GamJams Reviews: Floor Pumps

This week's GamJams Reviews is on Floor Pumps. If you want to add your own review, do it in the comments or on your own blog and throw a link in the comments.

• After some experience with pumps by Topeak and Ascent, The Unholy Rouleur bought a Park Tool PFP-3  which gets use about 5x per week, and has never looked back: "It has been reliable, pumps up to 160 PSI or so which works fine with my tubies, goes on and off the stem without difficulty, and hasn't given me any trouble at all. It has a stem like the Ascent, except that it works properly."
• But your results may vary. KMAX TRAX's do, as his Park Tool PFP-3 is starting to leak and feels to him kinda cheap: "I've been less and less satisfied with it lately as it seems to leak more and more and take extra work to fill up my tires each time I use it. It's basic, somewhat flimsy feeling plastic design doesn't give any illusions of high quality either."
• Sigberto thinks reviewing floor pumps is stupid. That's a good sign - if your tools work, you shouldn't have to think about them. Sigberto's pump is a Performance Hurricaine Max: "I've had it for at least 3-4 years and never think much about it as long as it's there."
• Let's play word association. I say "Performance" you say... First Dropped? Good guess, but in this case, First Dropped didn't buy from Performance. His Lemond digital display pump came from Target: "It was $49.99 and my wife picked it up for me as a b-day gift and I remember being apprehensive about her buying it because I thought it cost too much. It has held up well for six years or more."
• Martin at District Velocity Racing is pleased with his Topeak Joe Blow Turbo: "I know other guys on the team use different brand floor pumps, but we’ve never really found ourselves in the midst of a heated debate over the value of one pump over the other. They might swear by theirs; if so, I’m sure they’ll let me know. For now, though, I will happily endorse my Topeak Joe Blow Turbo with an emphatic, 'It blows!'"
• The Training Effect also has a Topeak Joe Blow Turbo: and touts its benefits for the TT set: "It holds a right-angle adaptor easily for carbon disc wheels."
• District Cycling touts his Specialized pump: "I’ve used other pumps that friends have, but have to admit that I love this pump.  The fastening head is much easier to use than other pumps while still remaining secure.  I’m a fan."
• Flamenco Chuckwagon uses the compressor from a nail gun at his worksite to inflate his tires. OK, he doesn't really, but you wouldn't be surprised, would you? Instead, he uses a pump with some soul - an Ozone Comp: "It's wicked old but works just fine. An o-ring fell off of it recently, but it still works fine. Not perfectly but fine."

Upcoming Reviews:
    4/30: Shoes
    5/7: Pedals

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About GamJams Reviews:
All cyclists are experts, at least when it comes to our equipment choices. We know why we chose what we chose, and what we think of the product after we've been using it. GamJams Reviews channels that collective expertise - category by category - into a tidy package of articles designed to help all of us make better equipment decisions. Buying what pros get paid to use is one way to go. But the candid testimonial of fellow racers who paid out of their own pocket - that's an endorsement that really counts.

Comments

[Jim]

Looking at that, I just realized... cycling is more or less the world's biggest Dork Fest in many directions. We just reviewed floor pumps! Being the coolest guy among cyclists is like being designated driver for a bunch of blind guys on a drinking binge. I love cycling, but damn, it's an inherently uncool sport at the best of times. Roadracing - the high priesthood of uncool. Track - fat guys on Dernys leading out the Hansen Brothers on bikes! Commuting? Utilitarian uncool. Mountain biking - homebrewer chic uncool. Fixed gear hipsters - trying too hard to be cool uncool. Recumbents - uncool at warpspeed. Except on uphills where it's super slo mo uncool. I've seen a picture of LeBron James in a helmet on a Canondale... whoa. He may have a hardtail, but the hardtail has a full suspension dork on it. Very few people can make cycling look cool, and most of them are crazy Italians or hot Dutch chicks, either of whom could make a grad seminar in non-planar geometry look Hott.

I'm cool with that though. There's something inherently stylish about loving something to the point that you don't really care about how uncool it looks to others. I think it's about having true passion for something you enjoy. And that's cool for a bunch of reasons, not least of which is the fact that few people ever experience a passion like that.

[Mike May]

You should hear me wax poetic about wheel skewers.