Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment

[Danneaux]

The only people that don't hate them have never owned one

Thanks for the report, Fred; they sound pretty bad. I've seen them around the last couple years or so and wondered if they worked; you've saved me the trouble of trying one!

There was (may still be around, I dunno) a cell-phone charger that worked similarly. Reminded me of pulling the starter cord on a lawnmower. It didn't work very well, either. Fortunately, the seller kept replacing them; unfortunately, it didn't help. The cords snapped or pulled free on the first two I got, and the gears stripped in the third, and that was with me pulling pretty gently and with the idea in mind that it couldn't be very robust for the price. Seeing this pump with a similar design brings it all back....

Best,

Dan.

[rualexander]

These are just no good. The only people that don't hate them have never owned one


[Minor edit for language by Mod Dan.]

I had one of these for a while a few years ago, it does work reasonably well, but it wasn't any easier than a regular pump, and was quite tiring on the arm pulling the strap. I wouldn't say I hated it but I stopped using it and got a Topeak Mini Morph instead which is a great little pump.

[Danneaux]

Thank for elaborating, Rual...

I am coming to the conclusion that for pumping ease, the little faux floor pumps have a lot going for them.

About 30 years ago, I rigged something in a similar vein for my father, who shattered a shoulder years ago in a fall from some scaffolding and lacks some mobility/strength in that arm as a result. He used a Zefal HP pump at the time, but couldn't compress it at the high pressures his tires needed (~120psi/8.3bar). I got a spare thumblock connector from a floor pump, a length of reinforced rubber hose, and sawed the base off a presta valve. Shoved the presta valve in the hose, connected the lot with small jubilee clamps, and it worked well for him as a kind of floor pump, so long as he remembered to put the Zefal's little nylon retainer "wings" on some sort of pad. He could press down with body weight and that made all the difference. I've seen several similar homemade adaptations over the years.

Best,

Dan.

[JimK]

can someone with a Nomad Mk2 measure the outside diameter of their seat tube for me?

Circumference looks to be 4 inches on the dot. (Sorry I missed this request at the time!)

[Danneaux]

(Sorry I missed this request at the time!)

Oh, no problem, Jim; just grateful for the info -- a stellar job, as always from you! Very much appreciated!

Shortly...I will have some Big Surprises to reveal <rubs hands in glee>

All the best,

Dan. ("Getting there by a slightly different route...")

[Danneaux]

I surely thank you all for your suggestions for "Best Mini-Pump at the Moment". I learned a great deal from your shared experience, and now know of several I would wish to try if I go that route.

However, I have solved my pump-fitting problem. I had thought I might need to find a mini-pump, since there was really no place on the Nomad's frame to fit my Zefal HPX2; The Nomad Mk2 has a shorter seat tube than my Sherpa Mk2 due to the greater slope of the top tube.

So...I put a little more thought into it.

Unlike the Sherpa's fastback seatstays, the Nomad has its stays more widely spaced, and the pump could fit between them.

Of course, there was the problem of how best to secure it, and that's where Zefal came to the rescue once again with a Doohicki Plus for the bottom, and a zytel nylon worm-drive peg at the top, attached to the seatpost. It works a treat, and the pump is so secure I cannot imagine a situation where it could possibly hop out (the little "wings" on the head end are securely held in the Doohicki Plus' slots). The pump fully clears the frame and can be quickly and easily extracted from above or from below without interference.

And, 'cos aesthetics matter, the pump fits parallel to the seat tube so it looks like it is s'posed to.

Best of all, I get to use the pump I already had -- a nice, longish frame pump that is reliable and does the job quickly.

Solved!

Best,

Dan.

[revelo]

Whichever mini-pump you get, it MUST have a flexible tube. Otherwise, you will break the valve stem eventually. I vote for the lezyne pressure drive pumps. They flexible stem which supports both presta and scrader valves in an ingenious way. The pump weighs under 90g and it is small enough to fit in a saddle bag with the rest of my tools. I carry two of these pumps since a pump is even more important than a flat repair kit. The pump is slow for fat 55-559 tires, but gets the job done eventually. Supposedly, it will produce high pressures for road tires, but I wouldn't know since I have tried with those.

The rubber o-ring seals can fail eventually. SJSCycles (but not too many other retailers) sells the lezyne maintenance kit with replacement o-rings. This is very lightweight, so I throw this into my maintenance kit while touring as well.

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

American publication Bicycling magazine just posted a roundup of their favorite mini-pumps here:
http://www.bicycling.com/mountainbikecom/bikes-gear/our-favorite-fast-action-mini-pumps?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Slideshow-_-mini-pumps

Awfully short on details (none) as is typical for them, but some nice photos and web links. There were a couple in their list I hadn't seen before.

Hopefully this will make selection easier for others.

Best,

Dan.

[swc7916]

Whichever mini-pump you get, it MUST have a flexible tube. Otherwise, you will break the valve stem eventually. I vote for the lezyne pressure drive pumps.

I had been using the Topeak Road Morph G pump but I didn't like the folding handle, so I decided to try one of the Lezyne pumps.  The Lezyne pump failed on me so I took it back to the shop and traded back to a Road Morph.

Here's my Lezyne story:

We were about 5 miles into our ride when the rear tire went flat on a 2-mile climb.  I found a screw in the tire and removed it, but there was little burr left on the inside of the tire so I booted it with a Parks adhesive tire boot that I carry with us and replaced the inner tube.  Pumped it up with the Lyzene pump (which worked OK this time) and proceeded with the ride.  When we got to our lunch destination the tire was going low, so I had to remove the tire, replace the tube, and pump it up again.  (I found out later that the tire boot was chafing the tube and causing the flat.)  I have now used up my 2 spare tubes.  On the return trip - about 10 miles from home - the tire went flat again.  This is where everything went to pieces.  I now had no new tubes, so I had to patch the one in the tire.  I got everything back together and pumped the tire up.  This time, when I removed the pump head the stem valve came out with it.  The Lyzene pump head had unscrewed the valve and I had no tools with me to screw it back in tight enough.  I now had to take the tire off again, patch another tube, and try again.  This time one of the o-rings in the pump blew out!  Crap!  We ended up riding on about 60 psi in the rear tire until we got to a bike shop on the way home where I borrowed a floor pump to get enough air in the tire to get us home.  Lessons learned:  1) Never get a pump with a screw-on head - it can unscrew the valve when you remove it.  2) Never get a Lyzene pump - the 0-rings are a weak point and can fail, leaving you without a pump.

[Danneaux]

Lessons learned:...

...And, sadly, a Third Lesson learned from this end...

Always care a spare pump if you ride alone, well away from access to any sort of compressed air. Lungs are not a suitable substitute, even if employed in desperation against the laws of physics. To cut to the chase, a whole series of unfortunate events -- perhaps including oxygen deprivation at altitude -- led to me stepping backwards onto my pump where I had laid it on the ground. Of course, it snapped in two. Lesson learned, so now I carry a small Crank Brothers plastic mini-pump in my underseat bag as backup. Doesn't matter how many tubes or patches I have if there's no way to reinflate the tube/tire. No, the Crank Bros mini is not ideal, but it is small and reliable, and when I really need it, I don't particularly care that it requires 475-646 strokes to get a tire up to pressure (yes, I counted; it made the time pass a bit more quickly as my arms turned noodly).

When things go really bad, there's always meadow grass or sagebrush to stuff inside the tire. It doesn't help much but saves the rim edges a little bit as the tire gets destroyed a little ore with every roll of the wheel. 

So sorry you had such bad luck, Steve; how unfortunate!

Best,

Dan. (Such stories leave me feeling...flat)

[il padrone]

Bah! A mate of mine flatted on the second last lap of a round of the Australian MTB Championship series. No external assistance possible, replacing the tube would leave him finishing close to last. He rode the last lap and a half (about 6kms - long races back in those days) on a flat rear tyre. Trashed the tyre and rim.

You're all soft I say  

[Danneaux]

Trashed the tyre and rim.

B-bu-but Pete! That's why we're soft! Going on is expendysive, and replacements are hard to find on-tour... 

Nah, you're right; we're soft! 

All the best,

Dan.

[JimK]

He rode the last lap and a half (about 6kms - long races back in those days) on a flat rear tyre. T

I've got a DVD, Race Across the Sky, about the Leadville Trail 100, where Lance Armstrong gets a flat close the end and just rides on it. Definitely depends on the situation!

[il padrone]

My mate was in the lead. I think he only lost two places - third place on a flat tyre 

[revelo]

I had been using the Topeak Road Morph G pump but I didn't like the folding handle, so I decided to try one of the Lezyne pumps.  The Lezyne pump failed on me so I took it back to the shop and traded back to a Road Morph.

Here's my Lezyne story:

We were about 5 miles into our ride when the rear tire went flat on a 2-mile climb.  I found a screw in the tire and removed it, but there was little burr left on the inside of the tire so I booted it with a Parks adhesive tire boot that I carry with us and replaced the inner tube.  Pumped it up with the Lyzene pump (which worked OK this time) and proceeded with the ride.  When we got to our lunch destination the tire was going low, so I had to remove the tire, replace the tube, and pump it up again.  (I found out later that the tire boot was chafing the tube and causing the flat.)  I have now used up my 2 spare tubes.  On the return trip - about 10 miles from home - the tire went flat again.  This is where everything went to pieces.  I now had no new tubes, so I had to patch the one in the tire.  I got everything back together and pumped the tire up.  This time, when I removed the pump head the stem valve came out with it.  The Lyzene pump head had unscrewed the valve and I had no tools with me to screw it back in tight enough.  I now had to take the tire off again, patch another tube, and try again.  This time one of the o-rings in the pump blew out!  Crap!  We ended up riding on about 60 psi in the rear tire until we got to a bike shop on the way home where I borrowed a floor pump to get enough air in the tire to get us home.  Lessons learned:  1) Never get a pump with a screw-on head - it can unscrew the valve when you remove it.  2) Never get a Lyzene pump - the 0-rings are a weak point and can fail, leaving you without a pump.

Wrong lessons learned. First, make sure you tighten up the parts on the Lezyne pump that can be unscrewed before using it, since the o-rings are most likely to blow out when they are not firmly held in place. Second, you should have had two pumps, since all mini-pumps have weak points, and that most definitely includes the Topeak pumps. The Lezyne Pressure drive is lightweight enough (about 90g) and small enough that carrying two pumps is is not a problem.  Third, bring along a 15 x 30 cm piece of 1000d coated nylon cordura (fabric used to make heavy backpacks and luggage) to protect the tube from any boot you use and/or serve as a boot in its own right. Fourth, the Lezyne pumps don't have screw-on heads or at least I never use this feature with Scrader valves. Finally, if your tubes have removable valve cores (all Scrader tubes and some Presta tubes, then you really should bring along a valve core remover and some spare valve cores, since sometimes the valve core is where the leak is occurring.