a.twiddler
Veteran
I have been using this frame pump for about 20 years. It's about 50cm long, has an aluminium barrel with a fold out T-handle, and a reversible valve adaptor held in by a screw in ring. It has no logo or name on it, yet it is of good quality. I haven't had to use it much, as I use a floor pump at home, but when I've needed it, it's been very effective. It's also long enough to and solid enough to discourage the odd exciteable dog.
It's been on a few bikes over the years, and most recently on my Linear LWB recumbent, most of the time living attached to a Hi Gear rack bag which has velcro loops for a pump. Last June I had a puncture, and it performed as well as ever. A couple of months ago I replaced the rack bag with a Radical tail bag, and the pump moved to a new home. The Linear has a pouch or pocket at the back of the seat which holds the bottom of the pump and the top of the Radical bag keeps it in place as well as keeping it out of sight. It's always a bit of a worry that things will fall off or get pinched from a bike and this killed two birds with one stone. Apart from occasionally checking that the pump was still actually there I haven't taken it out to look at it until the day before yesterday.
This revealed that sometime during the last couple of months, maybe three, the retaining ring which holds the reversible valve fitment in has vibrated loose, unscrewed itself, and fallen out, followed in short order by the valve fitment. So I've been blithely riding around with something that looks like pump but would be sadly disappointing if I actually tried to use it to inflate a tyre. This includes my recent trip to Wales so it seems that the P******* fairy has indeed smiled on me recently. It would still see off errant dogs, however. Sadly, the bits weren't in the seat pocket.
Of course, you may say, "who uses a frame pump in this white hot technological age of CO2 cartridges and super efficient mini pumps?" Not to mention weight weenies. Well, me, since I had one, and it worked. Perhaps 20 years is a decent lifespan for a consumer durable. I've had a few mini pumps that either weren't all that good or conked out after a short time during that period. My short term solution is going to be an Aldi cheapo mini pump which will fit in my bag so that if bits fall off at least I won't lose them. Maybe size isn't important after all. Maybe I will come across some suitable spares so I can fix the original. Who knows?
It's been on a few bikes over the years, and most recently on my Linear LWB recumbent, most of the time living attached to a Hi Gear rack bag which has velcro loops for a pump. Last June I had a puncture, and it performed as well as ever. A couple of months ago I replaced the rack bag with a Radical tail bag, and the pump moved to a new home. The Linear has a pouch or pocket at the back of the seat which holds the bottom of the pump and the top of the Radical bag keeps it in place as well as keeping it out of sight. It's always a bit of a worry that things will fall off or get pinched from a bike and this killed two birds with one stone. Apart from occasionally checking that the pump was still actually there I haven't taken it out to look at it until the day before yesterday.
This revealed that sometime during the last couple of months, maybe three, the retaining ring which holds the reversible valve fitment in has vibrated loose, unscrewed itself, and fallen out, followed in short order by the valve fitment. So I've been blithely riding around with something that looks like pump but would be sadly disappointing if I actually tried to use it to inflate a tyre. This includes my recent trip to Wales so it seems that the P******* fairy has indeed smiled on me recently. It would still see off errant dogs, however. Sadly, the bits weren't in the seat pocket.
Of course, you may say, "who uses a frame pump in this white hot technological age of CO2 cartridges and super efficient mini pumps?" Not to mention weight weenies. Well, me, since I had one, and it worked. Perhaps 20 years is a decent lifespan for a consumer durable. I've had a few mini pumps that either weren't all that good or conked out after a short time during that period. My short term solution is going to be an Aldi cheapo mini pump which will fit in my bag so that if bits fall off at least I won't lose them. Maybe size isn't important after all. Maybe I will come across some suitable spares so I can fix the original. Who knows?