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Is it worth spending money on a fancy track pump? I have a JoeBlow that's been heavily used for at least a decade and needs replacing. I'm thinking that if my next one lasts another 10 years, I might splash out and get a nice one. I need it for road and MTB tyres, but I have a compressor for seating tubeless tyres.
I'm intrigued by the idea of digital - like the JoeBlow Pro digital one. But mostly I want one that will feel nice to use and last well.
Any recommendations? Sub £100 I reckon.
What's wrong with it?
My old bombproof edinburgh bike co op one I thought had died.
Unscrewed the collar to see what's what and the wee rubber ring in the plunger had got snagged and wedge the pump solid. Pondered it for a second and then sprayed some silicone spray down the bore and reassembled it. Works better than ever.
The Joe blow can be fixed, but mine failed at the bottom in the end.
If you got 10 years from one, just buy another and a digital gauge if you need one.
Thing is, joe blows are actually really good pumps, and the materials are pretty much chosen to be good at the job rather than pretty. I've used nicer looking ones and I've used pumps that feel better made but I've never used any that do either of those things, and are just as good at being a pump.
Also, any pump that can do road tyres is compromised for mtb tyres, it's just a fact of life- so considering the budget, I'd say get 2, one for mtb and one for the road bike.
Lezyne, particularly for tubeless. The head has a built in valve core removal tool.
I know that's technically true North wind but really how big a difference. I've never really thought "this hasn't been optimised for this tyre"
Fatty tyres aside obviously.
My Lidl £6.99 trackpump is the best I’ve ever used. Takes fewer pumps to get a tyre up than any I’ve used before, inflates/seats tubeless.
Bought a spare in case it died (still in the packet).. .could’ve bought a whole bunch more for less than most worse performing pumps!
joshvegas
Free MemberI know that’s technically true North wind but really how big a difference. I’ve never really thought “this hasn’t been optimised for this tyre”
Quite a lot! I have a Joe Blow Mountain and, eh, some other Joe Blow, a Sport maybe. Basically the Mountain is big volume so it takes way less strokes to inflate an mtb tyre. I literally can't use it to go above 40 or so as I'm not heavy enough, instead of the handle going down I go up!
It doesn't sound like a big deal and tbh, especially if you have a compressor it isn't. But it's a much bigger impact than a shiny handle.
I've got a lidl £6.99 one as well. It's done all I need of it since I got it. MTB, road, kids bike, air bed, paddling pool and super wiggle ball. The hose has split and has a few wraps of electrical tape round it and the handle keeps coming off at the top of the stroke, but it still works. Put some new tubeless tyres on the road bike just the other day with it.
But, I got some vouchers for Xmas and part of me wants a lezyne track pump. I like lezyne products and I feel like if I get one, it will be nice to use and last forever. But is it really worth it? It's vouchers so it's essentially free to me, but can I justify the spend when the last one was so cheap!!?
High volume pump for MTB makes all the difference for setting up tubeless tyres.
I had a cheap park one, utter rubbish. I've also had a lidl one, which was ok for mtb but couldn't cope with road pressures.
Decathlon one was better, but my 70 quid lezyne is head and shoulders above all of them in both feel and function
What’s wrong with it?
A few things. I tried cleaning some paint off the pressure gauge with alcohol, which is now almost opaque as a result. The pressure check valve doesn’t seem to work properly any more so pressure readings are a bit variable. And the head doesn’t work as well as it should. I know I can replace all those bits individually but it adds up.
I’ve never had a problem with MTB tyres on a standard JoeBlow, but I don’t think the MTB-specific version would do my road bike tyres and my compressor tops out at 80psi which isn’t quite enough for my road tyres either. Is the high volume one significantly better for MTB tyres?
I’ve replaced our ancient Joe Blow with a Lezyne, having liked the hand pumps. It does feel nicer than the JB and seems to take less effort to inflate tyres. Time will tell if it’s been worth it
Rennkompressor with a Topeak smart head. Worth every penny. Thank me later. About 30 years later.
I have a Lezyne HP (road version). Originally had the HV (MTB version) but struggled to get road tyres up to pressure. I haven't needed to set up tubeless tyres though.
The inbuilt Lezyne Valve Core Remover™ is a one off problem though. Unless you don't learn from your mistakes.
I've had a Lezyne track pump for about a decade now and recently replaced it with a Joe Blow Sport as the Lezyne one had a broken gauge (needle starts at 20psi so is always over-reading), I'd got fed up of it taking the valve cores out randomly and the hose attachment threads (the silver part that spins) had worn so much that it no longer stayed together past 25psi. Made it useless for the commuter bike, the car and for charging my fire extinguisher tubeless inflator. The parts cost so much I could buy two Joe Blows instead so have 'downgraded' and it's such a better pump I won't be going back!
I’ve got a Lenten one that’s been going strong for years (over 10?), it’s built to last with very few plastic bits. I got the high pressure one so I could do road bike tyres as well but if it was just for MTB I’d get the bigger volume one. It’s been battered around in the back of my van for years, soaked, swung around by small children, etc and never let me down. I have a Joe Blow before that which was also great but got nicked.
Had this decision not long back, just got another Joe Blow sport, as the previous one last 10-15 years, I couldn't see the point in buying something double the price with little or no benefit, & seemingly without the back support (spares) topeak are great for, or more likely to go wrong (digital display & the ilk).
My cheap Specialized generic track pump has a more convenient head and a more accurate gauge than the Lezyne MTB one I’ve had for a few years longer. Lezyne seats tubeless better but I use an Airshot nowadays anyway.
My Joe Blow was rubbish and I replaced it with this. Hi Vol mode FOR MTB and cars, Hi Pressure mode for road. Big gauge, long hose and decent smart head. Very happy.
Slight hijack but any recommendations for a replacement head for a JoeBlow? We have an old one with a "twinhead" that's become a PITA.
You want the Smarthead instead. It’s excellent. Available as a part.
We've got a couple of Joe Blow pumps, must be getting on for 15 years old now. Just serviced one with their service kit as the main piston O ring was failing. I swapped out the smartheads to the twin heads ages back as it seemed more reliable.
Rennkompressor and swap the gauge out for a low pressure one. you then need a second pump for road bikes and for tubeless canisters but for day to day topping up pressures it will actually be accurate.
I’m intrigued by the idea of digital
a digital gauge won't be any more accurate. the issue is that gauges are accurate in the middle of their range so a gauge designed for 100psi plus is pretty much useless around 20psi
I have the joe blow mtb one, great for plus tyres and mtb as you can read the gauge all the way down 10-20 psi range.
Had a joe blow max II before it that the ball thing in the bottom melted....one too many tubeless setups.
had a flirtation with a leyzne in between but the screw on valve would unscrew tubeless valves no matter how tight I put them in
I got some vouchers for Xmas and part of me wants a lezyne track pump. I like lezyne products
Yeah, me too, got their minipumps to carry on the road and off road.
But I've got 2 track pumps (1 bought, 1 won) - the wooden handle broke on one after a short time and had to be glued, now the gauge doesn't work and the other, not used much, one day was ok, the next it just packed up. No air gets pushed through. They do look much nicer than the Lidl one though.
Every track pump thread I misread as pump tracks and then get confused.
I read the £30 Lezyne Macro Floor Drive DV Track Pump, read it had the same internals as the expensive wood handle version. It was needed for high pressure duty so got this over Joe Blow. I also have an old Aldi pump which is rubbish by comparison and hard to pump but still works (with a BBB dual head connector)
I had a cheap park one, utter rubbish.
+1
Bought a new head for it before Christmas. It's still s**t.
Best one I have ever had was one my Dad got as part of a Lada tool kit. It was incredibly heavy and seemed to have been machined from solid but would inflate any tyre. Used it for years on Motos, cars and cycles before leaving it in a car park somewhere. Needless to say it long outlasted the car and unfortunately, my poor old Dad.
Don’t buy a Birzman one, looks nice but almost useless in practice. Bought it to replace a broken JoeBlow, but now I’ve given up and ordered parts to fix the JB.
Ditto. Birzman pumps are utterly hopeless. Twist on head didn't work and then fell apart. Pressure reading is also way out-under reads by over 30%.
I bought a Silca with a wooden handle from Pearson Cycles when I worked in Sutton in the late 90s. It was the same as the 50 year old one they had in the workshop, just with paint on it.
I replaced the air chuck for convenience about ten years ago and put a new leather washer in when it wore out the other year - I'm pretty sure I could get a replacement knocked up from offcuts by our local cobbler, too. The gauge is useless and always has been, but I've only recently got a handlheld digital gauge to check stuff proper instead of eyeballing it.
I imagine it'll see me out.
Maybe keep an eye out for a second hand one of those?
My last track pump broke about 5 years ago, and as I have a compressor I never replaced it - however my compressor is now packed away as house move is imminent, prompting me to finally buy a replacement, for the garage and to take in the boot of the car.
I spent ages working out what I needed - I get they are 'track' pumps but I highly doubt many peole really need 16bar/230 psi range nowadays - for my use, the gauges are largely useless. The highest I ever get is about 50psi on a 42c tyre, and on my MTB the difference between 21 and 24 psi is a big change.
I was tempted by a Topeak Fat bike pump (0-30psi) but a bit too far to the other extreme, however I found they do a new 'Mountain X' that does 0-50psi - the perfect range for my use (and many of you, I suspect).
Less than £50 from a LBS ebay shop was best I found last night, on its way this week. Hopefully it'll do the trick, reviewed well.
I dont need it to (due to the compressor) but hopefully given the big barrel itll at least have a go at seating a new tubeless too (my old cheapo plastic EBC track pump did to be fair if you had fast enough arms).
As an aside - on the Topeak website the range of track pumps alone is 27 different versions!
Yeah I am a bit bamboozled to be honest. I occasionally use my road bike which (currently has 23mm tyres so) needs ~80psi. I wouldn't care about accuracy too much for that and like you say I'd like an accurate gauge in the 20-30psi range. I haven't seen dual-pressure gauges (I.e. one for 0-50psi and a second gauge for 50-160psi).
My pump actually still pumps air quite well - it just doesn't read pressure reliably. I might just buy one of these:
https://road.cc/content/review/topeak-smartgauge-d2-274367
I like using my trackpump because my compressor is really noisy (my garage is below someone's flat, annoyingly) and needs a minute or so to get up to pressure. It's great for seating tubeless but the rest of the time I still use a track pump.
I've got a Joe Blow sport or something, it's about 15 years old and still going strong. It manages my road bike up to about 100 psi comfortably and is fine with MTB. Admittedly I'm still on 26" wheels but surely if you have more volume you just pump for a bit longer?! You do have to work some to get tubeless tyres seated mind, but that doesn't happen often so as much as I'd love a compressor I can't really justify it.
Unless you are pumping up tyres every day, if you can fix your current pump I'd do that and spend the money on something shinier if it's burning a hole in your pocket!
£5.80 for a gauge that measures MTB pressures accurately that fits a RennKompressor. 0-30 or 0-60 both fine
pretty sure they would fit the old Silca too.
you do need a second pump for road and tubeless inflation
£5.80 for a gauge that measures MTB pressures accurately that fits a RennKompressor. 0-30 or 0-60 both fine
I presume those (0-300psi) pressure gauges would not like being over-pressurised to 90psi though?
I presume those (0-300psi) pressure gauges would not like being over-pressurised to 90psi though?
I swapped the 0-200psi gauge on my air compressor tyre inflator:
For one that read a smaller scale as per above. The issue is - whilst your large MTB tyre only gets up to 30 something, the supply line from the compressor still hits 150psi.
You are correct, they dont like it. Needle whazzes round about 3 times, bent off its stop, spring buggered, gauge damaged/out of accuracy, straight in bin. So dont fit one to a compressor unless you have a further restrictor after the source.
And I dont think id fit one to a regular 'high pressure' track pump either as when you push down, you still develop very high pressure in the barrel, gauge, and hose, whilst it forces it way through the tiny Presta Valve.
And I dont think id fit one to a regular ‘high pressure’ track pump either as when you push down, you still develop very high pressure in the barrel, gauge, and hose, whilst it forces it way through the tiny Presta Valve.
It's been fine on my Rennkompressor for a couple of years now. (but as above, I have other track pumps for high pressure use)
This is interesting, partly because it's almost what I need (but I need it to go up to ~90psi) but also because it seems to suggest that you can 'stack' pressure gauges. I wonder if the pump somehow limits the pressure to the left hand dial to < 30psi?
Topeak Dualie btw
I found they do a new ‘Mountain X’ that does 0-50psi – the perfect range for my use (and many of you, I suspect).
Less than £50 from a LBS ebay shop was best I found last night, on its way this week. Hopefully it’ll do the trick, reviewed well.
@snotrag that the one I just bought.
£50 delivered from leisure lakes
https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/maintenance/pumps/topeak-joe-blow-mtb-x-floor-pump-with-gauge-pressure-indicator-dial__338585
Seems good so far. More effective at seating tubeless if you remove the chuck and slide the hose directly over the valve without the core.
Quickly pumps up a 29+
Not tried it at the upper end of the gauge yet.... might take some effort to push it down.
I can confirm that a Park pump doesn't like being used to inflate bottle rockets.
Bontrager Flashcharger for everything including seating road tubeless.
£5.80 for a gauge that measures MTB pressures accurately that fits a RennKompressor. 0-30 or 0-60 both fine you do need a second pump for road and tubeless inflation
Holly thread resurrection I know but @b33k34 any idea which of the sizes/fittings is required? The eBay link still works but doesn't select anything.
I do love my Rennkompressor but the 200 psi (which I can't get above 120 without jumping up and down) scale is sodding tiny and a long way off these days so a 0-100 would make much more sense for all I use it for.
G
Pressure Gauge 50mm 63mm 100mm Dial Bottom & Back Connection Pneumatic Air Range [1/4" BSP BACK Connection,50mm Dial Dry Gauge
Is on my eBay order.
Related note - anyone remember what the posh track pump was that was recently released with a variable scale to the gauge? I can't find anything on it . . . I'm sure it's out of budget but I'd like to consider it at least.
Yeah the £40 Park Tools one as said, is a bit crap.
I'd guess from a flat tyre to 25psi is approx 50 pumps.... which is quite a lot !!!!
I have Birzmann, pump head didn’t last too long but neither did the Lezyne that preceded it.
Bought a Hirame pump head for it which has been fantastic.
Pressure Gauge 50mm 63mm 100mm Dial Bottom & Back Connection Pneumatic Air Range [1/4″ BSP BACK Connection,50mm Dial Dry Gauge
For about another fiver you can get one with a proper calibration certificate, and a fiver or so more than that you'll get fluid filled.
That's what i did anyway.
Think they were about 20 quid delivered. Maybe a little more.
I've got WIKA gauges on my Rennkompressors.
Holly thread resurrection...
Just noticed!
b33k34
Pressure Gauge 50mm 63mm 100mm Dial Bottom & Back Connection Pneumatic Air Range [1/4″ BSP BACK Connection,50mm Dial Dry Gauge
Is on my eBay order.
Thanks @b33k34
Haze
Holly thread resurrection…Just noticed!
Just doing my bit - Reduce, reuse, recycle. ;o)
@mert
What’s the advantage of fluid filled?
It was an experiment when I did it but wouldn’t go back now.
The needle doesn't waggle about when pumping up. Generally a bit more robust when knocking around in the back of the car. Deal with temperature variation better (no condensation in the gauge). Most of the mechanism is protected from corrosion etc.
TBH, i'd probably stick with a dry gauge if you've already got it (wouldn't upgrade!) but it was such a small price increase at the time it seemed like a no brainer. And FWIW, the fluid filled gauges i bought were cheaper than i could find the stock SKS one for the Rennkompressor, which is an utter piece of garbage.
Mine was only an experiment too, but one i repeated twice... (long story, but i have two Rennkompressors.)
Pressure Gauge 50mm 63mm 100mm Dial Bottom & Back Connection Pneumatic Air Range [1/4″ BSP BACK Connection,50mm Dial Dry Gauge
For about another fiver you can get one with a proper calibration certificate, and a fiver or so more than that you’ll get fluid filled.
Is fluid filled preferable? I know nothing about these things.
Where did you get your WIKAs? Rennkompressors? Plural?
Wika gauges came from a local supplier (Schweeden) so not much use to you!
But it's just a 63mm diameter with 1/4" BSP back connection and chose your range to suit.
I ordered a Rennkompressor in an online sale (40 euros or something) then it went out of stock, the supplier said i could cancel, or wait until it came back in stock. I waited. And waited.
Then spotted a box of them in our local sports warehouse at 500sek, so i bought one, having completely forgotten i'd got one on backorder.
Eyes were rolled when the second, backordered, one turned up on the doorstep.
So i now have two.
mert
Eyes were rolled when the second, backordered, one turned up on the doorstep.
I can imagine ;o)
So i now have two.
I have a low pressure renn that lives in the car. A lezyne with a Hirami head at home for road bikes and installing tubeless with an Airshot. And an ancient Silca bought when they were reasonably priced that lives in the hall cupboard with the Bromptons.