The Best Tyre Pumps... in the World?

[Orangecurry]

Love the old quality equipment - is a Sutty any good?

[jbudgie]

Orangecurry said:

Love the old quality equipment - is a Sutty any good?

Or a Sweep?

[Orangecurry]

Rhyolith said:

The bigger challenge is finding decent connectors, I get the old ones where I can (the one on the Wood Milne is a "Sutty") but they are rare. If anyone knows a source of good quality modern connectors let me know please

This - I've got a very good MTB pump, but the plastic connector has worn.

[anonymous-user]

A Halfords £7 job always served well, upgraded to a compressor and besides the benefit of air tools, pumping, ahem, is a thing of the past.

[wolfracesonic]

Rhyolith said:

Stirrup pumps often have a longer piston, but its also much narrower so does not necessary have a higher capacity within the cylinder. To know for sure someone would actually have to measure the volume of both.

I have used a lot of stirrup pumps in my time, including many expensive premium ones (not mine, someone i know has a lot of them). All of them pale when directly compared to my Kismet master in terms of ease of use in my opinion (not to mention build quality), with the only advantage being the weigh less. As I send before, and 86 year old woman with bad knees used the Kismet master and commented on how easy it was... can you say the same for these track pumps?

Using every muscle group in the body... that sounds excessive, if you needing to put in that much effort the pump is not efficient. One leg gently going up and down should be plenty enough power.

Don't get me wrong, I think stirrup pumps have their place, especially in the world of cycling where light weight pumps is are highly desriably. However I reject that they are better for everything and I supect those who think so have not actaully expierenced how good and proper foot pump is.

Why does fas pressure matter? Why have a car that will do 100mph when the fastest you ever need to go in 70mph, cause it will do 70mph with greater ease. Its basically the same reason, a 300psi Kismet with not struggle at 60-70psi for tyres where a stirrup pump designed to max at those pressures will. High maximum pressure is also a pretty good indication of the quality of the pump, only decent pumps can achieve really high pressures. I will agree 300psi is excessive for tyres, but this was a pump designed to pressurise pneumatics on airplanes

For day to day use (the pump that sits in my van) this is actually my pump of choice (mainly because its compact and has a inbuilt pressure gauge):
British Goodrich Foot Pump, Wood Milne Design by Rhyolith, on Flickr
dated: 1924-34

The Kismet master is the probably the "best" pump in terms of engineering, but its overkill for most things tyres i would love to get my hands on a Kismet junior, to my knowledge its just a smaller Kismet master (which would be amazing ).

Edited by Rhyolith on Thursday 27th October 11:57

Edited by Rhyolith on Thursday 27th October 12:12

Edited by Rhyolith on Thursday 27th October 12:13

Edited by Rhyolith on Thursday 27th October 12:15

Edited by Rhyolith on Thursday 27th October 12:16

Edited by Rhyolith on Thursday 27th October 12:16

Is this a record number of edits? Interesting thread though

[swisstoni]

cib24 said:

Dude, the Ryobi tire pump is the best for the money and it uses an interchangeable battery that can be used with all of their other tools. I carry this in my car and have used it a few times and it works like a charm with a digital readout that is actually accurate. Recharging is easy but not often even on the small Ryobi batteries.

This thing is a boss.

As an owner of a few Ryobi bits already, this looks like it might be worth looking at.
I do love all the vintage stuff, but I am a serial never-restorer of things.

[untakenname]

I had a slow puncture for a few months before changing the tyre and used a bike pump each time I left my car for more than a couple of days, a bit sad but I actually enjoyed it.
There are some pretty decent floor standing bike pumps around that will probably inflate a tyre just as quick as a foot pump.

I want this one but already have two fully functioning ones so can't really justify it.

[vikingaero]

Best general footpump are the Michelin ones although the hoses can be the weak point. Polco do a very similar style Michelin pump that is around £5-8 cheaper.

Otherwise the best footpump are the Lidl ones when they have them in stock. £5.99, frame is robust, nozzle locking lever locks up rather than down which works better, and the amount of air per pump is far better than the Michelins. Only downfall is the woefully inaccurate gauge, but I use a separate dial gauge.

[swisstoni]

vikingaero said:

Best general footpump are the Michelin ones although the hoses can be the weak point. Polco do a very similar style Michelin pump that is around £5-8 cheaper.

Otherwise the best footpump are the Lidl ones when they have them in stock. £5.99, frame is robust, nozzle locking lever locks up rather than down which works better, and the amount of air per pump is far better than the Michelins. Only downfall is the woefully inaccurate gauge, but I use a separate dial gauge.

With respect, that all sounds like the cheap modern ste complained about throughout this thread.

[Fl0pp3r]

untakenname said:

I had a slow puncture for a few months before changing the tyre and used a bike pump each time I left my car for more than a couple of days, a bit sad but I actually enjoyed it.
There are some pretty decent floor standing bike pumps around that will probably inflate a tyre just as quick as a foot pump.

I want this one but already have two fully functioning ones so can't really justify it.

Just had a *crisis*...

:-o

[S0 What]

swisstoni said:

vikingaero said:

Best general footpump are the Michelin ones although the hoses can be the weak point. Polco do a very similar style Michelin pump that is around £5-8 cheaper.

Otherwise the best footpump are the Lidl ones when they have them in stock. £5.99, frame is robust, nozzle locking lever locks up rather than down which works better, and the amount of air per pump is far better than the Michelins. Only downfall is the woefully inaccurate gauge, but I use a separate dial gauge.

With respect, that all sounds like the cheap modern ste complained about throughout this thread.

It is
lidil ones are fooking woefull but for £5.99 what do you expect what i do expect is better from the Michelin ones ! i have a 50's Michelin 12V jobbie, it is woefully slow but still does the job it's designed to do, will get to 60 PSI without overheating and siezing, it's quiet, had a metal valve nozzle, braided 36" hose AND it fits in a small ammo box so is safe bouncing about in the boot
i'm forever pumping up disability scooter tyres and the stirup pump is quicker than any foot or 12V pump i own, only downside is having to polish the brass on it

[tanneman]

I use this on the car and motorcycle. Really compact so I can carry it easily on the bike when out and about. Lifetime warranty and a sturdy metal enclosure. Best buy in terms of tyre pumps I have ever made. Expensive but I suspect that this will last me a very long time. Gets used regularly.

http://www.bestrestproducts.com/c-10-cyclepump-ez-...

[ILoveMondeo]

AlexC1981 said:

This is very good. Fast and appears to be well made. It's miles apart from the cheap inflators I have had in the past. You set it to the pressure you want and it automatically stops when it gets there.

I've got one of those. It certainly does the job, but those pumps from the OP are excellent. Would swap straight away.

[checkmate91]

jbudgie said:

Or a Sweep?

Haha, have a

[Joe-2z6jw]

Hi all,

So I'm reading through this thread and thinking that most of you think the same as me. Modern foot pumps all suck and are nasty pieces of tat.

My question is, if a pump was available, say a modern version of a Kismet, would any of you pay the premium for it? And more importantly, do you think anyone else would pay for it? I realise it's a slightly niche product though.

I don't know how much a Kismet would have sold for back in the day in todays money, but up to £100 for a fully restored one on ebay seems fair. But lets work with £70, +/- £20. Would you buy it?

I ask because I'm a design engineer and I'm fairy certain I could design one and at least get it on to KickStarter or some other crowd funding platform.

However, I'm also thinking that nowhere makes because no-one would be one.

Discuss!

PS, if there were interest, I would seriously consider making a high quality modern Kismet (or similar) equivalent and selling them.

[swisstoni]

Joe-2z6jw said:

Hi all,

So I'm reading through this thread and thinking that most of you think the same as me. Modern foot pumps all suck and are nasty pieces of tat.

My question is, if a pump was available, say a modern version of a Kismet, would any of you pay the premium for it? And more importantly, do you think anyone else would pay for it? I realise it's a slightly niche product though.

I don't know how much a Kismet would have sold for back in the day in todays money, but up to £100 for a fully restored one on ebay seems fair. But lets work with £70, +/- £20. Would you buy it?

I ask because I'm a design engineer and I'm fairy certain I could design one and at least get it on to KickStarter or some other crowd funding platform.

However, I'm also thinking that nowhere makes because no-one would be one.

Discuss!

PS, if there were interest, I would seriously consider making a high quality modern Kismet (or similar) equivalent and selling them.

Funny you should say that because I was wondering what happened to Kismet and no doubt countless other British manufacturers. And the answer is very likely cheap imported tat in the '60s.
Consumers can't help themselves buying the cheap stuff. I've done it myself. You even convince yourself that you were unlucky when they crap out and buy another one!

BUT

The penny finally drops and you realise that you can spend more and never worry about buying again.
This market is much, much smaller but more enlightened. They will seek out quality and be prepared to pay for it.
I was impressed with the quality bike pumps on this thread - again from a firm I had never known existed.

So I'd be very pleased to see another niche product like you are thinking about.

[trickywoo]

I'd buy a new quality pump.

Trouble would be getting the quality level understood. I'm sure we've all been caught out by buying a 'branded' pump and found it to be very poor quality.

[Speed addicted]

ILoveMondeo said:

AlexC1981 said:

This is very good. Fast and appears to be well made. It's miles apart from the cheap inflators I have had in the past. You set it to the pressure you want and it automatically stops when it gets there.

I've got one of those. It certainly does the job, but those pumps from the OP are excellent. Would swap straight away.

I had one of those, good when it worked but it crapped out after a year or so. I bought a replacement from Ring, it's now scrap as well.

I'd like a decent quality pump that will last years. Put me down for one if the kickstarter thing looks workable.

[traffman]

Im off to search for a Kismet. Never seen a finer looking pump.
Great post Op.

[Bonefish Blues]

Speed addicted said:

ILoveMondeo said:

AlexC1981 said:

This is very good. Fast and appears to be well made. It's miles apart from the cheap inflators I have had in the past. You set it to the pressure you want and it automatically stops when it gets there.

I've got one of those. It certainly does the job, but those pumps from the OP are excellent. Would swap straight away.

I had one of those, good when it worked but it crapped out after a year or so. I bought a replacement from Ring, it's now scrap as well.

I'd like a decent quality pump that will last years. Put me down for one if the kickstarter thing looks workable.

I have one of those, but often use my SKS Track Pump.

Good thread, OP.