Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Duppie on March 7, 2012 at 3:17am

Consensus seems to be that Topeak makes good pumps in their Joe Blow. I'll start looking there. Thanks for the advice.

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Permalink Reply by C.R. on March 7, 2012 at 3:29am

Another vote for JoeBlow.  Mine has lasted a while.

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Permalink Reply by Todd Boring on March 7, 2012 at 4:46am

Mine Park that went bad, probably had the issue you've addressed, was a PFP-3. My new one is a PFP-6. They look the same to me. If I should get a second pump, which I'd like to have, I'll have to try the Joe Blow. As a side note......I have accumulated 3 or 4 bad pumps from bundled garage sale purchases and the like. None of them Joe Blow's.
 
James BlackHeron said:

A friend has a Park PFP-5 which is really nice and has a HUGE easy to read gauge but the O-ring in the head keeps blowing out on it and Park has stopped sending free replacements.   Pump is good, the head sucks, so I can't recommend it unless you plan on putting a different head on the end of the hose.  I hear that many of the Park pumps have this issue from reading the Amazon reviews.  It seems like a defect they are unwilling to address so I would stay away from Park pumps in the lower "home" price range.

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 7, 2012 at 5:14am

Problem-Solvers sells a pretty good replacement head that does both Presta and Schrader for like $7.  It's an easy fix to cut off a bad floor pump head and put on a replacement one.  There is no need to buy a whole new pump if all you  need is the new head unit.  This is the fix that I am going to recommend to my friend as Park refuses to send her any more free replacement parts for their defective design.  Fix it right rather than PAYING for another defective one that will fail AGAIN in a couple of months of regular use anyhow. 

You can get Problem Solvers products at just about any LBS or just order it online.  The nice thing about this head is that is a high-quality item and all the replacement parts (like the O-rings and such) are available to rebuild it should it need them many years down the road.  The main seal is like $2 and the other o-rings for the lever and such are not very expensive either. 

Park Tools usually makes good stuff but sometime their lower-end "home-mechanic" products are lacking or are poorly-built/cheap.    The rest of the pump bodies seem to be really great but the quality-control of the seals in their lower-end heads seem to be sized too tight and just rip themselves apart during regular use.  No need to throw a pump out just because the head sucks. 

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Permalink Reply by Megan H on March 7, 2012 at 6:10am

We've been through a few pumps in the past couple years. Initially we had a Joe Blow that worked pretty well, but then the plastic part that holds the pump to the body snapped. (We've kept it around as a spare, because it's still useable, just a pain to use.) It was one of the less-expensive Joe Blow models, though.

Next we had a Lezyne Classic Floor Drive, which I was pretty stoked about because of the solid construction; it was worth it to me to pay a few extra bucks for something with no plastic parts. However, we found the head system - which screws on to the tire valve, with one side used for presta and the other side for schrader - not very easy to use. Several times it got so tightly jammed on the pump hose end that I had to use pliers and a considerable amount of force to pry it off when I wanted to switch between S and P. After months of trying to deal with it and failing whenever I needed to quickly add air to a tire as I was rushing out the door, it got returned.

Now we have a Serfas pump - not sure of the model - but it works fine.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 7, 2012 at 6:28am

I've had the Joe Blow for several years and it's been easy and reliable.  I really like having the built-in tire pressure gauge - very helpful feature.  I ride over railroad tracks and in broken glass areas OFTEN, so maintaining max tire pressure to minimize flats is an important feature for me.

Joe Studer said:

Another recommendation for the Topeak Joe Blow pumps.  I've had several floor pumps, and this one (the Joe Blow Pro) has taken the most abuse and lasted the longest.

I really like this pump.  (It also has a stated top pressure of 160 psi.  I've never come close to using that.)

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 7, 2012 at 6:36am

Having a built-in and easy to read pressure gauge is very important in a floor pump.  This is why I was so disappointed in the Park PFP-5 since the gauge can be read by the legally-blind it is so nice and big.  Since I had bought it as a wedding gift for my friend the fact that it is always breaking is even more of a disappointment to me -how embarrassing for me not to have done sufficient research on a gift. 

Anne Alt said:

I've had the Joe Blow for several years and it's been easy and reliable.  I really like having the built-in tire pressure gauge - very helpful feature.  I ride over railroad tracks and in broken glass areas OFTEN, so maintaining max tire pressure to minimize flats is an important feature for me.

Joe Studer said:

Another recommendation for the Topeak Joe Blow pumps.  I've had several floor pumps, and this one (the Joe Blow Pro) has taken the most abuse and lasted the longest.

I really like this pump.  (It also has a stated top pressure of 160 psi.  I've never come close to using that.)

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