I have the Blackburn Air Tower III. It has worked very well, except with kenda tubes. For some odd reason when ever i try to inflate a kenda tube, it shoots air out of the wrong nozzle. the only fix i've found is to pump like crazy til it hits the 40psi range and it'll eventually kick over. Real solution: stop buying cheap tubes. I use it on my car and bikes with no problems.

is it the best? probably/most certainly not. It does function the way I wanted it to for the price.

+1 for the
Specialized Airtool Pro Pump.

I've had it for about 5 years and never had an issue.

I have a Blackburn that I picked up at Performance Bikes on sale for $20. I could not be happier. It takes a beating too, for some reason kids and pumps do not mix.

Silca, hands down. No idea how old mine is: I bought it 10 years ago, used, at a local consignment store. I've replaced the rubber gasket in the head a couple times, and the leather one on the plunger a couple times, and it's still going strong. Literally EVERYTHING is replaceable and available at my LBS. And what's more fitting for pumping up the tires on your C&V bike than a classic pump?

SP
Bend, OR

i second the silca track pump.

i have used high end pumps from blackburn and specialized over the years and all of them worked great for a while but nothing will outperform or outlast a simple classic silca pump.

mine is an older version and its one of my prized possessions. its gets displayed in my living room next to my C&V bike.

I'm using a Topeak Joe Blow sport. The original twinhead on mine blew out, topeak sent me a new one (twinhead) no
questions asked.
that said, I agree the offical C&V pump should be the Silca Pista (or super pista).

marty

Is there an actual quality difference between tubes? I've bought cheapies for ages since I haven't found any better performance from the expensive ones.

Make sure you do not get a pump with overly large diameter pump tube as they are harder to pump to high pressures because of more resistance. Selecting a good pump seems to be hit or miss though as I have encountered pumps with plastic bodies that work very well, like the mostly plastic floor pump from Zefal I used for almost 20 years without problems. Zefal just knows how to design good pumps. In contrast I bought an OK looking pump to replace the Zefal after it's hose finally died on me. It's a small OD bodied steel pump by Schwinn that I bought from Target to save some money. Had all the bells and whistles and seem to feel and look solid enough for the job (How can anyone really screw up on a floor pump design these days??) but it turned out to be the worst floor pump I ever encountered with very hard effort pumping because of what seems to be some internal problems with the valve head, and the valve head refused to lock on securely to the tire valves, for some reason always blowing off the valve at exactly 95PSI and it died about six months after I bought it with a fatal leak at the pump base assembly.....Yecchh!.
I will not hesitate to buy another Zefal floor pump again if I find a new one for sale because you can't go wrong with them, plastic or not!

Chombi

My Silca floor pump worked flawlessly for 25 years, but last year it started leaking air from around the gauge. I was very disappointed to find that the replacement gauges and parts don't fit the old blowhard (or at least not mine). It's now sitting in a position of honor in my basement, but getting the job done now is a Park PFP-4. I've been very happy with it.

Neal

Performance Joe Blow. I use it to pump tires to 160 psi

I can't speak to a difference in ride quality of the tube but there must be some difference in the actual valve that my pump does see. It refuses to cooperate with any kenda tube.

I've had two pumps for over 30 years now: a Silca track pump for Presta valves, and a Medai Top for Schroeder valves. I've had to replace the head gasket every few years on the Silca, and the hose once but otherwise it's held up fine and easily reaches 120+ psi with no problem. The Medai pump is still all original. I don't have as many wheels with Schroeder valves as I do with Presta valves, so it doesn't get as much use but still I'm impressed with how well it has aged.

I've been using the Performance Hurricane Essential (I've actually got two of them, one at work and one at home) for 3+ years now and just love it. Before that I tried the Topeak and Blackburn models but had trouble with the heads.
CMC

Another vote for the Silca track pump. Still have mine and going strong after 25 years.
Most other duties are done by my air compressor...ie. mtb tires, kids' bikes.