Pump (road tires): Zefal HPR or Blackburn Air Stik ?
Steve Parus
I'm looking for a pump for a road bike. I've seen where the Zefal HPR
is rated at requiring relatively few strokes to fill a road tire, it
is light (120g), can get to 115 psi and is relatively inexpensive
($20). What differences are there between the HPR Graph and Mini HPR
besides a built-in gauge on the HPR ? The Blackburn Air Stik is also
a high pressure pump (to 160 psi). It's a lot more money ($28) -
perhaps because it has a "lifetime" warrenty ? True that it doesn't
telescope but rather pumps on push and pull strokes ? Any other
differences or opinions ?
jim frost
spa...@umich.edu (Steve Parus) writes:
>I'm looking for a pump for a road bike. I've seen where the Zefal HPR
>is rated at requiring relatively few strokes to fill a road tire, it
>is light (120g), can get to 115 psi and is relatively inexpensive
>($20). What differences are there between the HPR Graph and Mini HPR
>besides a built-in gauge on the HPR ?
I'm assuming you're talking about minipumps; if so, skip the Zefal
minipumps. They can't even come close to handling road bike
pressures, they're not even that great with MTB pressures. When they
work they do indeed take fewer strokes than other minis, but I found
that the pump had trouble getting up to 60psi, to say nothing of
roadbike pressures, and was incredibly flimsy.
The Blackburn minipumps do much, much better. While they claim
pressures as high as 160psi, that's a bit optimistic. I have no
trouble getting 120psi out of my MP-3, though, aside from the
two-zillion strokes it takes to get that far.
Unless you have a real reason for going witha mini I strongly
recommend a full-size frame pump. The Zefal HPX series are excellent,
strongly recommended.
jim frost
ji...@world.std.com
Alan Felsen
> The Blackburn minipumps do much, much better. While they claim
> pressures as high as 160psi, that's a bit optimistic. I have no
> trouble getting 120psi out of my MP-3, though, aside from the
> two-zillion strokes it takes to get that far.
>
> Unless you have a real reason for going witha mini I strongly
> recommend a full-size frame pump. The Zefal HPX series are excellent,
> strongly recommended.
I concur. I've had nothing but problems with minipumps. One
brand had no relief valve and blew the handle right off. Another
(blackburn, I think) had a weak point on the shaft right near the
attachment to the tire valve, and broke in two.
The Zefal HPx series full size frame pumps work great. I
recently started using a Blackburn frame pump (not mini) and got my
tandem's tires from 90 psi to 120 psi without unreasonable effort. If
there is some good reason that a full size pump is out, I'd go with CO2
before a mini pump.
Alan
TBGibb
In article <3186B8...@erols.com>, Alan Felsen <fel...@erols.com>
writes:
> I concur. I've had nothing but problems with minipumps. One
>brand had no relief valve and blew the handle right off. Another
>(blackburn, I think) had a weak point on the shaft right near the
>attachment to the tire valve, and broke in two.
> The Zefal HPx series full size frame pumps work great. I
>recently started using a Blackburn frame pump (not mini) and got my
>tandem's tires from 90 psi to 120 psi without unreasonable effort. If
>there is some good reason that a full size pump is out, I'd go with CO2
>before a mini pump.
>
>
And I agree too, the Zefal minis = frustration and trouble while the HPxs
work the way they are supposed to. Like, they put air in the tires and it
stays there.
Tom Gibb (TBG...@aol.com)
jim frost
Alan Felsen <fel...@erols.com> writes:
>> The Blackburn minipumps do much, much better. While they claim
>> pressures as high as 160psi, that's a bit optimistic. I have no
>> trouble getting 120psi out of my MP-3, though, aside from the
>> two-zillion strokes it takes to get that far.
> I've had nothing but problems with minipumps. One
>brand had no relief valve and blew the handle right off. Another
>(blackburn, I think) had a weak point on the shaft right near the
>attachment to the tire valve, and broke in two.
Interesting. I've tried a bunch of minis at this point and the
Blackburns were by far the strongest of the lot. You do want to avoid
the MP-1, though, it uses a twist-lock that doesn't work well. The
MP-3 and "mammoth" pumps are durable and reliable. If it was a
Blackburn you might have had a defective unit -- I can't imagine how
it would have been weak enough there to actually break.
I use a Zefal HPX3 on my roadbike and I'm totally happy with it. The
same is true of the Blackburn MP-3 I use on my MTB. I've used the
MP-3 on my roadbike, too, but it takes circa 500 strokes to get it up
to pressure and that's just too much.
You suggest using CO2 instead of minipumps -- that's probably a great
idea if you're a racer, but I have a hard time with CO2 in situations
when time is less critical. I'd rather not have a one-shot inflation
system when I'm a long way from home.
CRMUSE
ditto that
Bob Muse
Earle Young
So far, nobody has suggested the best pump for raod tires: Silca
Impero with a Campagnolo steel head. Silca gets a bad rap because
their own pump head doesn't work. But as with the legendary Campy
stuff of the 70s and earlier, the pump head will last virtually
forever, and you can get the parts.
Earle `retro because i can't afford new stuff' young
--
Earle Young