car and bike pump.

londonTiger

I need to buy a bike pump.. the hand pumps are an absolute nightmare to work with.. I just can't get into a decent PSI for road without doing my elbows and shoulders in.

I had god success in the past with a foot pump. But being the penny pincher that I am. I don't want to double purchase with a footpump and then perhaps a 12v car pump later on.

So I want to just get a car pump now that will work with bikes as well.

I dont want to use the petrol pump because the tyres are supposed to be cold prior to inflating, and not a lot of petrol pumps have the space to allow people to park there for 20-30 minutes before inflating.

Also petrol station pumps are just too strong for bike tyres and they can easily overinflate and burst a bike tyre, not to mention get grief from the petrol pump staff who will be knocking at the window telling you to not inflate your bike.

So I'm looking for a affordable but reliable puchase, anyone got any suggestions on what I can buy? Ideally I'd like something which I can just set the PSI and it will automatically pump up to the desired PSI and stop, rather than an analogue one.

custardy

your tyres don't need to be ice cold to do tyre pressures.
I use on of these on the bikes (I actually have 3,one home,one work and one in the garage)
price often drops to £10 ish
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-air-track-pump-sport?bct=browse%2frevolution-products%2frevolution-accessories

all the 12v car pumps I have used have been crap.

forgotmyname

Small 12v pumps are very slow, And usually need a rest after a couple of minutes to cool down.

They will just about cope with a bike tyre upto 40 - 50 psi. Anything towards the top end of that or higher and they struggle.

I have a jump pack compressor with a on and its much better.

Norman_Castle

all the 12v car pumps I have used have been crap.

Agreed. I've got two. Noisy crap.

I use a foot pump for car and bike. Recently borrowed a friends car for a few days. Decided to check the tyres, oil, etc. All tyres needed an extra 10 pounds pressure. The spare needed an extra 25 pounds pressure(!). Sorted all five very quickly. 100% reliable. Having cyclists thighs helps.

johnfarquhar74

Agree with Custardy, a track pump is what you are after. Aldi/Lidl sell them often during their special deal promotions, normally for £4.99.
I have used mine on a friends car, it didn't take a lot of effort to get the tyre up to the required pressure.

Regarding your point about petrol station forecourt airlines, I have used them lots of times in the past, without problems. Nowadays it would be nigh on impossible to cause damage as you have to dial in the required PSI, cars will go from mid 20's to high 30's, bicycles will start in the 60's and go to the mid 90's for 700cc tyres!! Boyle's law is sound, even though the volume may be less, the required pressure is higher, you would have to be an idiot to go wrong,,,,,no?

Dave_C_2

Your local Aldi may have some of these left from earlier in the month.
Mine works fine on the bike, haven't tried it on the car.

The only thing is that it is calibrated in Bars (1 bar is about 15 psi)
My bike tyres are inflated to 4/4.5 bar no problem.

Dave

thelawnet

TBH I'd get a track pump. Hand pumps are indeed crap.

Have this one:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-high-pressure-floor-pump/

No problem getting to pressure.

thescouselander

I'm with the others here - a track pump is the way forward.

fred7777

Get a track pump if you are happy to spend a lot of time pumping up your car tyres or both if time is short.

Car tyres are generally around 20-30psi and require a relatively large volume of air so foot pumps work well delivering a lot of air at lower pressure.

Bike tyres generally require higher pressures but need far less air. 45psi is on the low end and my last racer had tyres which should be inflated to 120psi. I tried that on a garage and the pump wouldn't go past 88psi. A track pump is long and thin so it delivers smaller volumes at much higher pressures. They work fine with bike tyres but take forever to get the required volume into a car tyre.

GolfBravo

Bought a Tesco £4 foot pump a couple of years ago - it exploded as soon as I connected it to one of my car's tyres (38psi). Rubbish.

A few weeks ago I borrowed a friends Michelin single barrel foot pump: superb! Really good quality stuff, relatively effortless pumping. I think he bought it from Argos on special for about £12 - will definitely get one myself.

Are double barrel foot pumps any better?

Dave_C_2

Dave_C wrote: »

Your local Aldi may have some of these left from earlier in the month.
Mine works fine on the bike, haven't tried it on the car.
The only thing is that it is calibrated in Bars (1 bar is about 15 psi)
My bike tyres are inflated to 4/4.5 bar no problem.

This time I'll add a link to the double-barrelled foot pump bearing in mind that car tyres are only inflated to about 2 bar this pump can easily handle that. May need a few more strokes to deliver the volume of air required by a car tyre though.

Dave