bikebikebike

Is there any peacetime use for frame pumps?
I was looking at the unfilled spot and bracket, after listening to a bike review (I know, I know) and cute old restorations.
Since I have to carry tools and a tube if I want to contemplate a flat, I am not sure what a frame pump brings to the game beyond complexity and weight.
Pump options for racers have created so many options , a frame pump is just an oddity to me, esp if you need a grab and ride tool kit for more than a single bike.
? topping up the tires for a single bike apartment dweller, with a slow leak, is a thin layer of the marketing profile, though maybe I just haven't noticed.

Maybe I could make a tool holder that fit the spot, like the ones that fit in the main tube, handlebars or even the hole in a fancy crankset.

linberl

Pumps have gotten smaller, like most "tech". And there's CO2 as well. Obviously you need a source of air to fix a flat, but frame pumps are just excess, unless you have a classic bike and it's part of the "look". Maybe you can put a u-lock bracket there, or a modular system...be able to snap in an extra water bottle holder or u-lock or growler carrier, lol.

Theypeedonmyrug

When I replaced my 1970 Peugeot (which came with a frame pump between built-in holders that I used for all pumping purposes, home and away) with a 1997 trek, I wanted to get an after-market frame pump to add to my Trek, so I made pioneering used of the ancient internet usenet to find one that was recommended. I was shocked that what returned was relatively few postings about pumps but hundreds of postings about how to deal with vicious dog attacks out on the road. Many anecdotes about whacking Dobermans and Pit Bulls across the snout with a fine frame pump, which seemed to be the preferred weapon of choice, much less bulky than firearms, mace, or other countermeasures.

So I say, get a nice menacing frame pump. The one I got was held under the top tube by tenson between the down tube and seat tube. I never had to use it. But that's why the NFA (National Framepump Association) recommends everyone carry a framepump. If the bad dogs know your armed, they'll stay away.

bikebikebike

Nothing like being a treat for a chasing doggie.
And remembering fencing moves for the defense from the Italians in "Breaking Away"

On reflection, I have never outrun either.
Mace can clipon, prolly the only worthwhile defense, according to my postman.

Tourist in MSN

Not sure how you define a frame pump, I suspect a lot of us define a frame pump as a pump that fits into the frame without needing any extra brackets on full size bikes, often using a pump peg or two built into the frame. But I suspect some others define it as a pump that is attached to the frame with a separate bracket.

On my folder I have an old Zefal short pump with bracket attached to the frame with the water bottle bolts, bracket is under the bottle cage.

For bike touring, the Road Morph G and the Lezyne Micro Floor Drive (with or without gauge) are favorites. Several years ago I wrote up a comparison between those two pumps on the touring board, located at:
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1...l#post18521373

bikebikebike

I like to get home, so if I'm gonna be more than walking distance (I'll cheat with public transport/Rideshare) ,
I take a tube&pump. Since I am unlucky and a klutz, I like pumps more than gas, and like small ones for a seat bag I can swap around and take inside.
I carry the Lenzyne RoadDrive for its weight and compactness. Never could get CrankBros Power pump to work but loved its size. seat bagable.
If a 2 inch tube goes down ,I know i'm gonna have a sore arm.
One of my Dahons has this silly seat post pump that maybe competes with the welded frame mount 16-18" jobbies and that and
the Zefal Brommie wheeze box seemed to get more maintenance than use as pumps. The frame/cage clips seemed to add a loss risk to that as well.
What I was noting was the irony of only frame mounting a part of the fix, as a common design.
Unless on tour I still need a tube and a bag to carry the stuff, and to be honest, have never in 60 yrs seen anyone patch a tube by the side of the road.

79pmooney

A reason to carry one of the old school (big) frame pumps is that actually pumping up one's tire with one is a lot faster and more satisfying than doing it with a small "mini pump") Pumps like the Zephal HPX will get most tires past 100 psi with fewer than 100 strokes and will put far more air in if you want. I lent my Zephal HP to a lean mid '40s road racer 45 years ago and watched him put 120 psi in both tires easily for a time trial. (That pump and its sisters on my other bikes were the only pumps I used as a bike racer, riding sewups on all my bikes. Only a masochist would try that today with today's mini pumps.

Now how you mount a full sized frame pump on a folder is beyond me. But if I had one, I'd figure ti out.

Ben

Bostonwheeler

I've got a frame pump on my gravel bike, because:

1. I already had the pump (a Silca) from a vintage touring bike.
2. The pump has a gen-u-ine Campagnolo metal pump head that will probably outlast the bike. (It outlasted the last bike it was on.)
3. Weight isn't particularly important on that bike.
4. The pump is a perfect fit for the frame, so why not use it?

Other than that, I wouldn't buy a new frame pump today.

My Dahon folder has a Postpump, built into the seatpost.

zebede

My primary commuter is an 80s sports tourer, with a pump peg (1986 Miyata 610). I was lucky to obtain a Zefal pump shop repair kit of a few years ago, so it seemed natural to buy a Zefal HPX pump for the lifetime supply of parts I have. I have owned several road morphs (never again) and lezyme , CO2 inflators AND Dahon pump posts.

No question the frame pump has its place in modern bicycling, Reliability in commuting and touring come to mind.

Its role from being the only game it town back in the day, has been reduced by the alternative inflation (C02 or mini-pump) which I pack on my road bike.

Like others have said above, I don't get on my bike and ride unless I have a tube, tire levers and means of inflation at a minimum.

vanngoh

Bump

sweeks

I resonate with this. I carry a Topeak "Road Morph" attached to the frame of my road bike, and another one in my backpack on my commuter. I think in the last 20 years I've had to use the pump twice on the road bike for my own flats, but more times for other peoples' flats. When I ride with others, usually I'm the only one with a pump (or tools, for that matter).
I haven't had a flat on my folding commuter bike since I started using Schwalbe "Marathon Plus" tires about 10 years ago. I use the pump to charge my air horn.



Topeak Road Morph tucked behind the seat tube, just clearing the crank.

79pmooney

Peace time uses for pumps? Yeah. Gravel; riding when you ride pavement to get there and back. I leave the house at road pressure, drop (by feel) to a good gravel pressure then I hit the fire/lumber roads, then pump back up for the ride home. Get to ride both surfaces at their perfect pressures, not a "best I can get" compromise.''

Yes, I could do this with a mini-pump but inflating 38c with those things? Or waste a CO2 cartridge (and risk getting Murphy's attention). But with a Zephal HPX, simple, fast and a pleasure. (I have a Black Friday ritual of riding 34 miles to the logging road into the coast range, then as far in as I can get and return. 34 miles (twice) is a long ways to ride on squishy tires and the downhill return following the rapids is much more fun with good grip!