Expensive bike floor-standing pumps vs cheap ones. What's the difference?
#27
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If you need tire pressures that high to prevent pinch flatting ...it is the Universe's way of telling you to go to a larger tire size. And then schedule an appt with your local dentist to check for cracked fillings.
#28
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I have one of these. The pump head sucks. You loose 5-10 PSI removing the pump head, and when you put the head on, until you flip the lever, the air blows through it and out of the schrader valve side. I'm on my second pump head as well, so it's not that I got a bad one.
#29
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I had a cheap Schwinn pump from WalMart. My wife bought it, I wouldn't have. It didn't have a gauge, and eventually it stopped working, it wouldn't actually pump unless you found just the right angle to create a seal inside. I replaced the O-ring and it was better for a little, but then it stopped working again. I assume the inside of the barrel was deformed.
To replace it I bought a Nashbar L'Orange V2, because of the reviews. I am very happy with it. I like the reversible screw-in presta-schraeder head, so much easier than a portable pump where you have to fish out and reverse the rubber thingie. If I could change one thing, it would be easier to get the head onto the valve, and easier to work the clamping lever -- but then probably the seal would not be good, it's probably as hard as it needs to be.
(Because of sales which change all the time, right now the L'Orange V2 is cheaper than the Earl Grey, so I would definitely recommend the L'Orange. If the Earl Grey is cheaper, and the savings is worth it for you, probably the Earl Grey is a good pump too)
To replace it I bought a Nashbar L'Orange V2, because of the reviews. I am very happy with it. I like the reversible screw-in presta-schraeder head, so much easier than a portable pump where you have to fish out and reverse the rubber thingie. If I could change one thing, it would be easier to get the head onto the valve, and easier to work the clamping lever -- but then probably the seal would not be good, it's probably as hard as it needs to be.
(Because of sales which change all the time, right now the L'Orange V2 is cheaper than the Earl Grey, so I would definitely recommend the L'Orange. If the Earl Grey is cheaper, and the savings is worth it for you, probably the Earl Grey is a good pump too)
Last edited by RubeRad; 06-22-15 at 01:41 PM.
#30
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I bought a Lezyne. It looked great, felt solid. The gauge never worked right and I hated the fiddly screw on head. I returned it to REI and got a Serfas. Very happy with the Serfas.
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I did have a clubmate borrow my Zefal HP frame pump and without too much work, top off his TT tires at 120 psi. Nice testimony for that pump since my clubmate was a skinny bike racer in his 40s. That same pump inflated every tire I used for years. That and its replacements. I went 20 years without a floor pump. (Until I started using the velcro bands fairly recently, I would periodically knock the pump off my bike. Usually though not always I had to replace them after cars ran over them.)
Ben
#33
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I have a crappy Raleigh-branded pump I got from Canadian Tire for ten bucks that's inexplicably lasted almost ten years and worked perfectly all that time. I prefer it with a screw-on presta adapter than I do actual presta pumps. It's gauge is unreadable, but I have a separate gauge and like to bleed down to the pressure I want rather than pump up.
That said, next pump I buy is going to be a Lezyne. I freakin' love their screw-on chucks and I've never tried a pump that felt as efficient and precise.
That said, next pump I buy is going to be a Lezyne. I freakin' love their screw-on chucks and I've never tried a pump that felt as efficient and precise.
#34
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I have this Nashbar pump and have been pleased with its performance. Got it on sale for under $30. The gauge seems to match my digital gauge pretty well. The head reverses for schrader - easy to do if you don't drop any of the 3 internal pieces. I'd recommend it to anyone.
#35
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I have this Nashbar pump and have been pleased with its performance. Got it on sale for under $30. The gauge seems to match my digital gauge pretty well. The head reverses for schrader - easy to do if you don't drop any of the 3 internal pieces. I'd recommend it to anyone.
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Still not a big hassle to convert. I coax the three pieces out of the head. Put them back together and insert them the opposite way.
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#38
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Are you talking about L'Orange V1, which looks to me like your average portable pump head, that you unscrew the grey thing and pull out and reverse the inner bits to go between presta/schraeder?
I've got L'Orange V2, the chuck is a completely different design, the pictures don't make it totally obvious, but in the last picture you can see the presta hole, and exposed threads; what you can't see is the schraeder head on the inside, screwed in by its threads; you just unscrew the whole thing, flip it, and screw it in the other way to switch valve types.
I've got L'Orange V2, the chuck is a completely different design, the pictures don't make it totally obvious, but in the last picture you can see the presta hole, and exposed threads; what you can't see is the schraeder head on the inside, screwed in by its threads; you just unscrew the whole thing, flip it, and screw it in the other way to switch valve types.
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I have a Spin Doctor HD Team pump from Performance that has held up vey well. It was around $50 but it has been trouble free after several years of regular use. The gauge is very accurate (confirmed by a digital gauge). From a functional standpoint, I can't see any reason for me to spend more on a pump.
#40
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Last year I picked up a $10 pump at Walmart. It had a dual presta/schrader head and was way discounted(though didn't show the original price). I assume it would have been $25ish.
It is fantastic in almost every way.
It pumps easily- It gets to 125 without strain or shaking.
Its accurate, at least up to 90psi when ive checked on a schrader wheel.
The 1 downside is its brutal to switch between presta and Schrader even though both openings are right there. There is no switch to move to designate which will receive the air- you just have to jam the valve in enough to engage whatever internal mechanism is required. Pretty annoying, but its lasted weekly use for a year now and cost $10.
It is fantastic in almost every way.
It pumps easily- It gets to 125 without strain or shaking.
Its accurate, at least up to 90psi when ive checked on a schrader wheel.
The 1 downside is its brutal to switch between presta and Schrader even though both openings are right there. There is no switch to move to designate which will receive the air- you just have to jam the valve in enough to engage whatever internal mechanism is required. Pretty annoying, but its lasted weekly use for a year now and cost $10.
#41
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Are you talking about L'Orange V1, which looks to me like your average portable pump head, that you unscrew the grey thing and pull out and reverse the inner bits to go between presta/schraeder?
I've got L'Orange V2, the chuck is a completely different design, the pictures don't make it totally obvious, but in the last picture you can see the presta hole, and exposed threads; what you can't see is the schraeder head on the inside, screwed in by its threads; you just unscrew the whole thing, flip it, and screw it in the other way to switch valve types.
I've got L'Orange V2, the chuck is a completely different design, the pictures don't make it totally obvious, but in the last picture you can see the presta hole, and exposed threads; what you can't see is the schraeder head on the inside, screwed in by its threads; you just unscrew the whole thing, flip it, and screw it in the other way to switch valve types.
#42
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Wow, yes that is the V2, that chuck is not supposed to come apart like that -- maybe for occasional internal maintenance, but not for regular use. In the middle picture you have metal sticking out of the hose part on the right, the threads obviously go into the other metal part on the left, but the metal part on the right there is supposed to unscrew out of the black rather than the knurled surround unscrewing off its mate, so you don't have to mess with those internals. Does that remaining metal part screw out of the black for you, or is it stuck in there? Maybe some loctite to hold the chuck together, and some grease on the black threads, so that the threads on either end of the chuck are more likely to move than the threads in the middle?
#43
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FWIW I'm Still using my 30 year old Italian Made Silca Track pump . with their P/V head, , And a Medai for the S/F thumblock.
just take the plunger out and grease the leather cup every few years..
just take the plunger out and grease the leather cup every few years..
#44
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What is you secret, I can not get even a year out of the presta gaskets? I pump every day and the kids come by on the weekend.
#45
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Non-threaded valve stems are much easier on the gaskets - also, I should acknowledge that I hardly ever rode from around 1990 until October of last year. So, in reality, that 40 years only includes about 6 years that I was actually riding. I also only pump maybe 2-3 times a week, not every day.
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