brandin

Tried the Walmart pumps a while back. Needless to say, they didn't work (wouldn't inflate at all without severe leaking, then the head flew off and broken plastic pieces went flying in several directions around 100 psi). Returned for refund.

So, I've been looking at stuff like the Nashbar L'Orange, Topeak JoeBlow Sport, etc.. and I still come across some comments similar to what I experienced with the cheap Walmart pump (although perhaps not quite as bad, of course). Problems with Presta valves, leak issues, impossible to pump after a certain point, durability problems, etc.

I want to avoid these things and try to save myself a lot of hassle, as I have plenty of that already. I would just go ahead and spend the extra on a Lezyne, but so far I have no reason to believe that I wouldn't experience problems with those pumps too (and I'm on a really tight budget here).

Presta valves, able to do 110 PSI easily, on a budget. Any suggestions?

stonefree

Presta adapter...$.99 ea. Use em for valve caps. My cheap pump didn't break.

shadoman

Cheap Walmart Pump

I use it constantly, pumping up my Presta valved tires to 120psi.
No problems, ever.

fietsbob

I have a 25+ year old Silca Track Pump , it always works , so,

it is quite a bargain in the long run.
but a piston of leather and a handle , all parts made of steel
can work .. air seal : grease on the leather pump cup

brandin

Thanks everyone for the replies so far.

Thanks for this. Now I know it must be possible. This is a different pump than the one I tried btw, same price though. I think I've seen it in the store after trying the other pump from there, and their website shows it to be in stock at my location.

As soon as the gf gets home from work, planning on cleaning out the car (acura coupe), folding down the back seats, tossing my bike in there and heading to Walmart. If that pump is there, I'll get it and try it out in the parking lot. If I can't at least get the job done with it, I'll walk right back in and return it. I'll post back with the results.

shadoman

Great idea ! Easier (and cheaper) than having to drive back...
Seriously, I've been using Zefal pumps for years, and I've never had an issue with one yet.
Other than the one that disappeared somewhere in my garage.....

RonH

I've had a Topeak JoeBlow Sport for 6 years. Both my bikes have skinny tires and I pump them to 120 psi with no problem.

bhop

2 years on my JoeBlow sport.. roadie gets 140psi, fixie gets 130.. never any issues.

brandin

The Zefal Air Max 5610 worked. I definitely wouldn't say it was great, but it got the job done, eventually. Took a couple tries to get a good seal, and even then, I had to continuously pump at a very fast pace until a certain point before the tire would seem to start filling up with air. Not sure what that's all about, or if it's normal. I'm new to this whole thing, haven't messed with bicycles in over 13 years since I was about 14, riding BMX style bikes around my neighborhood. And even then, I used grandpa's big air compressor on the schrader valve.

I didn't take the bike with me, as initially planned, and ended up having to run some errands with the girlfriend. So, I tried it out on her car tires. That didn't seem to work very well at all. The gauge didn't give a reading at all when I connected it to any of the tires, so I pumped it up to about 50psi (max rating of the tires), and the pressure would just drop back down very quickly. So, I went around all four, trying the pump out, becoming disappointed in the process. I still have no idea how much air is in those tires (can't seem to find my digital schrader gauge anywhere), but they're definitely not low anymore, and I don't think they're over inflated either. Pretty sure I ended up increasing the amount of air in them though. Long story short, using this pump on a car tire simply doesn't work very well, pretty much shooting in the dark.

Anyway, as for the bike tires, they're Continental Ultra Sport 700 x 23C, rec 110psi, 120 max. I'd initially only planned on airing them up less than 100psi, but after reading around today about tire pressure versus body weight etc and trying some online calculators, I realized I supposedly need like 140 psi in my 23c rear tire (need to lose some weight!). So, I filled it up to around 125psi and waited for some of the air to leak out. It almost wouldn't. Once you get the pressure up there, it seems to stay fairly well, leaking only very slowly. While trying to quickly disconnect the head, it seemed as though quite a bit of pressure came out. I put the head back on, just out of curiosity, and lost some more air in doing so. Can't recall exactly, but it wasn't quite up where I wanted it, so I started airing it up again.. about 130psi, flipped the lever and took the head off, lost a bit of air, then gave the presta valve a quick tap.. so probably about 120psi. After that, I went to the front tire. Earlier today, I came to the conclusion that 80-90psi in the front tire would be sufficient. However, once I got pumping, I said to hell with it. In the end, the front tire has somewhere around 100-110psi in it. Figured I'd just give it a try, and let some out if it was too bumpy. Well, it rattles my bones for sure, but that's okay for now.

Even with the gauge on the pump, I'd feel much more confident having a separate tire gauge, so I might end up getting one in the near future. To sum up the $20 Zefal pump from Walmart, well.. I'll just say it got the job done, which is a lot more than I can say about my last attempt at a pump from Walmart. Oh, and the hose is pretty short, definitely not one of those 38 or 40" ones on some of the other pumps I was looking at. Then again, I spent $10-$30+ less than those pumps, and ended up getting the job done just the same.

Thanks again shadoman, as well as everyone else who replied.