Puncture!

[cameramanjim]

Feel stupidly proud of the fact that I changed my first inner tube today, in Richmond Park in the pouring rain after quite a long ride. I carry an inner tube and tyre levers in my saddle bag and had been warned that I´d only get a puncture when it was cold and wet enough (In the past I´ve pushed my bike to the nearest bike shop and coughed up the cash.) I was lucky in that I was near the bike hire shop and was able to borrow their pump as typically I wasn´t carrying one (I´d also forgotten to wear my new overshoes so had cold wet feet).
I wondered if any members had one of these tiny carbon fibre bike pumps which my LBS is recommending: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-carbon-mini-pump/ ?

 

[Granville Kuosonsavath]

yeah i've got that one, fine so far.
tend to use a CO2 one mainly, quicker and better result. Always take a manual one as well though, and always check it works before a long ride - i've had to walk about a mile out of my way to a shop before because my pump had broke.

 

[potsy]

Why would anybody carry a spare tube and tyre levers but no pump?

Topeak road morph has done me fine on the rare occasion I've needed it out on the road,though I do quite like the idea of a CO2 pump.

 

[Chris S]

Is that Tyre Weld stuff any good? It seems to work OK on car tyres.

 

[leemo]

I have a toppeak mini g master blaster which cost £17. For me the good thing about it is that it has a bracket to attach (to the side of) where the bottle cage sits on the down tube so its convenient to carry.

Its important to have a pump which can get decent pressue in a feasible amount of time if you are using thin road tyres. I'd be wary of buying a lesser/cheaper make of pump or one that is too small. Its not something you use often but you do want to work reliably when you do use it.

Last time I used mine I managed 70psi in a couple of minutes which is enough to get home on (although normally I run at 120psi). Could have put a bit more in but it was getting tough and I didnt want to risk breaking the valve.


CO2 is not for me as a commuter. There have been times I've cocked up the puncture repair and had to pump up a tyre twice, so there is an issue of how many CO2 carts one should carry. And they are quite expensive. I can see their attraction to racers who need to get to full 120psi pressue in a short amount of time.

 

[Peter10]

I have an Oxford Track Pump when doing repairs at home, but carry a Raleigh mini two way pump on the bike (pumps on both the pull and push). Although I say it's a Raleigh, it is actually a no-brand pump which is 100% identical to the Raleigh one but was £5 cheaper...

Mini pumps aren't bad at all and with the benefit of this one pumping on the pull and push, I can fully inflate a tyre in about 45 seconds of furious pumping .

 

[slowmotion]

I carry a Lezyne Road Drive pump. It has a hose that is flexible. It doesn't stress the valve when you are in a hurry, and you always are when you are doing the stuff after a visit from the Fairy . I think that fixed head pumps are quite horrible. You can get a taste on this link....almost certainly less expensive elswhere, but who knows?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=29719

 

[Canardly]

+1 for the lezyne

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Lezyne-Micro-Floor-Drive-HP-Hand-pump_26273.htm

 

[ColinJ]

[QUOTE 1240710"]
I can recommend the Halfords morph track pump. About £20. Have found it hardy and reliable.

http://www.halfords....egoryId_165661 
[/quote]
That's the type I've got and I'm pleased with mine too.

I went in to buy a Topeak pump but they were out of stock. The Halfords pump is near enough a clone so I bought that instead.

 

[Hacienda71]

I have one of these, not as light as some of the carbon fibre ones but 100 psi no problem.

 

[slowmotion]

The Lezyne Road Drive has a nifty bracket so you can fix it to the frame on the bottle fixings as well as the bottle. A bit "retro" for some, but it works well. The flexible hose saves you broken valves. Great gizmo, and worth the extra dosh IMVVHO.

 

[Paulus]

I use one of these when I am out. It is a little pricey, but you can get a high pressure into the tube with this mini pump.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/topeak/mini-morph-pump-ec007782

 

[cameramanjim]

I carry a Lezyne Road Drive pump. It has a hose that is flexible. It doesn't stress the valve when you are in a hurry, and you always are when you are doing the stuff after a visit from the Fairy . I think that fixed head pumps are quite horrible. You can get a taste on this link....almost certainly less expensive elswhere, but who knows?

http://www.chainreac...x?ModelID=29719

Many thanks for all your suggestions. In the end I bought the one mentioned above partly because of the hose and partly because it looks great and is very light. Every gram counts haha!

 

[CanucksTraveller]

tend to use a CO2 one mainly, quicker and better result. Always take a manual one as well though

Two methods of inflation? Doesn't one kind of make the other redundant when you're out?

I see the need for both (with the pump at home) because CO2 will leak out after a few days, but to carry both seems odd. I thought the idea of CO2 was to save you carrying a pump.

 

[ColinJ]

Two methods of inflation?  Doesn't one kind of make the other redundant when you're out?

I see the need for both (with the pump at home) because CO2 will leak out after a few days, but to carry both seems odd.  I thought the idea of CO2 was to save you carrying a pump.

A mate decided to switch to CO[sub]2[/sub][sub] [/sub]and came out on a ride with me. After a couple of hours, he rode over some broken glass and his front tyre went down. He found a piece of glass in his tyre, dug it out, replaced the tube and used CO[sub]2[/sub] to inflate it. It went down again - he'd missed a second piece of glass. He dug that out, and checked both tyres carefully for any other pieces of glass. Having done that, he put his second spare tube in, and used CO[sub]2[/sub] to inflate it - BANG! (The tube exploded.) He'd trapped part of it between the tyre beading and the rim. That was his CO[sub]2[/sub] cyclinders and spare tubes used up. I gave him one of my spare tubes and lent him my pump...

I can see the sense in using CO[sub]2[/sub] if you are racing and need to inflate a tyre in a hurry because there is no service vehicle to give you a spare wheel. If not, carry a good quality pump!