Author Topic: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment  (Read 14954 times)

Mike Ayling

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #30 on: January 23, 2013, 10:30:52 pm »

As an old-school roadie, I am particularly fond of the Zefal HPX series of pumps. I'm saddened to think they're no longer made, as Andre said. I knew the black ones had been discontinued in favor of silver, and they still appear in the Zefal catalog...but have been dropped by SJS Cycles.


Dan.

In December 2012 we took delivery of our Thorn tandem and we were able to specify a Zephal HPX No 4 to accompany the bike. Fits a treat on the boom tube with a brazed on peg. SJSC refer to it as an Äntique" pump! So there are still a few left!

Mike


Danneaux

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #31 on: January 24, 2013, 12:13:59 am »
Yaaaaay, Mike; good news, that! Get 'em while y'can. The black ones are already in extremely short supply, even on eBay.

The Zefal HPX is one of my favorites, and still made of Real Metal® -- aluminum in this case. They keep working fine for a long time provided one doesn't get too frantic with the pace of pumping so the little ball check-valve at the end gets dislodged. If it does, one needs either a very long slotted screwdriver or a (care) tire iron to tighten it up again.

The Zefal HPX has *almost* replaced the Silca Impero with Campagnolo chromed-steel two-legged head as my aesthetic pump of choice. Man, to my roadie eyes, those still just look "right" when painted to match the bike frame. Trouble is they were made of styrene plastic. Never too sturdy to begin with, it gets embrittled with age and they all shatter while pumping someday. Either that, or they crack across the threads. Still pretty, though the hardest work to actually use at high pressures. I've managed to hammer in as much as 130psi/8.96bar with one, but regretted it. My arms felt like wet noodles after.

Good news, Mike; thanks for sharing.

Best,

Dan.

il padrone

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #32 on: January 24, 2013, 12:15:26 am »
Fourth, the Lezyne pumps don't have screw-on heads or at least I never use this feature with Scrader valves.

I have two Lezyne pumps (Road Drive and Micro Floor Drive). Both have screw-on hose connectors.

« Last Edit: January 24, 2013, 12:18:21 am by il padrone »

macspud

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #33 on: January 26, 2013, 01:18:53 pm »
The Zefal HPX Vintage Number 4 Reversible Frame Fit Pump Silver also available from Parkers of Bolton for £20.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2013, 01:23:55 pm by macspud »

jags

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #34 on: January 26, 2013, 03:35:09 pm »
got a  zefal hcx for a tenner in my local bikeshop last week . ;)

revelo

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #35 on: January 30, 2013, 03:44:36 am »
I have two Lezyne pumps (Road Drive and Micro Floor Drive). Both have screw-on hose connectors.



My Lezyne pressure drive mini-pumps have that same tube and it does indeed screw onto the valve. But the person I was replying to said something about unscrewing the valve. I'm not longer sure what he meant. I assumed at the time that he was talking about unscrewing the valve core, which is something you can do with Schrader valves to install stans sealant (which I use as protection from goat-head thorns). I'm certainly not having problems with the Lezyne pumps, other than that the o-rings can blow. Which is why I carry the o-ring repair kit and also two pumps. The Lezyne mini pumps are very lightweight and very small, so carrying two is a viable option. From the standpoint of person in the middle of a big city, with a bike shop right down the street and everyone busy, busy, busy, these Lezyne mini-pumps take forever to pump up a 55-559 tire. From the standpoint of someone with a flat tire and a broken pump in the middle of the desert, on a dirt road that sees maybe one truck every few days, with a 30 mile hike to the nearest paved road, they work very quickly.

il padrone

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #36 on: January 30, 2013, 08:15:40 am »
Fair comment. But I must admit that I use the pump sooo rarely, and it is always kept in good nick. As the problem you mention is all about the hose connector, I'd probably carry a spare hose rather than the whole spare pump. It's possible to go overboard with spares and where do you draw the line?

Spare chain? Spare saddle? Spare rim? Spare handlebar?  I have heard of all of these failing for someone on a tour at some stage  :-\



Note: I do not carry any of these as spares, nor do I ever plan to.

Andre Jute

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #37 on: January 30, 2013, 12:28:30 pm »

Spare chain? Spare saddle? Spare rim? Spare handlebar?  I have heard of all of these failing for someone on a tour at some stage  :-\

Note: I do not carry any of these as spares, nor do I ever plan to.


That's it. I'm coming for you. -- Murphy's Law

julk

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #38 on: January 30, 2013, 01:35:05 pm »
A bit off original topic but,
I once surprised a son who had just broken a toilet seat in our house by bringing out a spare and replacing the broken one.

I am risk averse and tend to take too many spares on a tour, but other cyclists have definitely benefited.

Danneaux

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #39 on: January 30, 2013, 04:41:22 pm »
If one brought a spare toilet seat on-tour, it would solve a number of ancillary problems as well.

Just sayin'.

All the best,

Dan. (...who just had to say it, and wants to tour with julk)

revelo

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #40 on: January 30, 2013, 05:40:43 pm »
Fair comment. But I must admit that I use the pump sooo rarely, and it is always kept in good nick. As the problem you mention is all about the hose connector, I'd probably carry a spare hose rather than the whole spare pump. It's possible to go overboard with spares and where do you draw the line?

Spare chain? Spare saddle? Spare rim? Spare handlebar?  I have heard of all of these failing for someone on a tour at some stage  :-\



Note: I do not carry any of these as spares, nor do I ever plan to.
I use a pump rarely myself. But like I said, these Lezyne mini-pumps are very lightweight at 90g each and also very compact, and I HAVE had one fail on me. It wasn't the o-rings in the tube, BTW, but rather in the pump part. This happened in bitterly cold weather, and fixing the pump would have been difficult, since my hands would have become numb but fixing those o-rings requires a delicate touch. I didn't actually NEED the pump at this time, I was just topping up my tires that had gotten a little low in pressure, but it was a wakeup call. Flat tires can occur at any time and you can't fix them without a working pump. The Schwalbe Mondial is NOT immune to nails sticking straight up.

Not planning for a broken chain is unwise. Broken chains are not uncommon, though I've never had one myself. The SRAM PC830 that I use is a good chain, but there are always manufacturing defects. I carry 5" of spare chain (5 full-links) plus 3 spare master links.

A broken saddle or seat post just means you have to push the bike out to the nearest highway or town. No big deal.

Rims usually crack before they completely disintegrate, so it would be wise to examine them frequently and I do. If a crack is found, you should be able to make it back to a highway or town before the cracks gets too big. Just be gentle and perhaps push rather than ride to take some weight off the wheels. A friend of mine had his rim crack while desert touring. He was able to continue riding on it to town.

The main problem with a broken handlebar is that you can no longer push. However, it is possible to improvise. I carry a hiking stick as part of my gear (self-defense from dogs, front support for my tarp, self-defense from mountain lions when hiking) and that could be used to steer the bike while pushing. Another possibility is the seat post. Long stems can also break, but mine is short (70mm) and so very unlikely to break.

A broken handlebar might cause a crash which breaks your wrist. If this happens in cold, raining and windy conditions, then you'll need shelter fast to avoid hypothermia. Can you pitch your shelter one-handed? It's simple to take one-handed setup into consideration when choosing a shelter, and usually doesn't add weight.

If you travel in the desert, are you prepared for leaks in water bottles/bladders? Leaks are possible even with high-quality containers, and are easy to prepare for by simply distributing your water into multiple containers.

I'm not a fanatic about survivalism, but it is seems foolish not to be prepared for common contingencies when you are touring at a leisurely pace, and hence weight is not a major concern like it is for racers.

cycling4chapatis

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #41 on: December 15, 2013, 05:55:58 am »
To throw another spanner in the works: recommendations for dual use (shocks, i.e. air suspension forks and tyres) pumps?

I've come past these two (plus rebranded versions of the latter):
http://www.topeak.com/products/Pumps/shocknroll
http://www.amazon.com/GIYO-Bicycle-Schrader-Presta-Shock/dp/B00BW4TS0G/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1387085979&sr=8-12&keywords=giyo+pump

I know small pumps require more strokes, such is life. Definitely +1 on tube connectors to avoid damaging valve. For redundancy I'm considering getting both, so that between the two of us (both on air-suss forked nomads) plus one more 'normal' tyre pump, any one can die without leaving us...deflated.


And a final spanner: how many spare tubes would you carry between two riders for a year of South America? I've read Thorn's view on Schrader valves, hence them supplying bikes with Presta/ Presta-drilled rims. How easy is it to get hold of 26" presta valved tubes in out there places?

Btw - beautiful life hack: cutting the top half of the presta valve plastic lid and screwing it back on turns it into a schrader adapter: http://cyclingabout.com/index.php/2013/10/make-your-own-presta-valve-adapter-video/

il padrone

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #42 on: December 15, 2013, 06:29:27 am »
And a final spanner: how many spare tubes would you carry between two riders for a year of South America? I've read Thorn's view on Schrader valves, hence them supplying bikes with Presta/ Presta-drilled rims. How easy is it to get hold of 26" presta valved tubes in out there places?

We rode for 3 months in Italy and Corsica. Only one puncture, that amazingly could not be traced to any foreign body - it may actually have just been a combination of a softening tyre due to long period between topping up and perhaps a pinch flat. I never got around to repairing the tube and now it's........ ??

Anyway we carried two spare tubes each. If I was touring for a year, perhaps make it three spare tubes. The more critical things are:

1. really good puncture-protective tyres;
2. access to reliable patch glue.

One of the biggest failures I've found is the glue - tubes of cement that dry out on you. Very common once it has been opened, especially if you have hot weather. I have even once opened a sealed tube of glue to find the tube was entirely empty   :o :-[ - evaporated somehow. I'd expect that tube repair glue is reasonably common in South America however. If you puncture tubes then repair them. A tube is not dead until it has eight patches on it by my standard.

As for presta tubes - Wiggle is your friend. Here in Australia I can get a package shipped from Wiggle in 4-5 days. South America can't be too much worse.

macspud

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Re: Your choice for best mini-pump at the moment
« Reply #43 on: February 10, 2014, 06:06:51 pm »
Not a mini pump I know but has anyone tried a Biologic Postpump Seatpost?