Pump it Up

Who would have thought that you would need a University degree to operate a bike pump. My old Blackburn Mammoth ( a great pump) has been handed down to the next generation of riders so it was time to buy a new one. I did some research on the Internet and decided that the Lezyne pumps were the way to go. They are compact and very light but still deliver a good volume of air to make pumping up your flat tyres less of a chore. So after a visit to the LBS I was a proud owner of a new Lezyne Alloy Drive model. These pumps come with a reversable hose for Presta and Schrader valves which stows inside the handle when you are not using it.

So the first task was remembering what the official name of French valves was so I new what end of the hose to use. With that sorted out I was feeling pretty happy about my new pump when we hit the trails for our weekend ride.

Whilst not wishing a flat tyre on anyone Rod was kind enought to oblige me when he got a pinch flat heading down a rocky section of trail. He pulled out his spare tube and we had the tyre and tube all sorted ready to inflate. However what was to be my moment of glory turned quickly turned sour when I managed to break the top off the valve of the tube as I was attaching the hose. So not only did I have to hand over one of my spare tubes to replace the one I had broken I also had to let one of the other guys use their pump to fix Rod's flat.

So when I got home from the ride that morning the first thing I did was grab out the packaging from my new pump and read up on the correct method for attaching the hose!

ps. I've since used the pump to fix my own flat out on the trail and it worked extremely well.

Steve getting  to know Dave's new pump