Ignorance is Bliss

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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?
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
That happened the frame pump I used to carry on my Viscount too. It was unfortunate at it was great pump😢
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
I use a Lezyne Mini pump, it's very good, last puncture I had it quite easily got a 700x25 to 70 psi, it comes with a bracket, also available separately so each of my bikes have a bracket on them to just swap the pump over quickly.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-sport-drive-hp-pump

Another one here with Lezyne mini pumps. Punctures tend to be few and far between these days and theres a greater chance that the pump or the spare tube will be knackered when its needed, I got caught out a couple of years ago with a pump that wouldn't work, I fixed it but by the next time it was needed it had failed again, luckily a passing cyclist had a working pump he was willing to lend me.
 

Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
If I didn't do that, I'd be sure to get caught out one day - I've returned from a 40-miler to find my frame-pump resting by the back door
I've done similar on a few occasions. Use a small, clip under the bottle cage type and having more than one bike used to swap it from one bike to the other. Except that a couple of times, got halfway round my normal loop before I spotted it missing. I couldn't continue with that on my mind, so took a shortcut back home.

I bought two more and now have the same pump permanently on all three bikes.
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
I carry a frame pump. It weighs what about 140g? So much easier when you get a puncture. I have accidentally gone out on a 70 mile ride forgetting the patch kit and toolkit for actually fixing things. Finding out towards end of ride I didn’t have them with me.
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
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?
I don't know, you buy something that stops working after only 20 years! Call that value for money.
 

Punkawallah

Über Member
Yer. My inner tube parted company from the valve - bloody thing had only been in place since '86 . . . Tut tut.
 
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OP
a.twiddler

a.twiddler

Veteran
The tightwad in me approves of having one pump to swap between bikes. Unfortunately the absent minded daydreamer in me knows that I will forget to swap it over one day when the Fairy is in a spiteful mood.

So to save me from myself I prefer each bike to have its own pump, tyre levers and patch kit, spare tube and basic tools. Where will it end! But it does mean that over the years I have acquired a variety of pumps.

The tourer has its own long lasting frame pump, the folder has a tiny mini pump from Wilko in an underseat pouch which has been used in anger and works well (though the tyres don't hold much air anyway). The Linear now has rhe Aldi pump (which is not that small) and the Dawes Low Rider has actual pump pegs which tempt me to find an appropriate style of pump to fit on them, if I can find one long enough.

That's the thing with portable pumps. You might not need them very often, but when you need them, you really need them to work!
 

roley poley

Über Member
Location
leeds
I have a Topeka aluminium barreled frame pump that has served me well...I also remember Richard ballantines famous tip somewhere in the back of my mind of having something to offer an attacking dog if it insists on taking meaty lumps out of a frail frightened cyclists body in a crisis
 

DRM

Guru
Location
West Yorks
I think there's merit in using your frame-pump for the regular small top-ups that bikes need.

If I didn't do that, I'd be sure to get caught out one day - I've returned from a 40-miler to find my frame-pump resting by the back door. 🤦‍♀️
And I thought it was only me that did stupid things like that!
 
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a.twiddler

a.twiddler

Veteran
I have a Topeka aluminium barreled frame pump that has served me well...I also remember Richard ballantines famous tip somewhere in the back of my mind of having something to offer an attacking dog if it insists on taking meaty lumps out of a frail frightened cyclists body in a crisis
Maybe that's where I got the inspiration from. I've got the first edition somewhere of "Richard's Bicycle Book" with its very American suggestions for self defence against dogs which so upset British dog lovers that following editions had to be toned down. I still think that he was probably right though, if it comes to the (probably vanishingly unlikely) situation where it's me or the mutt.
 

presta

Guru
Until it croaked about 10 years ago, I was still using the aluminium pump with a hose in the handle that came with my Carlton in 1972. I won't have any truck with hoseless ones, so I now use a Topeak Turbo-Morph, but I hate the damn thing, give me the old one any day. Pumps are a good example of a perfectly good product that got buggered up by marketing men.
 
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