Bicycle Mechanics - Bike pump

I have a realativly old bike pump (made by Schwinn) that has a leak in the hose right by the part that connects to the tire (the nozzel is breaking away from the hose). Anybody got any suggestions as to whether this can be fixed or should I trash it and buy a new one. It was a nice pump with a PSI gauge and everything.

Pitch it. The price of pumps these days aint too bad. Unless you are trying to keep what was original then you're at the mercy of luck and Ebay.



Olds

Over the years I have replaced pump hoses at the local bike shop. However you may also need other parts which may be harder to replace particularly with an old Scwhinn pump but I would give it a try if you really like this pump. Even with a broken hose you should be able to determine if it needs more parts. You should also be able to effect a repair by just cutting off the bad part of the hose if it is held on by hose clamps or if it can be held on by hose clamps.

a new chuck and a hose clamp shouldn't cost you more than a few bucks. or you might even be able to trim down the hose and reattach the original chuck with a clamp.

a new chuck and a hose clamp shouldn't cost you more than a few bucks. or you might even be able to trim down the hose and reattach with a clamp.

I agree with dafydd. I've replaced the chucks on several floor pumps. I haven't done it in a while, but I'm sure the parts would be way under $5.00.

Does "chuck" mean the part that clamps onto the tire stem?

Is this a track pump? In which case its worth looking for spares. Do any of the Silca spares fit?

Does "chuck" mean the part that clamps onto the tire stem?

Exactly.

Is this a track pump? In which case its worth looking for spares. Do any of the Silca spares fit?

Ok, I am going to profess my ignorance (as if you havent already guessed by my "what is a chuck" question) but what is a track pump and what are Silca spares.

Here is my bicycling background: a couple of months ago, I rescued my old Fuji sport 12 from my parents basement and brought it to my LBS (I can show of a little since I know what LBS stands for) and they got it road ready for me. I have been riding every day since and loving it. The pump came with the bike.

Eventually I will get the terminology, but until then bear with me. :D

Don't worry about "track pump." He's talking about a high end Silca pump that you don't have.

All you need to get is a pump "chuck" or "head." They come in various forms. If all of your bikes use the skinny presta valves, I like the Silca brass heads best. If you use both presta and schraeder valves, there are various T heads and such. I'd just pick up the best quality chuck that my bike shop had in stock. If I had to special order something, I'd go for one of the all brass Silca products. Silca has one that looks pretty good to me that's supposed to rotate to convert from schrader to presta but I haven't tried one yet.

Next go to Auto Zone and buy the smallest hose clamp that they have. Cut your worn hose off square, jam your new check into the hose and clamp it tight with the hose clamp. You'll be good to go for way less than the cost of any halfway decent pump.

Thanks for the advice. I will let you know how it turns out.

Actually, I'll bet the chuck is still good, it's just the hose that's torn (and where the chuck goes into the hose is a VERY common place for it to fail).

Try this: cut the hose, clean, where (or just "upstream" of where) it's failing. Remove the wee bit of hose you cut off from the chuck. You may have to slit that wee bit longitudinally and "peel" it off the chuck, as it's probably become bonded to the chuck over the years. Clean up any remnant hose rubber from the part of the chuck the hose attaches to. Find a wee little worm gear clamp (probably about US$0.50 at an auto parts store). Slide it over the hose. Put the chuck on the cleanly cut hose. Slide the clamp over where they mate and reef it down, but not so tight that you'll damage/break the chuck.