# air pump



## BigE610 (Oct 24, 2007)

so what do you guys recommend for an air pump. I had an older topeak that fell off my bike and got run over by a car last week. Dont have a ton of money for a replacement. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## woodway (Dec 27, 2005)

You want a frame pump or something smaller?

I ride with a Topeak Road Morph G which can be found for around $30.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

^^I sure wish Topeak or somebody else would market a morph-type pump as long as the old frame pumps.

Yeah, Morphs (road or mountain, depending on how much pressure you need) and other "hosed " minis are pretty nice and not very expensive. My very favorite is the Serfas version, called the Grifter, but it isn`t easy to find. I also have a Mountain Morph, and it`s nice too.


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## cjohnson (Jul 14, 2004)

*big fan of leznye pumps*

I like these pumps because of the flexible air hose built into them. Never have to worry/wonder if I am tweaking the stem.


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## ChetPunisher (Mar 18, 2012)

I have a small Specialized I picked up years ago that has served me well.. It hooks up to the behind the water bottle cage.


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## Solomon76 (Jul 22, 2008)

Even the cheapest mini and frame pumps can be transformed into pretty decent pump with one of these $2 adapters.








Universal flexible adapter B'TWIN - Pumps Cycling - On sale on Decathlon.co.uk


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

I am a big fan of Blackburn pumps. They're durable as hell. I've been using mine for...right about 10 years.


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## CommuterBoy (Oct 4, 2007)

I have a Scott brand pump (old) with a really big diameter air chamber. It seems to be pretty quick. It's been in the bottom of my backpack for years... I'd like one with a flexy hose, but if it ain't broke....

I keep a floor pump at work also. Nice to have a 'real' pump on either end of the commute.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

CommuterBoy said:


> I keep a floor pump at work also. Nice to have a 'real' pump on either end of the commute.


That's a good idea if you have a longer commute. In my case, my LBS is within walking distance of the office so I can get just about anything dealt with before I head home.


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## hunter006 (Jan 20, 2012)

I also have the road morph. Not that many people know that the air hose extends if you pull it! It doesn't inflate as fast (not very good with volume, but good with pressure). Doesn't mean you can't use it, just isn't as fast as high volume pumps.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

Solomon76 said:


> Even the cheapest mini and frame pumps can be transformed into pretty decent pump with one of these $2 adapters.
> flexible adapter B'TWIN - Pumps Cycling - On sale on Decathlon.co.uk[/url]


Cool! But it looks like that Decathalon place (in England?) and some distributors listing prices in Yen (?) are the only places to get one. Probably easier to steal the idea and make one from parts. Do you have one, Solomon? How the heck did you stumble onto that?


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## Solomon76 (Jul 22, 2008)

rodar y rodar said:


> Cool! But it looks like that Decathalon place (in England?) and some distributors listing prices in Yen (?) are the only places to get one. Probably easier to steal the idea and make one from parts. Do you have one, Solomon? How the heck did you stumble onto that?


Yes rodar, I have a couple. They are indispensable. I can manage to get over 80 psi out of even the crappiest pumps that I have laying around as long as I use the adapter. The Decathalon stores are all over Europe. I linked the UK site because it is in English. There are 2 Decathlons in Stuttgart, which is where I bought mine for a couple of Euro each. I'll do some research on the web and see if I can't find somewhere in the states that sales them.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

Solomon76 said:


> There are 2 Decathlons in Stuttgart, which is where I bought mine for a couple of Euro each.


After I posted, I thought about it and figured that was probably the deal. I might try making one from an old tube + hose and head from another pump. Wish I hadn`t donated my frame pump- the combination could be close to my geeky dream pump


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## Solomon76 (Jul 22, 2008)

I found a similar adapter on eBay.
















Bicycle Pump Hose Schrader 6 1/2" Replacement Hose | eBay

It may be just as much fun to make one yourself however. The hardest thing to find would probably be a tire chuck that screws onto the valve. But you could always just cut the hose off of an old floor pump and add an air compressor nipple.


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## Solomon76 (Jul 22, 2008)

After a day of searching online, here is what I've come up with...

The hose that I listed above is a relacement hose for a Sunlite Frame Pump. The SKU for that hose is 4315.

However, you could easily piece together a similar (maybe even better) pump hose.

Step 1: Get a replacement pump thumblock.








Amazon.com: Sunlite Replacement Pump Thumblock, Schrader: Sports & Outdoors

Step 2: Get a similar air compressor hose fitting.








HOSE FITTING -- BARB TYPE 1/4" ID X 1/4" MALE NPT : Amazon.com : Automotive

Step 3: Add a hose and a couple of hose clamps and voila.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

Hmmm...
Sort of. The way I see it, your eBay adaptor and the Sunlite head + barbed male fitting will both hook to the tube in your tire, but I don`t see how you hook either to a mini pump. I think you need the head (to connect to your bike tire) on one end of the hose and the valve from an old tube (for the mini pump to clamp onto) at the other end of the hose. Am I missing something?

The conections don`t have to be very strong. My floor pump has a hokey fix in place in order to bypass a blown out pressure gauge. Since I couldn`t find a piece of hose with a threaded end, I enlarged and tapped out the hole in the bottom of my pump to 1/8 pipe thread and used a 1/8 pipe plug with a TINY little unthreaded nipple-thingie sticking out (about 1/8 dia x 1/2 long), just pushed the hose right over it. The highest pressure I`ve used the pump for is about 100 PSI, and it stays on there just fine with no additional clamp- just the friction of the hose around that little 1/8 inch brass tube.


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## Solomon76 (Jul 22, 2008)

I'm thinking that the mini pump can clamp down on the threaded side of the hose fitting. Those threads are similar in size to the threads on the end of a schrader valve.

Now you have me interesting in seeing if this contraption would work. I'm going to order the Sunlite head and go to home improvement store and pick up the hose fitting and a piece of tube and through them together. Once the Sunlite head is here, I'll be back with pictures and either a success or failure story.


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## Solomon76 (Jul 22, 2008)

*Step 2 & 3 Complete*

I went to the hardware store and now see where the confusion came from in my earlier post. I didn't realize how big the fitting that I posted earlier really was. I was thinking that the threaded part of the fitting was roughly the same size as the valve of a schrader valve.

However, I found a fitting that may work. I bought a $3 compressor inflation kit which came with a tapered inflation nozzle. I also bought a foot long section of vinyl tube (5/16"OD x 3/16"ID) for 21¢. I put those together and below is what I have so far. Now I'm just waiting on the pump head to arrive in the mail to find out if this will work.









tapered inflation nozzle









tapered inflation nozzle & vinyl tube









tapered inflation nozzle inserted into bicycle pump

I'm able to get about 60 psi into the vinyl tube by putting my thumb over the open end and pumping, but air starts to escape from where my thumb is as I continue to pump.


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## rodar y rodar (Jul 21, 2006)

^^I thought that fitting looked pretty big too, but apparently it fits. I had images in my mind of cooking all the rubber off from the core of a presta valve in a barbecue, but your way probably doesn`t stink so much


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## CommuterBoy (Oct 4, 2007)

I just had my shock pump returned to me from a guy I loaned it to a few days ago... realized when he handed it to me that it has this flexy hose attachment and threaded schrader tip... duh. For as often as I adjust the pressure on my air shocks on the mountian bike, I might as well 'borrow' this part of of the shock pump...


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## Solomon76 (Jul 22, 2008)

*Advances in Research and Development*

I've created the perfect pump tube for tires with presta valves.










The tube consists of a valve extension from the auto part store, a 3/8" OD x 1/4" ID vinyl tube from the home improvement store, and a presta valve adapter. It was a pain in the butt to get the unthreaded end of the valve extension into the tube, but I finally got it.

A tube for schrader valves could easily be created by using a valve extension on each end of the tube (the valve extensions come in a pack of 4). The only modification that would need to be made is to jam something down the valve extension on the tire side of the tube to keep the valve depressor thingy in the down position. Or I can wait until the pump head that I ordered arives and I can put that on the tire end of the tube.


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