What track pump

[Graham]

The SKS rennkompressor now has a dual head - presta & schrader.

This is the most effective pump I have ever owned.

[thirdcrank]

The SKS rennkompressor now has a dual head - presta & schrader.

This is the most effective pump I have ever owned.

Phew! When I saw the avatar, I thought it was going to be a warning we were risking a track pump sub-forum.

[Roadster]

The SKS seems to have a choice of heads, EVA which fits all valves, twin which looks like two fittings in one and thumb lever which looks like the original fitting, I'm not sure which would suite me best, is the EVA more complex than needed? Would the twin be better?

My Airworx 10.0 came with the Multi Valve (twin) head which has the Schrader fitting as the end aperture and the Presta fitting as the inner aperture (nearest the hose coupling). This felt a little awkward in use with my Prestas and I don't have Schraders, so recently I bought the EVA head to try for the simplicity of its single aperture.

I can't say that the swap has been an unqualified success for two reasons:
first, the EVA head, though single-aperture and therefore shorter, is wider than the MV so what I gained on the roundabout was somewhat lost on the swing;
second, the EVA's single washer for both sizes of valve has to be compressed more for the thinner Presta stem, making its lever noticeably harder than the MV's to close - not a biggie in itself but all the same...

My conclusion is that both heads grip the valve stems and work equally well, and that whichever type comes with the pump is not really worth exchanging for the other unless you have the EVA and a particularly weak thumb. What I like is that replacement valve washers for both types are available although the EVA's is perhaps the more easily obtained.
The main washer for the barrel is also available as a spare but I haven't yet needed one of those.

[Brucey]

there are currently (excluding special editions) four different versions of the SKS rennkompressor, with different heads

Art 10062 with EVA head


Art 10063 with Multivalve (MV head)


Art 10064 with Thumb lock head


Art 10065 with Brass push-on nipple


The heads hoses and seals etc are available as spare parts eghttps://www.sjscycles.co.uk/pumps-spares/?brand=sks

The EVA head is (IMHO) a clever piece of kit but is probably too clever for its own good, a bit like the Topeak smarthead. The long term prognosis is unknown. There is a part that pushes back against a weak spring inside the head (is it going to carry on moving despite crud build up..?) and a seal that has to squash a long way to seal onto presta; will it wear or go hard?

The MV head relies upon not only two separate rubber seals but also usually a little see-saw inside the head that flips via the Bernoulli effect. Having had heads of this design (from various different manufacturers) stop working properly all I can say is that they are OK whilst they are working but a source of intense frustration when they are not, which is 'quite often'. Both seals are squashed by the lever and whichever one you favour will wear first and then not hold properly. The head is not adjustable and the wear debris clogs the see-saw. Stupid design.

The thumb lock head is the traditional one. It is very good for schrader valves and only slightly slower than otherwise if the presta adaptor (which seals very well on most valves, including most woods pattern) is used. The amount of squash in the seal is adjustable and the seal itself is a simple one. The presta adaptor has a replaceable seal and anyway is not an expensive thing to buy. Probably this arrangement is going to give least trouble and be easiest to fix when it wears.

The 10065 presta chuck is similar to the small version of the silca chuck, and has the same issues, i.e. that the seal is small and stiff and wears out rather quickly for most people. It is compact though, which means it does fit into disc wheels and between close spokes easier than most. To pump Schrader with this head, you can buy a small adaptor that opens the Schrader valve and has within it a low-force check valve. You can use this adaptor with most presta-only pump heads.

Tredz list three of the four versions and they are about £36 or so there, which is pretty good value. Compared with the classic silca the SKS is a bit heavier, had two folding feet, and has a rubber pump seal (which gets hot and a bit draggier than the silca if used hard). SKS do several other track pumps but I can't see much point in buying one instead of the proven Rennkompressor design.

My idea of a really good head for keen cyclists would be to have an adjustable lever action presta chuck, with a screw-on adaptor (or lever action chuck to which the first chuck is fitted) for pumping Schrader. Quite why you can buy everything but this simple arrangement is beyond me....

cheers

[mattsccm]

I write the psi and bar equivalent up side down on the barrel. Too many bikes with different pressures to just mark. Best pump I have had though.

[Brucey]

it annoys me slightly that the SKS floor pumps are only available with one choice of gauge marked in Bar and psi, with psi in murky grey micro-writing on the inside.

If you are going to bother to have a psi gauge, why not prioritise the psi markings over the bar markings instead of the other way round? The bar markings are small numbers so can be in largeish type even if they are on the inside ring. Or have a choice of two gauges that are prioritised accordingly...?

BTW I think this is a standard fit gauge so can probably be replaced with an aftermarket one with a range and marking that best suits the application in hand.

cheers

[Roadster]

SKS do several other track pumps but I can't see much point in buying one instead of the proven Rennkompressor design.

Well, frequency of use, pressures required and cost could all be considerations for others less wealthy than yourself.

[Bonefishblues]

I agree with the comments regarding the EVA head, it's a jack of both trades but a bit of a compromise on both valves.

[keyboardmonkey]

The gauge on my SKS Rennkompressor is different from the one pictured on sjscycles. However, being at the bottom of the pump it's still too far away for me to see clearly. I just have to crouch down, remember how far the needle is supposed to move round, then pump away accordingly

It is a nice pump, mind...

[Bonefishblues]

Mine (and 3C's I think?) Has a separate indicator needle which can be turned with a screwdriver to the pressure required, which makes it easier to see when the gauge needle is at the correct pressure.

[meic]

The Joe Blow has a nice visible red arrow head on the rotating bevel that you can set at the required pressure, then it is easily seen when it lines up with the needle of the gauge, even at that great distance.

[mjr]

You're all too tall. Have you consider a leg-ectomy?

[Brucey]

SKS do several other track pumps but I can't see much point in buying one instead of the proven Rennkompressor design.

Well, frequency of use, pressures required and cost could all be considerations for others less wealthy than yourself.

I said not much point in buying a different SKS pump, which is not the same thing as no point.

I think I paid less than ten quid for my Rennkompressor, used, knowing that if there was a major fault, I could fix it.

Some of the new SKS track pumps are more expensive than the Rennkompressor, but I'd think twice about buying one used even, or a less expensive model new necessarily because the spare parts may not be available for certain sorts of breakage.

I don't know how likely or not such a breakage is, but it seems to me that the cheaper SKS models are likely to be built like lots of other pumps are these days, i.e. with lots of plastic parts that are highly specific to the pump, and can't easily be repaired or replaced in the event of breakage.

For example I don't really like the newer head designs, e.g. because (due to the design of the hose clamp) they only work if you use hose of the correct flexibility and the correct ID and OD. With the older designs all that is required is that the hose has an ID that allows it to be clamped (somehow) to the spigots at each end; in practice this means that a wide variety of hose and clamp types will work.

If buying a new pump a cheaper SKS saves you ten or fifteen quid over a Rennkompressor, but it might be a throwaway pump. If it is such, one has to ask if it isn't better to buy a truly cheap pump like one from Lidl instead. I had a Lidl one pinched recently; I was glad it wasn't a more expensive one....

IMHO there is (for bicycle use) also not much point in buying a wide-barrel pump, even if you intend to inflate nothing but MTB tyres. It just takes a little bit longer to inflate them if you have a narrow barrel pump (and it is easy work...) but a wide barrel pump is near-useless at high pressures.

cheers

[Vorpal]

The multivalve on my Airkompressor works great and has stood up to some abuse. Also, the the multivalve is available as a replacement part from SKS, so I have no worries on that account.

edited to add: http://www.sks-germany.com/inhalte/uplo ... R_12.0.pdf are the replaceable parts for my Airkompressor. There are quite a few more replaceable parts on the Rennkompressor. http://www.sks-germany.com/inhalte/uplo ... RESSOR.pdf

SKS publish their parts lists on-line, so it's quite easy to see what can be replaced.

[thirdcrank]

What I think of as the original SKS was a sort of industrial-grade piece of equipment with every part numbered and listed and (theoretically) available separately as a spare part: entirely functional with no concessions to style or anything else. Robust.

From looking at the links, it seems apparent that there's been development which moves away from that way of thinking. Still a market leader, but a tad more fiddly.
(vorpal posted and then edited and reposted while I was plodding away

PS: Just to make it clear, I was referring to earlier posts and links, rather than disagreeing with vorpal. What I was getting at is that some of the components on mine such as the hose and thumb-lock schrader head look as though they are good-quality generic parts, which might as easily be found in a garage etc. Obviously, the base is unique (although the wooden handle might be part of the detonation system for high explosives ) Later models seem to have SKS own-brand everything.

Bonefishblues is right about my guage. It has a red needle which you can turn with a screwdriver to point to your target pressure and a black needle which measures the current pressure of the tyre when inflating. When the black needle is hidden by the red one, it's at target pressure. This has had me going out to the garage for a look. I've remembered that there's a small green segment on the right (higher pressure) edge of the red needle. Perhaps to indicate a safe over-pressure(?) Rather in the manner of a car tachograph the dial is red between 10 and 16 bar. I've also thought about what makes the dial a bit hard to read in PSI and there are 10 psi intervals. Not a big deal if you are doing bike tyres at 80+ psi, but car tyre recommended pressures are quoted in units of 1lb. Eg my wife's car needs 29psi all round. I don't suppose it matters much, but if it didn't matter at all, they'd recommend 30psi (which would be easier to see on the guage