Floor pumps....should we have to fix those, too?
09-30-20, 10:06 PM
#51
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I got something similar (Black and Decker brand, but same "market level") as a gift as well. I can beat it in terms of speed, but probably not endurance, with the Meidai! Working one tire of a car with the Meidai and one with the electric, I can be almost as fast as a man with a compressor. Who needs compressors?!
I once could outwork my brothers and their wood splitter.
For about 10 minutes. With a spotter, maybe 15.
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09-30-20, 10:36 PM
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Kinda like shaving your legs. Once you start it’s hard to stop.
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09-30-20, 10:39 PM
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10-01-20, 07:06 AM
#55
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I've got a zefal husky I bought in '86. It has a wooden handle, pumps up to 230 psi (which is important to me because my race tubulars are 160 psi), it's reliable and repairable/rebuild-able. I don't think they make it anymore however the sks germany website has a kompresser model that is almost identical. If I had to gete me another floor pump I'd get it and pretty sure that's the last one I'd need.
Last edited by texaspandj; 10-01-20 at 09:05 AM.
10-01-20, 08:38 AM
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Speaking of the Meidai Top Super, this one is NOS...and OBO!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mei...EAAOSwX5hdhY98
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mei...EAAOSwX5hdhY98
10-01-20, 08:44 AM
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Silca. I've been using a Silca pista pump since the 80's and never had to service it. It was given to me so I really don't know how old it is. It can still get tubulars up over 150psi if needed.
On a fluke I got a new Silca pista and they work the same. The new one has the Hiro head and I think both heads work equally well.
If you pick one up used in really bad shape, Silca sells the parts to get them up and running again. The main leather gasket thing is only like $12.
On a fluke I got a new Silca pista and they work the same. The new one has the Hiro head and I think both heads work equally well.
If you pick one up used in really bad shape, Silca sells the parts to get them up and running again. The main leather gasket thing is only like $12.
10-01-20, 09:11 AM
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Here at home I use the air compressor for all my bikes but I do have a few pumps that get used from time to time. One is a cheap Bell that worked really good till the hose split, but the other is a Meidai Top Super that I restored two yrs ago that I love, installed a new Topeak head & hose, sand blasted painted and installed a random decal I had under the clear coat.
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10-01-20, 09:30 AM
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I seem to collect pumps, have many (some might say too many) floor pumps and frame pumps. Most are Silca, a couple have the fancy after-market Japan heads, most do not. I have other brands too. I fix whatever breaks, or sure try to, sometimes the only "fix" is to replace the hose and head with something the pump did not come with, and many gauges can be replaced with easily-found "industrial" gauges. I only use the AC-powered compressors on car tires (and power tools or blowing off saw dust, just my habits)
10-01-20, 09:46 AM
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What do I like? I like my Specialized, but you won't buy that. I also like my Wrench Force, but they're not available anymore. Feedback Sports acquired Wrench Force, and it seems they don't make pumps. I liked my 35-year-old Silca floor pump, but the internal valve (that prevents it from sucking air from the tire) needs replacement, and I haven't yet figured out how to replace it. One of these days.
I think you should look at Lezyne, Park, and Zefal. They're all expensive, but you know they'll be good.
I also recently got a handheld battery powered pump which works much better than I had expected. I received it free in exchange for writing a review which is here.
I think you should look at Lezyne, Park, and Zefal. They're all expensive, but you know they'll be good.
I also recently got a handheld battery powered pump which works much better than I had expected. I received it free in exchange for writing a review which is here.
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10-01-20, 09:53 AM
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I had a Meidai Top Super for about 30 years. There's a little rubber piece under the gauge that sprung a leak. I was able to patch it, but it finally gave out. Pre-internet, but I bet I could get the part nowadays.
10-01-20, 10:45 AM
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gracias....
Speaking of the Meidai Top Super, this one is NOS...and OBO!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mei...EAAOSwX5hdhY98
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Mei...EAAOSwX5hdhY98
Much appreciated if it works out.
OK, much appreciated either way.
Still S-10 on Chevelle?
10-01-20, 10:47 AM
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I think you should look at Lezyne, Park, and Zefal. They're all expensive, but you know they'll be good. Looking at Lezyne….
I also recently got a handheld battery powered pump which works much better than I had expected. I received it free in exchange for writing a review which is here.
I also recently got a handheld battery powered pump which works much better than I had expected. I received it free in exchange for writing a review which is here.
10-01-20, 11:18 AM
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You would be banned where?
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10-01-20, 11:29 AM
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10-01-20, 11:47 AM
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I have a cheap $9.99 pump from Harbor Freight. Difficult, no Presta, but it attaches/releases the Shrader/Presta adapter cleanly, and gets to the psi I need. I sort of hate it.
My lady has a nashbar pump that is at least 20 years old. It's never been serviced. It works fine, but the gauge is small and scarred and faded and difficult to see.
My main pump was a Topeak Joe Blow Pro. I thought it was great, until it needed servicing about 2 years ago. Now it stops at 80 psi.
Topeak doesn't service it any longer, but sent me a new head and O-ring, just in case the recent failure was the head or O-ring.
Turns out, the fitting on the pump body failed (leaked). It's about 7 years old. That sort of rules out Topeak.
To the Trek store (which was barren, by the way, two employees, maybe 10 bikes, no ability to browse with COVID),
despite vowing to never patronize Trek or Bontrager again. I'm a convenience *****. I say "I need a pump." They have 4 cheapo's and the Flash TLR.
I also pick up carbon rim brake pads--cork. (turns out they're howlers.)
I take the Flash TLR floor pump, able to inflate tubeless, etc with the charged cylinder. Digital readout. Accurate. Poor base, though.
I figure OK, now that I have 3 sets of tubeless wheels, maybe I can use this. I mistakenly figure price also equals quality.
Got it home, got it hooked up....the digital display is upside down.
I kid you not. In order to read it, I'd need to have eyes under my ass.
You'd think with my head up there, that'd be easy, but not for pumping tires.
Pump display is upside down. Back to the store.
"We don't have any more pumps."
"We don't have any other brake pads."
Whoopee. COVID?
No Topeak due to their inability to make a long-lasting pump.
No Bontrager since they apparently don't know up from down.
No Specialized.... I like the police.
The Harbor Freight model is a stroke-inducer above 60 psi.
My lady won't let her nashbar pump out of her sight.
I had a second-hand Silca that I'm now sure I should have held onto.
speedevil has a Lezyne that has a great angled head (thread-on).
What are folks using and why?
Is it normal to have to service your floor pump?
My lady has a nashbar pump that is at least 20 years old. It's never been serviced. It works fine, but the gauge is small and scarred and faded and difficult to see.
My main pump was a Topeak Joe Blow Pro. I thought it was great, until it needed servicing about 2 years ago. Now it stops at 80 psi.
Topeak doesn't service it any longer, but sent me a new head and O-ring, just in case the recent failure was the head or O-ring.
Turns out, the fitting on the pump body failed (leaked). It's about 7 years old. That sort of rules out Topeak.
To the Trek store (which was barren, by the way, two employees, maybe 10 bikes, no ability to browse with COVID),
despite vowing to never patronize Trek or Bontrager again. I'm a convenience *****. I say "I need a pump." They have 4 cheapo's and the Flash TLR.
I also pick up carbon rim brake pads--cork. (turns out they're howlers.)
I take the Flash TLR floor pump, able to inflate tubeless, etc with the charged cylinder. Digital readout. Accurate. Poor base, though.
I figure OK, now that I have 3 sets of tubeless wheels, maybe I can use this. I mistakenly figure price also equals quality.
Got it home, got it hooked up....the digital display is upside down.
I kid you not. In order to read it, I'd need to have eyes under my ass.
You'd think with my head up there, that'd be easy, but not for pumping tires.
Pump display is upside down. Back to the store.
"We don't have any more pumps."
"We don't have any other brake pads."
Whoopee. COVID?
No Topeak due to their inability to make a long-lasting pump.
No Bontrager since they apparently don't know up from down.
No Specialized.... I like the police.
The Harbor Freight model is a stroke-inducer above 60 psi.
My lady won't let her nashbar pump out of her sight.
I had a second-hand Silca that I'm now sure I should have held onto.
speedevil has a Lezyne that has a great angled head (thread-on).
What are folks using and why?
Is it normal to have to service your floor pump?
I don't want the other problems you are having. If you are done with your Silca floor pump I'll buy it especially if it's the longer length Super Pista with the wooden T-handle.
10-01-20, 12:07 PM
#67
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WRT the OT of pump maintenance. Probably most home users are never going to have to do anything. This would depend on your choice of pump however. Many if not most modern consumer goods are designed to have a limited lifespan. As I said already, pumps being used constantly in a bike shop would require maintenance only very rarely. This usually consisted of pulling out the plunger, smearing some grease on it, and putting it back. That takes about 37.3 seconds. You do it when you notice the pump is starting to have trouble reaching higher pressures.
That's worth noting about the Rennkompressor. The dial may be accurate, or not, hard to tell. Someday I'll bother to cross reference it with another gauge. The SKS floor pump gauge is difficult to read at lower pressures, because the pump is optimized for high pressure road tires and the gauge goes up to 240 psi. The dial calibration is super fine. At more modest pressures like say 40-50, the difference on the dial isn't much more than the thickness of the indicator needle.
Also, the PSI markings are hard to read since they are gray. Clearly some engineer at SKS was grumpy about having to include those archaic measurements based on thumbs and rocks, and would prefer that you think in ATM.
SKS does make pumps more appropriate for lower pressures, but they don't have the retro cool classic vibe of the orange Rennkompressor, made of steel and wood, as always. FWIW I don't have a problem using it to pump up the 2" 29er tires on my Clem. I'm not supersensitive about tire pressure. Close enough is good enough.
Also, the PSI markings are hard to read since they are gray. Clearly some engineer at SKS was grumpy about having to include those archaic measurements based on thumbs and rocks, and would prefer that you think in ATM.
SKS does make pumps more appropriate for lower pressures, but they don't have the retro cool classic vibe of the orange Rennkompressor, made of steel and wood, as always. FWIW I don't have a problem using it to pump up the 2" 29er tires on my Clem. I'm not supersensitive about tire pressure. Close enough is good enough.
10-01-20, 04:02 PM
#68
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I'm glad you got it!
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10-01-20, 04:04 PM
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MEIDAI Top Super.
Never settle for less. These pumps will be around long after we're gone.
My grandpa got his in the '70s. He used it for bikes and cars until my grandma had her accident, then he used it for wheelchairs and cars. After grandma passed on and I went to college, he gave the pump to me. Now here I am, 15 years later, still using it. All it has required is a drop of oil now and then, and I just changed the rubber washer in the air chuck. For the first time ever.
The pump is nearly 50 years old. The gauge still works. The hose still works. The original leather is still in there.
Meidai meant it when they called this pump "top" and "super".
Never settle for less. These pumps will be around long after we're gone.
My grandpa got his in the '70s. He used it for bikes and cars until my grandma had her accident, then he used it for wheelchairs and cars. After grandma passed on and I went to college, he gave the pump to me. Now here I am, 15 years later, still using it. All it has required is a drop of oil now and then, and I just changed the rubber washer in the air chuck. For the first time ever.
The pump is nearly 50 years old. The gauge still works. The hose still works. The original leather is still in there.
Meidai meant it when they called this pump "top" and "super".
Last edited by RobbieTunes; 10-01-20 at 04:09 PM.
10-01-20, 04:14 PM
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By the way- I should also mention, I had a Planet Bike pump- that thing was great- When our son moved up to St. Paul, he needed a pump- he's got it and uses it. He's had it since 2015 or so, I had it a few years before that.
To be fair, the only reason I like the Leszyne less is because of the head. The stock SKS head was problematic for me- SKS replaced it under warranty. I had no problems with the Planet Bike pump.
Looking at some of these aftermarket pump heads is pretty curiosity piquing ...
To be fair, the only reason I like the Leszyne less is because of the head. The stock SKS head was problematic for me- SKS replaced it under warranty. I had no problems with the Planet Bike pump.
Looking at some of these aftermarket pump heads is pretty curiosity piquing ...
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10-01-20, 04:16 PM
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10-01-20, 06:02 PM
#73
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When I switched my road bikes to tubeless I got this Trek Flashcharge. No problems at all. I know they came out with a new model but did not know it was upside down. I like the head so much I a repaired a couple old Specialized by replacing hose with ones from Trek. I still have the gold Y bike. Do you have yours?
10-01-20, 06:18 PM
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I'm using the same Specialized I bought at least 10 years ago. I pump up before every ride so it see's plenty of use. Haven't had to do a thing to it over the years. It does live inside though with all the bikes.
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