Tire Pump - Electric or Pump Action?
 

Hey guys,

I'm getting tired of going to the nearest gas station to pump up my tires. What are you all using to keep your tires inflated? Do you guys keep an electic air pump at home and a portable pump on the road?

I'm leaning toward getting an electric one at home - maybe with a tank, that I can also use on my car tires.

Anybody have any good suggestions?

Manual floor pump at home, mini-pump or CO2 inflator on the bike for emergencies.

I have an electric pump at home; however, I don't use it for bike tires. It takes forever to get up to 120 psi.

I keep a floor pump in my car and use it when I'm out on the road or at home in the garage to pump up the bike tires.

I have an air compressor with tank at 120 psi. Use it all the time for air tools, car and motorcycle tires, but never bike tires. I use a floor pump for the bike and take a minipump along for flats.

This.

FYI OP- depending on size/pressures you run, the air compressor at the c-store likely won't cut it.

I made the mistake of relying solely on the compressor at the corner store when I first got my bike- had three pinch flats the first week :notamused:. That is when I found out that automotive tires run at much lower pressures than bicycle tires do :o

I normally use the hand pump in my shop but do have a commercial compressor that can be set to the desired pressure for inflating bicycle tyres... the hand pump has been serving me well for a great number of years.

On the road I carry a mini pump.

Full on compressor at home, use for everything, air tools, tires etc. Carry a hand pump with me on the bike.

Why don't you use it on the bike? I have a small air compressor, and it's right up there with sliced bread.

Use a bike pump (presta valves on my road bike won't fit a gas-station air chuck anyway). Plus it costs a $1 to use their danged machine and it's quicker at home.

Floor pump at home, sometimes have it in the trunk of the car. I carry a mini pump on the bike and rarely use CO2.

I have an electric pump runs off my car's cigarette lighter connection - works well enough to push the bike's tire pressure to 90 psi. I'm cheap and I don't have space - this ~$25 pump serves to keep the car and bike tires at correct pressure.
Edited to add: frame pump for on-road punctures - again, I don't want to keep buying refills for CO2 or make a mistake filling from a canister and have no option left.

Most bike tires need very little volume of air. Manual floor pump is easy enough.

Manual floor pump. Very little maintenance required. Bought a $20 Zefal and has worked fine for the past 3 years. Best investment I've made considering I use it every 3 days.

I use a manual floor pump for the bike tires at home, may put it in the car trunk if traveling that way. I carry a Topeak Morph with a gauge somewhere on my bike. Depending on the bike it may be in the handle bar bag, seat bag, jersey pocket or rack top bag. Don't like the CO2... just one more thing to have to keep up with and make sure it is there and full. I was on one long ride where we had a phenomenal number of flats due to debris in the road. Those of us with patch kits and pumps were very popular that day...

Aaron :)

I have a 5 horse electric compressor in my garage and a vertical 6 horse in my shop. I use a hand pump for my bicycles like nearly everybody in the world. Compressors can fill a tire to fast and blow it and it simply is not needed to turn the compressor on and build pressure when five strokes of a quality hand floor pump has me up to pressure before EACH ride.

Seriously, you really go to a convenience store for airing your tires? Wow. Two of my bikes have old school Silca frame pumps for on road flats but I have now started carrying the CO2 cartridges, much easier and compact.

Most quality bikes come with Presta valves, not Shraeder, so you need either an adapter or a pump with the correct head, which is easily found at a real bike shop, not Wally World.

LC

I have a friend who has an electric pump that operates off of her car's cigarette lighter and shuts itself off when it reaches a preset air pressure. The only problem is that I don't know where to buy one like it.

I have an air compressor in my shop at home but I only use it for bikes that have schrader valve tires. Otherwise I use a floor pump.

I've started carrying Topeak Morph pumps with me on the trail or road. I think that they're the most efficient for repairing flats but I think that they're ugly.

It's quicker and easier to top up a bike tire with one or two strokes from the floor pump than to bother with the compressor and hose. I can see what pressure the tire is at when I begin pumping with the floor pump so I know how fast it's been leaking down, the usual or faster than usual. I have finer control over the pressure with the floor pump accurately inflated the front to 90 and the rear to 100 on my road bikes and 75/90 respectively on my wife's road bikes. Mountain bikes typically get 35/45 psi.

I top off my tires before every ride with one of these.
http://www.parktool.com/uploads/thum...7d_430x390.jpg

Lezyne Steel Floor Drive at home.

Topeak Road Morph G on the bike.

I have a compressor that does what you describe; you can find it here:

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-12v-p...1&blockType=G1

I have a regular air compressor that I use for air tools and the like, but this portable one is much easier to use on a regular basis (and the digital gauge is very nice!). It has been keeping my bike and car tires pumped up for a good 4-5 years now. If you have presta valves, all you'll need is an adapter.

For what it's worth, I always carry frame mounted pumps for road-side repairs.

I have a floor pump in my car all the time. It's easy to top off the bike every week, and I even use it to top off the car tires (that's quite a workout)

An Air compressor will have more functions than just pumping up your tires.


But a Floor pump by hand will get the higher pressure, smaller volumes of bike tires, better..

I guess it's true when they say, There is no stupid question!!!!