Help me buy a pump.
 

Two questions:

Searching the Net, I found that the Silca brand of floor pumps is one of the better ones to get. Am I right about this?

Where is a good place to order a pump online?

For the money buy a Topeak brand pump. Silca makes nice pumps but they require more servicing to keep them tip top.(We do use only Silca in the shop, BUT with Topeak heads, my creation. Great pumping power with a non leaking head that fits presta and schreader with out changing any thing)

I'd like to add that for a pump to carry around, I really like the Topeak Morph pump. I used to have a frame pump (Blackburn), but it was hard work to get up to 60 lbs for me and very tough to reach 80. Forget going higher.

With the Topeak, though it is smaller, I can easily get to 80 and have gotten to 100 and above with less effort than with the Blackburn at less than 80. It also includes a decent guage so you have some idea how much pressure you put in.

Bob

Try your LBS first!!

If you can't find something locally to your liking, try Nashbar, or Performance, or Supergo, or ColoradoCyclist, or REI, or Planet Bike, or PricePoint, or ...

I got a Silca from Performance, and Im very pleased with it.

Used to be for floor pumps there was only 1 brand
worth anything and that was Silca. It was the only
one that could pump up a track tubular to 170psi.
That said, I'm not riding track tubulars so a Joe Blow
bought from LBS is just fine (and I can pump to 140psi on it).
For frame pumps there are only 2 worthwhile (IMHO) and
they are Silca Imperio and Zefal HP.

Marty

Thanks for your help guys.

Just ordered a Silca "Super Pista" from ColoradoCyclist. I bought a Blackburn "Trakpump" the other day but returned it a little while ago. The thing seemed like junk. One of the plastic catches that hold the bottom plate on broke off when I brought it home. I don't like the nozzle design either.

I didn't see Silcas in most of the LBSs around here. There were some at one store, but they were quite expensive. The lower-end model was $50, and it was the older one, not the one I see advertised now. A newer, higher-end one cost me ~48 (including shipping). The Topeaks seemed good quality, but they just didn't "do it" for me.

You'll be very happy with the Silca Super Pista ... it's what I use and I have never had any problems with it.

My $20 Nashbar floor pump has served me quite well so far. On the road, I use full-size Zefal HP-X and Blackburn frame pumps. For the mountain and cyclecross bikes, with their 65-70 PSI tyres, a mini-pump suffices.

Silca is completely rebuildable and will last forever. Should it be necessary it can deliver over 200psi as well. You can't go wrong.

That said I use a Blackburn TrakPump Max and have been happy with it for 2+ years now, can even take my Tufo tubular clinchers up to 160 if I feel like pumping that much. A recent VeloNews I just read ranked the new Specialized pump the best all around at about $55. There's a # of good pumps available and I'd guess even the Nashbar branded ones aren't bad either.

John, you and I posted at the same time.

See, there's confirmation about my guess about the Nashbar pump.

I have a Performance 20 dollar pump and it works fine for me.
I always have it in my truck and my friends are always borrowing it. They say it is a very nice pump and works better than some of the more expensive models they have.

Just make sure you get one with Dual connectors, That way your friends with schraders can fill up and it's nice to check the Neighbors kids bike when they are out.;)

I bought the Specialized Air Tool Pro and love it.
Very well built and totally rebuildable.

Last week I saw in a cycle mag a write up on 12 different floor pumps and they rated the Air Tool #1. Good article, can't remember the mag...maybe Velonews???