Koyote

I've gotten exactly the same replacement part for a Topeak Joe Blow Sport pump that I've owned for about 15 years. Also recently found out that Boa will send free replacements when they die. There is still some good service out there.

Litespud

fair enough, but outside ~9-5 M-F, time/cost ceases to be the primary arbiter of how I spend my time. Earlier this year I spent ~2 months on&off evenings and weekends bringing my old Subaru back from the brink, but saved ~$4k in the process. Did I spend $4k of my time doing it? Don’t know, don’t care. I like doing stuff like this -I learned a lot, bought a few nice tools along the way, and my old and patina’d wagon is back on the road, giving me the warm fuzzies every time I drive it. If I had calculated ahead of time how many hours I would spend, and how much that time was “worth”, the car would likely be in the junkyard and I’d be making a payment on another car. Sure, I like saving money, but sometimes the doing is it’s own reward

FiftySix

Our perspectives are different, possibly due to us doing different types of work for our salaries. My primary job and money producer is traveling to work on machinery at customer's locations. So, when I work on one of the family cars after work or on a weekend, it's yet another service call on my schedule.

The only repair or maintenance work I enjoy right now is wrenching on one of my bicycles. At least that kind of work is done solely for me.

Phil_gretz

Which, of course, is a strawman argument and a fallacy. The discussion was about the costs of replacing the pump versus the time necessary to spend to obtain a free replacement part. In this case, monetizing the time is the appropriate measure.

If, in the case of your salaried job, your employer asked you to evaluate whether it was cost effective for you to purchase a replacement part (including all costs necessary to receive the part) versus staying on the line for an hour to receive that same part, you would indeed use the fully burdened cost (to the company) of your time.

While not all waking time should be monetized, it's good to consider alternative value in uses of time (e.g., watch a television rerun for an hour versus reading a book for an hour). We do these types of things every day, don't we?

Litespud

very different indeed. My work is primarily at a keyboard, so I jump on any opportunity to get my hands dirty.

Pop N Wood

Think I enjoy wrenching on bikes as much as riding them. I get kind of depressed when they are all working perfectly. When that happens I start upgrading.

I swapped a modern motor into an old car, got harassed mercilessly for going carb instead of fuel injection. People told me I was old (true enough), afraid of "technology" and computers. Had to laugh, funny what some people consider technology. Truth is after a day of debugging radars at work all I want to do at home is something involving a hammer or welder.

I never contact manufacturers when something breaks, even if it is under warranty. Things like oil changes are quicker (not to mention less expensive) to do myself than taking it to a shop. It's almost a disease, fixing things. If I had the OP's issue and didn't already have an extra pump head floating around, I would have made that grommet out of old plumbing parts or a slab of rubber and hole punches that I know I do have.

Also $30 for a replacement pump head is criminal. I just bought a entire pump with separate schrader and presta valve heads for under $10. The floor pump is quicker than waiting for the compressor to charge.

Sy Reene

Well no... not for me. The decision between TV and a book is not monetarily or value-based. It's just based simply on which I feel like doing at the given point in time. And sometimes even a 3rd, 4th, or 5th option may be in consideration, such as riding a bike.

Phil_gretz

Well, that may be okay for certain times in life. But I would not counsel my own son to have that approach to life choices, in general. I say this because I have lived long and have come to know that my feelings cannot be trusted. They are unreliable, and are as fickle as the wind. A life lived with purpose has its own rewards. Value-based decisions help in marriage, in fatherhood, in career, in communities, among neighbors, and in families. I'd rather be told at the end, "well done, good and faithful servant."

GlennR

I find working and maintaining my bikes a major part of the experience. And the reward is when i'm riding and it shifts perfectly. I pass by the LBS fairly regularly on my rides and they have as 3 week wait for repairs. I couldn't imagine not being able to ride for that longs. I've already done a few tuneups on neighbors bikes. Had one person who was walking by and saw me in the garage and if I can look at their bike.




And as far as working on old cars, I work on vintage VWs as a hobby and build engines. Carbs, points and solid lifters are what works for me.




And for high tech... this still have a vacuum tube in the power supply.

Sy Reene

All well and good, and this discussion is overall a bit tangential, but bringing this back to the OP, and the decision to repair a pump or not, perhaps it was a choice between doing this or watching a TV rerun, or scrubbing the bathtub, or repainting the basement floor, or volunteering at a homeless shelter, or clipping the dog's toenails, or, or, or..

kombiguy

Dellortos? And the distributor tester is just too cool. Wish I had one for the 009s in the garage.

GlennR

Nope... Weber 48 IDAs. and no 009... Bosch 010.