yeah, I got stranded by a road morph this summer. The piston failed, and thus no air. I got off to a bad start with it because it was shipped with the head loose and without a usable mount, so it ended up costing me an extra $10 before I used it the first time. Could be worse, they went through a period where they didn't screw the piston on tight and people were having them fail on first use.

I bought a Topeak Mountain Morph in 2000 and it's still going strong. I have 7 bikes with 7 different Topeak Morphs (road and mountain). My wife has 2 bikes with 2 different Topeak pumps. My daughter has 4 bikes with 4 Topeak pumps. In total, I have a baker's dozen (13) of Topeak Morph pumps over the same number of years and I haven't had a single issue with a single one of them, ever. I've had to take a few apart because they had grit in the barrel but they still function quite well. I have a road bike and a touring bike that I don't use in the winter but all of my other bikes are used all year long. The touring bike is used in much worse conditions then the road bike.

I've had lots of frame pumps in the past. Some of them were good and more than a few weren't. The Topeaks are, in my opinion, better than anything I've ever tried.

These are all my opinions of course, and for road bikes:

Best floor pump...Giant Control Tower Pro Floor Pump.
Best medium size on bike pump...Topeak Road Morph G (with PSI gauge, or no G if you don't care about the gauge)
Best mini on bike pump...draw between Topeak Racerocket HP or Lezyne Road Drive
Best CO2 pump...Genuine Innovations Air Chuck Elite (though I I don't see a need for these unless racing)
Best hybrid pump (C02 and pump in one) Lezyne Pressure Drive CFH (again I have no use for CO2)

I own the Topeak RaceRocket HP and the Lezyne Road Drive, quite frankly there is so little difference between the two their both great. However none of the pumps will get to the 160 psi claimed limit but who needs to go that high anyways?! I found the Lezyne to get past 90 to 130 psi easier then the Topeak did, but only slightly easier. If you go on the web you can read the reviews of both models and their pretty much equally liked with a slight edge toward the Lezyne. These are on two of my road bikes; after using both for awhile I decided to get a second Lezyne for another bike.

However the easiest pump to use that can be carried on the bike is the Topeak Road Morph pump, I also have one of these. This pump will hit 130 psi with faster then either the Topeak or Lezyne and get there with less physical stress, but the pump is quite ungainly looking. It has a fold out foot peg and a fold out L handle that makes pumping similar to floor pump in ease. I have the Morph G, the gauge is not dead accurate, it's about 3 psi off on mine, but it's good enough for me. This is my touring bike pump.

The Giant Control Tower Pro floor pump is a tad expensive but it's the last floor pump you'll ever have to buy, even if you dent up the outside it will still work just like new because it's a double steel housing. Look it up and read about it, it's great.

I had a road morph that gave me a hard time this summer, the piston was either sticky or something was bent. Thing is, I only used it once before and never hit anyone with it :rolleyes:

I had recently bought a Lezyne for MTB, and went with the Topeak race rocket HP. I like the Topeak better than the Lezyne, I now have the Race Rocket in HP and regular versions, both are easy to reach 100psi with.

Any pump can fail, I had a SKS Puro pump fail on the first use! When I ride more then 50 miles from home I take a back up pump. I also carry a presta to schrader converter, so I can use a gas station air hose, but more importantly then that so I can take apart my pump reverse the rubber grommet and use the schrader side that isn't tore up if need be. A converter is always in my saddle bag. But I will admit, a pump failure is a very rare event, that was the first time and last time I ever had a pump fail completely, but I still take safeguards if I'm going far from home; I did have a Torelli pump slowly fail over time on me due to the grommet failing but the converter trick worked for that problem.

A friend had an interesting failure with a Lezyne screw chuck. The tube had a replaceable valve, and when he tried to un-screw the pump it removed the valve core instead. The pump part of the Lezyne is very solid, but I'm not a fan of buying an expensive pump just to spend more money on a pump head that doesn't suck.

That's happened to me once or twice. It means the core itself was already loose, so it's better to find out about it this way.

I don't have replaceable valve stems so I can't comment on that. But if that is the case and someone uses replaceable core then obviously that should be considered and the Topeak would be the better pump since it doesn't screw onto the stem. If you had that issue maybe Lezyne should be told about it and see what they say.

For a frame pump, if you are fine with going with a mini pump, I have been using the CarbOne for 12 years now and it is great. Very small and light, will pump up to 120 if you wish. Ok, sure, mini pumps will take more time to inflate the tire but in my opinion, I get more benefit from the small size and fly-weight vs a longer stroke larger pump for when I DO NEED to pump the tire which is very infrequently. As for a floor pump, I have a 20 year old Silca which is not bad and has a very accurate gauge. The head I have replaced a few times over the years with no difficulty. The head is brass and durable but the rubber insert wears out from on and off the presta threads - with time. For that reason, a head that is open and a bit loose but clamps down when the closure lever is activated makes better sense to me.

I had that happen a couple times also.

It can also perhaps happen if you tighten the pump head down too tight.

The Lezyne manual recommends using Loctite to install the cores.

I don't, but I do make sure the cores are tight, do not over-tighten the Lezyne chuck and make sure I am not twisting at an angle when I loosen it. I did loosen a core once, but it was one of the first times I used a Lezyne on a removeable core.

that's exactly right. then it becomes a non issue.

lezyne road drive is the best frame pump ive ever used. dont let the small size fool you however. it will easily get road tires to 100 psi. ive awesome at ripping off presta valve with my samsonite gorilla technique so i prefer a screw on valve hose. its also very light and comes in a stylish brush aluminum with etched graphics. if that matters....