Are frame pumps any good?

"Ken Marcet" wrote in message
...
I am in need of a pump, but I remember the ones I had as a teenager, and
they seemed to wear out pretty quickly, but that could have been because
they were low quality pumps. I have been using a plug into your cars
lighter
electric deal, and it has trouble getting up to 50 PSI and as you know
most
road tires are rated for 65 PSI seems like I have seen a bunch of names
while browsing some of the bike parts sites, throw me some good names.
Ken
More of my mind dribblings: http://mind-dribble.blogspot.com/
And my homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/


Well, the little mini pumps tend to be next to worthless. The double stroke
mini-pumps are worthless.
The true test of whether a pump works, is if you can really pump up a tire
with it or not.
What I found is that the Topeak Turbo Morph Pumps work really good.
http://www.topeak.com/products/pump_morph_lead.html
The long Topeak frame pumps work OK too.
http://www.topeak.com/products/pump_009.html
But I much prefer the Morph pumps as they have a short flexible air hose and
a tire guage built in. The air hose is great for when you are tired and out
on a long ride and have trouble pumping up a tire. The pumps expand out and
look like a regular floor pump, albeit smaller.
The Zefal frame pumps are pretty good too.
http://rivbike.com/webalog/pumps/28011.html You can rebuild the pump, should
it start to go bad and not pump hard anymore. But I would assume that is
many years down the road though.
Since the CO2 inflators are small and handy, I carry both a CO2 inflator
with three extra cartridges, and a Topeak Morph pump.

snip
:: But I much prefer the Morph pumps as they have a short flexible air hose
and
: a tire guage built in. The air hose is great for when you are tired and
out
: on a long ride and have trouble pumping up a tire. The pumps expand out
and
: look like a regular floor pump, albeit smaller.
: The Zefal frame pumps are pretty good too.
: http://rivbike.com/webalog/pumps/28011.html You can rebuild the pump,
should
: it start to go bad and not pump hard anymore. But I would assume that is
: many years down the road though.
: Since the CO2 inflators are small and handy, I carry both a CO2 inflator
: with three extra cartridges, and a Topeak Morph pump.

Yeah, me too. I know a guy who had 5 flats on a ride and he only carried a
CO2 inflator. That Topeak Road Morph pump came in mighty handy that day....

Pat in TX
:
:

On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 15:53:35 -0500, "Ken Marcet" wrote:

I am in need of a pump, but I remember the ones I had as a teenager, and
they seemed to wear out pretty quickly, but that could have been because
they were low quality pumps. I have been using a plug into your cars lighter
electric deal, and it has trouble getting up to 50 PSI and as you know most
road tires are rated for 65 PSI seems like I have seen a bunch of names
while browsing some of the bike parts sites, throw me some good names.

Ken

For an electric, around $50, consider the Truck Air which I got at JC whitney a
few years ago. It can easily go over 100 psi and fills car tires at about 1
psi/30 sec. Originally got it for my cars after hearing other people say good
things about it. For a frame pump I have the Topeak road morph with built in
gauge. I had some problems with it after close to two years of service. I took
it a part and it turned out to be some dirt in a "floating stopper type" valve.

Ben

=v= I think these are a needless accessory.
My frame never goes flat.
_Jym_

Are Topeak pumps double acting (i.e., pumps air on the in and out
stroke)? They look nice.

--
Mike DeMicco

On 17 Mar 2005 07:32:41 -0800, Jym Dyer wrote:

=v= I think these are a needless accessory.
My frame never goes flat.

Even if your frame isn't actually "flat" you still lose a great deal of rigidity
by not having it properly inflated. Don't believe the hype about filling it with
helium, it only saves two maybe three pounds.

Ron

"RonSonic" wrote in message
...
On 17 Mar 2005 07:32:41 -0800, Jym Dyer wrote:

=v= I think these are a needless accessory.
My frame never goes flat.

Even if your frame isn't actually "flat" you still lose a great deal of
rigidity
by not having it properly inflated. Don't believe the hype about filling
it with
helium, it only saves two maybe three pounds.

Also, the advantage of a flat frame is that you can easily fold it up and
put it in an envelope for easy mailing. No more paying those high airline
freight charges.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"RonSonic" wrote in message
...
On 17 Mar 2005 07:32:41 -0800, Jym Dyer wrote:

=v= I think these are a needless accessory.
My frame never goes flat.

Even if your frame isn't actually "flat" you still lose a great deal of
rigidity
by not having it properly inflated. Don't believe the hype about filling
it with
helium, it only saves two maybe three pounds.

Ron


Yeah but three pounds is three pounds, the question is where can you buy
small cans of helium?

Ken

"Mike DeMicco" wrote in message
...
Are Topeak pumps double acting (i.e., pumps air on the in and out
stroke)? They look nice.

--
Mike DeMicco

Is Topeak a division of Bell/Union? I thought someone had told me they were.

Ken

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
...
"RonSonic" wrote in message
...
On 17 Mar 2005 07:32:41 -0800, Jym Dyer wrote:

=v= I think these are a needless accessory.
My frame never goes flat.

Even if your frame isn't actually "flat" you still lose a great deal of
rigidity
by not having it properly inflated. Don't believe the hype about filling
it with
helium, it only saves two maybe three pounds.

Also, the advantage of a flat frame is that you can easily fold it up and
put it in an envelope for easy mailing. No more paying those high airline
freight charges.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky



Hey I just looked at some of the pictures on you commute page, looks like a
pretty nice place to ride, is the city there "cyclist friendly"

Ken