This is what happens to stuff that lets me down...
I’m going to be ruthless in 2011. If you are a product that sucks I will terminate you!
I’m getting too old to waste time on a floor pump that wants to push air out the Schrader nozzle when I hook it up to a Presta valve and wants to push air out the Presta nozzle when I connect it to a Schrader valve.
Message to the rest of my gear – “Learn from this pump’s mistake and don’t play me for a fool or Mr. V will take you out with the trash!”
*sigh*
When I get back from Baja I’m going shopping for a decent floor pump.
Topeak Joe Blow Sport gets my vote …
I had the same pump from MEC. I hated the head and was about to replace the pump. Then I tried replacing the head with this one:
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442622583&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302693749
…from the MEC. Now it works awesome and is way cheaper than a new pump.
Welcome to the club. Growing up my dad drove me nuts differentiating between the words “cheap” and “inexpensive”. He was fine purchasing “inexpensive” quality goods but he would *NEVER* consider buying something “cheap”.
Great tip Fred. Glad I didn’t throw that pump out yet. The head is the part that’s the problem. I didn’t think there was a cost effective way to resolve the issue. I’ll give it a try.
Reminded me of my altercation with a floor pump one late evening at Bike Friday …
http://galfromdownunder.blogspot.com/2005/04/floor-pumps-my-foot.html
Vik,
Get the bike pump from Planet Bike. Hands down, this has been one of the best designed out there that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
I really like my Silca Pista. I got it out of the trash at work, and after a little grease and $14 of parts, it works like a champ. The head screws onto the valve, and the is very little to break or wear out. As far as I know, the parts are generally available through QBP, and are pretty cheap and long wearing.
http://mightysinetheta.blogspot.com/2010/06/silca-pista.html
Of course, if you can swap out the head and avoid buying a whole new pump, all the better.
[…] I posted a while back about being pissed off my cheap floor pump stopped working reliably. New hose and nozzle installed… […]
[…] I liked it a lot and should probably have just bought the one I was testing, but I didn’t so when my cheap-skate MEC floor pumps failed me again I had no one to blame! Fred’s tip on replacing the nozzle on my old MEC floor pump meant […]
Did you check the rubber gasket inside. Sometimes you turn them around to get proper valve type?
Paul
Calgary
This is a post from 2011. The pump is long gone. 😉