Cycling UK Forum

Can anyone recommend a decent quality track pump head that is easy to use?
I'm struggling to use the one I have because of a problem with one thumb that makes it difficult to apply enough squeeze to get it properly seated while flicking the lever up with the other hand. Not much better the other way round. I end up letting all the air out before I've got it sealed on. I suppose I could go back to a screw on head , but there do seem to be some quite fancy looking heads available at SJS. At a price. Are any of them particularly user friendly?

Lezyne reversible screw-on.



Excellent. Low force to get on and off.

Jonathan

I use a Silca pump with a press on head but I do sometimes suffer the full deflation event


Mike

what types of valve do you use? What kind of pump head have you got at the moment?

Also what kind of hose/fitting do you have on the pump?

FWIW I don't think there is any such thing as a 'perfect' track pump head; they all have problems of one kind or another.

If asked if there is a reasonably durable pump head which I routinely fit to a valve one-handed (more or less), I would answer there is, but it isn't a track pump head. It is the pump head on a Zefal HPX .

cheers

I don't think there is any such thing as a 'perfect' track pump head; they all have problems of one kind or another.

Now there's a challenge for someone! Mike Burrows, perhaps

I would love such a thing! All mine give me grief.
The two hole thing that came on my SKS Renncompressor seem tonleak from the unused hole until pressure is up.
The Topeak one that has the body twist after fitting either valve hole does much the same. i suspect thats knackered but the SKS is less than a year old.
Another Topeak has a flick lever that won't stay flicked.
The Silca brass push on thing won't stay on unless everything is perfectly aligned and the starts are in nthe right place.
The Topeak "crack pipe" lets most of the air out before it engages on the valve thread.
One day......

I have Rennkompressor & Topeak too, as well as a cheapie plastic track pump which lives in the car - guess which head is easiest to use?!

Jdsk wrote:Lezyne reversible screw-on.



Excellent. Low force to get on and off.

Excellent .......... absolutely excellent ............ but not good for Schrader, but Schrader are an abomination for bikes IMO.

Not tried mine on Woods as yet, but for Presta there is nothing better.

Mick F wrote:…Excellent….Not tried mine on Woods as yet, but for Presta there is nothing better.

disagree. Amongst other things they unscrew removeable inserts that are not super-tight and being made of aluminium they wear in a bad way too.

cheers

I think that came up in previous discussions. There's an enormous difference between how often I use one and how often a bike shop or racing team use one.

DaveP... where is your use on that axis, please?

Jonathan

Brucey wrote:

Mick F wrote:…Excellent….Not tried mine on Woods as yet, but for Presta there is nothing better.

disagree. Amongst other things they unscrew removeable inserts that are not super-tight and being made of aluminium they wear in a bad way too.

Schwalbe removable cores need to be tight, it's true.

All the Presta valves I've ever used haven't been alu and NOTHING has worn, least of all the Lezyne head.

Despite your disparaging comments, the Lezyne Airbleed head (for Presta) is nothing short of excellent.

SKS MV head. Its lever pushes down to lock the head on, unlike most competitors.

mjr wrote:SKS MV head. Its lever pushes down to lock the head on, unlike most competitors.

I like this head too, having fitted one to a cheap lifeline track pump to replace an annoying "twist" action head.

SKS MV head:



Jonathan

Mick F wrote:...All the Presta valves I've ever used haven't been alu and NOTHING has worn, least of all the Lezyne head.

valve cores are almost invariably brass. Brass is much the best material for a chuck too, especially a screw-on one; it has a noticeably lower coefficient of dry friction and doesn't tend to gall. You might not see it right away, but Alu-screw-on chucks (e.g. Leyzne) do wear, simple as that. When they wear they get more and more draggy on the screw threads and furthermore they deposit finely divided rubbish on/in the valve core.

..Despite your disparaging comments, the Lezyne Airbleed head (for Presta) is nothing short of excellent.

The air bleed is a good idea; there are a few chucks which have it. Being able to lower the tyre pressure (which isn't always possible) however is only of benefit if you are daft enough waste time overinflating tyres. IMHO the real benefit of the air bleed is reduced air pressure load on the chuck whilst it is being disconnected. However it is only push-on chucks and screw-on chucks which benefit from it during disconnection; lever action chucks don't need it for that.

Anecdote alert: In one LBS where they use these pumps (plural; constantly changing between presta and schrader drives them nuts and causes wear on the adaptor threads too, so they keep one for each main valve type) I spoke to one mechanic and he reckoned that the chucks were reliable. I also spoke to one of the other mechanics and he showed me the box full of spare chucks. They get through several a year; the second guy had been changing them as needed and the first guy hadn't noticed....

cheers