands of tube and needs some persuasion. For the money I reckon it is a no-brainer.

UndercoverElephant

I bought a Joe Blow Sport from Tredz, £26.99 including delivery. I have a wine/gin bottle holder on my BSO made by Topeak, and they seem to make decent products, certainly I've never lost a bottle yet

Thanks for the help.

japsy

The Hundredth Idiot wrote:

I've a got a Park Tools one (PFP-2, I think) and haven't been very impressed. I went for mine because of the brand - but I have to deflate my tyres every time as trying to top up an already inflated tyre seems impossible. Bit of a pain.

You may find this is true of all pumps. I've found that the valve gets stuck so if you don't let out a little air (to loosen the valve) then the pump can't get the air in to the tube.

Wallace1492

japsy wrote:

The Hundredth Idiot wrote:

I've a got a Park Tools one (PFP-2, I think) and haven't been very impressed. I went for mine because of the brand - but I have to deflate my tyres every time as trying to top up an already inflated tyre seems impossible. Bit of a pain.

You may find this is true of all pumps. I've found that the valve gets stuck so if you don't let out a little air (to loosen the valve) then the pump can't get the air in to the tube.

Sounds like Hundredth has to deflate fully, most just let out a little.

the_hundredth_idiot

Wallace1492 wrote:

japsy wrote:

The Hundredth Idiot wrote:

I've a got a Park Tools one (PFP-2, I think) and haven't been very impressed. I went for mine because of the brand - but I have to deflate my tyres every time as trying to top up an already inflated tyre seems impossible. Bit of a pain.

You may find this is true of all pumps. I've found that the valve gets stuck so if you don't let out a little air (to loosen the valve) then the pump can't get the air in to the tube.

Sounds like Hundredth has to deflate fully, most just let out a little.

Yeah - I have to deflate fully. And even then the pump starts blowing air once I get above about 50 or 60 psi. So it works fine for my MTB (where I pump the tyres to about 65) but not so good for my road bike where I aim for 100. It seems as if the seals in the pump can't cope with more than about 60 psi as they start blowing air rather than forcing it into my tyres.

I tried my neighbours track pump (can't remember the brand) and that works fine - so it's not the valves on my inner tubes. It's just enough of a problem to be annoying but not enough to make me want to go to the hassle of boxing it up and trying to return it.

I've taken it apart but can't find anything obviously wrong with it. I presume I've just got a dodgy one as Park tools are usually pretty good quality stuff. So, I guess my point might be that I wish I'd got one from my LBS rather than off the internet - would have been much easier to return to my LBS and show them what's wrong.

I might just stop being a tight arse and get a Joe Blow from my LBS for £26. They seem to be the popular ones here. I can then leave my old Park Tools one chained up in the secure parking at work (with a tag explaining it's best to deflate fully first). I'm sure colleagues will find it useful.

Wallace1492

My first track pump from Halfords did not work properly, so I returned it, but they had not got a replacement. So i opted for a Joe Blow Sports, which they gave me at same price as cheap rubbish one, and it has been excellent.

Roastie

UndercoverElephant wrote:

I bought a Joe Blow Sport from Tredz, £26.99 including delivery. I have a wine/gin bottle holder on my BSO made by Topeak, and they seem to make decent products, certainly I've never lost a bottle yet

Thanks for the help.

Topeak do good stuff, I'm sure it will be great.

smegurmum

bontrager charger (or superchager if you cant stretch to £35)

japsy

The Hundredth Idiot wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

japsy wrote:

The Hundredth Idiot wrote:

I've a got a Park Tools one (PFP-2, I think) and haven't been very impressed. I went for mine because of the brand - but I have to deflate my tyres every time as trying to top up an already inflated tyre seems impossible. Bit of a pain.

You may find this is true of all pumps. I've found that the valve gets stuck so if you don't let out a little air (to loosen the valve) then the pump can't get the air in to the tube.

Sounds like Hundredth has to deflate fully, most just let out a little.

Yeah - I have to deflate fully. And even then the pump starts blowing air once I get above about 50 or 60 psi. So it works fine for my MTB (where I pump the tyres to about 65) but not so good for my road bike where I aim for 100. It seems as if the seals in the pump can't cope with more than about 60 psi as they start blowing air rather than forcing it into my tyres.

I tried my neighbours track pump (can't remember the brand) and that works fine - so it's not the valves on my inner tubes. It's just enough of a problem to be annoying but not enough to make me want to go to the hassle of boxing it up and trying to return it.

I've taken it apart but can't find anything obviously wrong with it. I presume I've just got a dodgy one as Park tools are usually pretty good quality stuff. So, I guess my point might be that I wish I'd got one from my LBS rather than off the internet - would have been much easier to return to my LBS and show them what's wrong.

I might just stop being a tight ars* and get a Joe Blow from my LBS for £26. They seem to be the popular ones here. I can then leave my old Park Tools one chained up in the secure parking at work (with a tag explaining it's best to deflate fully first). I'm sure colleagues will find it useful.

I'm not trying to sound condescending, but I assume you are applying the thumb lock? After all, you do admit to being an idiot .

e999sam

I got this one a year ago http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/clever-7000-3959008/ I've got a mate who has one and I got one for my farther. We've all been very pleased with them.

rolf_f

Jamey wrote:

When threads about track pumps come up, people always say "I've got a Joe Blow and it's fine" without saying the model.

OK - another for the Joe Blow Sport. Seems much the same as the one Wallace mentions aside from having a metal base. And a funky yellow paint job so, if you grew up before getting round to painting a Vauxhall Corsa canary yellow with yellow gauges you can, in a small way, live the life you never had with a Joe Blow Sport

UndercoverElephant

Well, the Joe Blow finally arrived this afternoon. What a difference, it's a quality bit of kit!

It appears that not only did the Aldi one break at what it thought was 120 PSI, but what it thought was 120 PSI was nearer 80

Quick ride home tonight though, sub 40 minutes with a big headwind.

Stone Glider

+1 Joe Blow I bought one a couple of years ago and it worked fine. Then it started to refuse to hold pressure when inflating. I bought a huge SKS monster with a wooden handle and a twiddly valve clamp.

After a while I decide to throw away the Joe Blow but hold onto the hose and clamp which was much better to use. As I stuggled to remove the hose I noticed a loose nut on the barrel. I tighten nut and Joe Blow works fine! The SKS sits on the garage wall, redundant. :oops: