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FramE PumP?

1K views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  ptwood 
#1 ·
I must be old. I don't get that many flats considering I ride terrain that most closely resembles the surface of that asteroid in that Bruce Willis movie that they had to drill a hole into... anyway when I do get a flat the biggest issue is always getting air back into the tire after the repair. I can change tubes with the best of them but when I get out the new fangled CO2... "psssst"; lose most of the air without getting more than 15psi. in the tire, 90% of the time, which sucks. So, I go back to basics with the semi-new-fangled "mini" pumps, the last two I've had have broken on their first use before putting any air into the tire. In fact, the last one broke and caused me to lose even more air.

I'm getting sick of this BS! I am thinking I want an old school full sized frame mounted pump like the old Zefal Hpx type. Those things were bullet proof, reliable, and rebuildable. You could remove it on the fly and use it to crash a Fred "Breaking Away" style, you could use it as a defensive weapon against an aggressive dog, and best of all you could actually use it to pump up a bike tire in a reasonable amount of time with a reasonable amount of effort. Anyone else use an old style frame mounted pump or at least remember them fondly?

I must admit those CO2 and BigAir rigs look awesome strapped on peoples bikes, those mini pumps are light and convenient to carry, but they just are'nt working for me. It seems to me like half of the stuff they have come out with for mountain biking in the past ten years that I have been away from cycling are mostly just hype.
 
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#4 ·
How do you get it out of your hydration pack in time to hit dogs with or crash a Fred? Not to mention CO2's cost money. I can see if your racing... in an actual race, and every second accounts for something. I've already come to terms with the fact that nobody is ever going to pay me to ride a bicycle so I can take a minute or two to use a pump. Most of the time I'd just as soon save that $2. for an afterride beer or my "new tire fund" than a CO2 shot.
 
#7 ·
peanutbutter said:
i like frame pumps. they work great and allow for high pressure while moving high volume. small pocket pumps just dont cut it.
take a look at the mcclung thread to see some sweet bikes with frame pumps!
I love my frame pump!



Cheers,
P.T.
 
#11 ·
AZ.MTNS said:
Bontrager Air Rush Road , combination CO2 and mini pump . Has worked great for me , its small enough to fit in a hydration pack , fills tires in short order , is reliable as a rock .
Yeah I used CO2 for awhile and then it got expensive and I almost ran out of cartridges on a long ride. Plus it weighs more than a good pump!

Blackburn Mountain Air has done well for me. I also have a Giant basic pump that works well but it's smaller tube diameter takes quite a few more strokes to get 29er mountain tires aired up.
 
#14 ·
i dunno, i have a specialized air force 2, and a drop of lube in that thing every once in a while has kept her going strong for 4 years now (and i actually found it on the trail, so i have no clue how old it actually is).
it pumps when you push and when you pull so no wasted effort. much faster than my old school zefal frame pump i had when i was a kid
 
#15 ·
Well I'm old school, I've been around frame pumps since the early 80's and have had quite a few. Not all Zefal's were great, Silca's pretty much sucked but were light and looked good, and there were a lot of others as well. Compared to what's on the market now I'll take an old aluminum bodied Zefal with a metal head and replacable parts (if you can still find them). I'm tired of buying pumps like Crank Bros. that break the first time you try to use it... I mean I'm already pissed that I got a flat, probably cut a $40. tire, and now my freaking pump breaks too! AAAARRRRGGGGhhhh! There goes another $20. for nothing.

To each their own I guess, but I have found that whenever I am stumped and can't figure out a gear/ equipment issue if I just go back to what I used to do a decade or so ago it generally works pretty darned well for me.
 
#16 ·
Norris_Hanna said:
Well I'm old school, I've been around frame pumps since the early 80's and have had quite a few. Not all Zefal's were great, Silca's pretty much sucked but were light and looked good, and there were a lot of others as well. Compared to what's on the market now I'll take an old aluminum bodied Zefal with a metal head and replacable parts (if you can still find them). I'm tired of buying pumps like Crank Bros. that break the first time you try to use it... I mean I'm already pissed that I got a flat, probably cut a $40. tire, and now my freaking pump breaks too! AAAARRRRGGGGhhhh! There goes another $20. for nothing.

To each their own I guess, but I have found that whenever I am stumped and can't figure out a gear/ equipment issue if I just go back to what I used to do a decade or so ago it generally works pretty darned well for me.
i hear ya... i guess that's why i stick to singlespeeds.:D
 
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