What kind of pump to use.....
 

Most of my bikes are equipped with panniers or something of the sort, so there's always tools etc for dealing with flats. One of my projects for the spring was to make sure I always had the basics, ideally spare tubes as well as patch kits. One thing which occured to me was that my road bike is the one where I'm most likely to be far from home, very early in the morning, and therefore stuck if there's a flat, and being a stripped down type of bike, I didn't have ANY way of fixing that. So, yesterday I picked up a wedge bag with a multi tool, tyre levers, chain tool and a patch kit for cheap, and hung that on, so all I needed was a pump. I have a Blackburn Mountain Air, which just gets thrown in the pannier/saddlebag of whatever I'm riding, but it comes with a mounting bracket to fit it to a bottle cage. So, I tried to fit it to the Gazelle. Trouble is, the cranks don't clear the pump, so that's a no-go. I remembered having a frame fit pump around, which I found, but it doesn't fit THIS frame (it's too small). So, I still have no solution. What do you guys recommend? I don't really want one of those CO2 things......

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P4180006.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...2/P4180007.jpg

I have a road version from Blackburn, and it came with two mounts, one for the bottle cage mount like you've shown and another that goes on the seat tube or under the top tube. It uses the velcro retention strap to hold both the mount and the pump in place. It also comes with a strip of double-sided tape that makes the mounting just a bit more stable, but the mount works fine under the top tube without it. I don't know if Blackburn makes a similar seat/top tube mount for the Mountain Air, but unless you have super-human strength, I suspect you'd have a bear of a time getting road tire air pressure from that pump, anyway.

Did you try putting the Mountain Air on the right side, with the head facing down? If I mount mine with the handle down, gravity will extend it.

I use this one by Crank Brothers. It is small enough (6.9") to fit in my Topeak Survival Tool Wedge, with a spare tube.

http://www.crankbrothers.com/templat.../pumps/pro.jpg

http://www.universalcycles.com/image...s/large/45.jpg

As far as mini pumps go Iv'e heard the Topeak Road Morph spoken of pretty well but I've never used it. Whatever you do don't buy a Crank Bros. "Power Pump" - nothing but trouble. I had to call and have them send me the guts for the schrader side after it broke on the first use. And getting the "High pressure" setting to work is a joke. I got a tire up to about 75 pounds yesterday before it decided to just stop being able to pump air.

I'll be watching this thread with the hopes that someone can recommend a quality frame pump since the metal plunger on my cheap Zefal seems to bend every time I use it.

Damn, that's mine. See above. Oh well, live and learn.:)

Maybe I just got a defective unit but every time I've used it it has been pure hell. The crappy WalMart "Bell" mini pump that I had a long time ago worked better (albeit not very much) than the Power Pump. I recently switched over to Armadillos though so hopefully I won't have to use it very often :)

You could just go with a vintage pump and an umbrella clip. - or get a plastic peg to mount on the top tube. I use the plastic peg on my Fuji to good effect.

What's wrong with my solution (frame-fit Zefal HP-X), other than its coverup of the 531 decal? :)

... or get a frame-fit Silca for a more properly vintage look, but I can inflate my tires better with either a Blackburn (another great option) or the HP-X.

That pump you have in your hand looks small enough to fit in a frame triangle bag. Velcro straps make it easy to switch it from bike to bike.

I really don't want to put clips or pegs on this bike - it's just too pure. I love the idea of a pump small enough to fit in the wedge (that Topeak wedge looks identical to what I've got, except that mine cost $10....), but I don't want to spend £20 on a pump unless it's going to work. A frame fit pump would be better than pegs, but not as good as one tucked away in the wedge. Have you used yours, IAB?

Sure, hex me. Tell me I will never get a flat.;)

No, and may the cycling gods know I am only writing this because it was a direct question, I have never had the need to use it. I'll try it tonight and let you know the results.

Wait... what was that? Oh yeah, that is the sound of six tires going flat simultaneously. Excuse me, I have to go sacrifice a lamb.

As far as portable pumps and actually being able to inflate the tire when you need to, nothing beats the Topeak Road Morph, in fact nothing comes close. Full size frame pumps such as the Blackburn and Zefal (I've got a Blackburn in addition to my Road Morph) are more elegant on the bike, but as far as inflating a tire are a distant second to the Road Morph. For something small enough to fit in a wedge bag, CO2 is your best bet. The little mini-pumps are practically worthless from my experience, and probably are completely worthless if you're trying to inflate a high pressure road tire (it's even very difficult to get them to 40 psi on a mountain bike tire). I've used CO2 for years with mountain bikes, it works fine, and it's capable of inflating a road tire to full pressure as well. I would recommend practicing on a tire or two at home, though, because you occasionally hear stories of folks who accidentally use up all their CO2 when attempting to inflate without getting it into the tire. I don't use the CO2 cartridges that are marketed for bikes, I use the much cheaper ones that are meant for bb guns. They're dirt cheap and work just the same. Just be sure to research which types of cartridges the nozzle you get is compatible with-

Just bough one as well, but haven't had to use it. There was a post on SS/FG a few weeks ago and everyone that had one was disappointed. Not a good sign.

In an unrelated matter, I have a crank brothers power pump in new condition for sale.

I didn't want Co2 either, till I tried it. Sure makes thing easy.

That being said, I like frame-fit Zefal's on my vintage bikes, but they can damage paint/decals if you don't have a pump peg on the top tube. I have some Topeak mini-pumps on my main rides, that mount on the bottle cage bosses. They work ok, but you need about 120 pump strokes to get good pressure.

So, to summarize - I carry a Co2 inflator as my primary, with 3 Co2 cartridges. I also carry a mini-pump for emergencies, in case I run out of Co2. I never use it. One 12g Co2 cartridge is enough to completely inflate a standard 23c road tire to rideable condition, and I've never run out of Co2 on any of the long rides I've done.

Has anyone had any experiences with combo mini's. The ones that are both manual and have Co2?

I use a Barbieri pocket pump. It is small (16cm), cheap, and pumps up to 60psi, which is enough to get you home. I have the aluminum version. If you get this pump one thing you might want to do is put a piece of electrical tape over the valve opening to keep foreign objects out.


http://www.biketiresdirect.com/Image...67/BACAR-1.jpg

I've got one, it's an Innovations brand. The CO2 portion works great, the mini-pump portion is, well, typical of mini-pumps. If you were desparate and ran out of CO2, you might be able to air a tire up with the mini-pump enough to limp home. I bought it with the intention of airing up tires as much as I could with the mini-pump and then finishing the job with the CO2, thus conserving C02. I don't think I've ever done that, though, in fact all I carry is the CO2 portion of it when I use it. I've also got one of the little CO2 nozzles that's a nozzle only, and I actually like it best-

I'm a suspenders and belt type, too. All my vintage bikes have a Zefal or Favorit frame pump. The Zefal is much better. Said frame pump is a last resort if the CO2 inflator ceases to work. Depending on what I'm riding that day, I always have: (for tubulars) a spare tyre strapped to the seat, glue, CO2 inflater and three cartridges, pressure gauge in a bag in my jersey pocket. On my Fuji 700c clincher bike, substitute a small underseat bag with a tube and three tyre irons for the spare tyre, and put the jersey kit back in the pocket. I probably leave the glue in, because I'd forget it the next time I switched bikes.

Now, if I'm running either of my long haul bikes, with the two pannier/handlebar bag setup, then the entire freaking road tookit goes in (light wrenches, screwdrivers, patch kit, etc.), plus two spare tubulars or tubes, depending on what wheels I'm running. And nothing weighs down my jersey pockets.

It must work. I normally get one puncture a year.

Instead of putting the pump in your bag, why not secure it to the outside of the bag. A bit of nylon straping and some velcro did the trick for me.

Ray

http://milkwood.org/ray/moto2.jpg

Sammy,

Get a Road Morph.

I love mine. I can use it in the same fashion as my shop pump. The morph even has a pressure gauge.

I'm pretty solid, but those other mini pumps leave me feeling like a big wimp.

Bottom line: The Topeak Road Morph is reasonably priced and works great.

That might be for the win, cabaray. The CO2 I don't want to do because it has a non-reuseable part, which goes against my tree-hugging tendencies, and because I would probably blow one canister out with the valve not on properly, blow another one discovering that I've snakebitten my spare tube with the tyre lever, and a third learning that I didn't put the patch on well enough. I've never had to reinflate a tyre 4 times when repairing it, but I just know that if three times was the limit, I'd need 4. The frame fit could be a go-er - they're cheap as chips - but not as cheap as the Blackburn I already have. Hmm.

I really have never had a problem with a mini-pump in my jersey pocket... they do suck though. I recently got a frame pump to fit my 62cm c-c seatubes, yeah! I carry a Zefal frame pump on the touring bike with an umbrella clip.

Make that two.

I tried it last night and I could barely get up to 60 psi - that was with a LOT of work and some swearing. Good thing I was in my basement instead of on the road and in the rain.

So you guys say CO2 or the Road Morph - I will probably try the tree hugger route also.

Chacun a son gout, but I have strong personal ojbections to CO2:
1) You get one shot per cartridge. If anything goes wrong (tire needs repatching, reseating, whatever), you are out of luck.
2) They are expensive and wasteful of energy and materials.
3) I have had such good luck with full-size Zefal HP-X, Mt. Zefal, and Blackburn frame-fit pumps that I have no motivation to look for another solution.
4) Everything I ride is classic/vintage, and even an anachronistic modern frame-fit pump looks and feels right at home on one of my bikes.

I have tried several minipumps and used to keep one with my UO-8 commuter, until I realized that my Blackburn would fit very nicely on the downtube, between the brazed-on pump pegs. I can obtain a full 90 to 100 PSI inflation using a full-size pump, but I am good for only about 70 to 80 PSI with a mini.

i love the road morph because of the hose - no more ripped valve stems.

I've been wanting to get a Quicker Pro which is much more compact, and will fit into a jersey pocket. It's available at velo orange.