Pro Team Pump

[david.]

Does anyone know how the Pro Team mechanics pumps tyres? Are they using track pumps with all their failings like the rest of us, or do they use compressors or the like?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Compressors with Silca chucks retrofitted to blower nozzles.

 

[Fred Thistle]

Compressors with Silca chucks retrofitted to blower nozzles.

what is a blower nozzle?
how do they get the pressure right?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

what is a blower nozzle?
how do they get the pressure right?

 

[Fred Thistle]

roger that

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

DIY. My home version is one of these where I fit a hose with Silca chuck on the end.

and check pressure with one of these.

 

[Fred Thistle]

DIY. My home version is one of these ...

You must have a great many bikes

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

You must have a great many bikes

Yes, and a couple wheel sets for each. When you've been in the industry as long as I have these things tend to accumulate.

 

[Fred Thistle]

Yes, and a couple wheel sets for each. When you've been in the industry as long as I have these things tend to accumulate.

You Americans are so lucky - to afford the space. In Brixton rent is a killa... bikes gotta come inside

whoops back on topic...
Floor pump is enough for me though i like your set up

 

[david.]

Thanks for the replies, I had come across the "presta flator" on my web travels and wondered whether they are widely used or more of an exotic toy. I guess that or a variation are the way the pros do it. Does DIY option involve swapping beteen pumping and measuring - seems more painful than a floor pump!

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Thanks for the replies, I had come across the "presta flator" on my web travels and wondered whether they are widely used or more of an exotic toy. I guess that or a variation are the way the pros do it. Does DIY option involve swapping beteen pumping and measuring - seems more painful than a floor pump!

Actually no, I rarely use the gauge anymore, I know what 100psi feels like, but I can still do in about 3 seconds while you're still pumping. I do push ups every morning to get the blood flowing, don't need any more. I kept the floor pump around for the neighbor kids that I don't trust with compressed air.

 

[Fred Thistle]

. Does DIY option involve swapping beteen pumping and measuring - seems more painful than a floor pump!

yeah, it's the valve attach / deattachment thing that's a pain in the dark just before you go out.


And the compressor- is it noisy? Do you keep it ...where?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

And the compressor- is it noisy? Do you keep it ...where?

Not noisy at all. It's in the garage, and it only turns on for about a minute or two to regenerate. You're thinking of the huge compressors at auto repair shops, mine is a small little 6 gallon 150 psi. It doubles as my home remodeling compressor too for nail guns and such.

I bought it a few years ago here.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200197024_200197024

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200197024_200197024

Dang! Just noticed the new ones have a gauge on 'em, mine doesn't. Oh well, I'm used to judging air pressure in bike tires pretty good from 80-100 I can usually get within a couple psi. I'm one with the force young Jedi.

 

[Fourier]

Thanks for the replies, I had come across the "presta flator" on my web travels and wondered whether they are widely used or more of an exotic toy. I guess that or a variation are the way the pros do it. Does DIY option involve swapping beteen pumping and measuring - seems more painful than a floor pump!

I read that you should always use the gauge directly on the valve to check the pressure. You shouldn't trust the gauge attached to the pump because when you stop pumping, the valve closes and what you are measuring is the pressure of the air in the hose between the valve and the gauge and not in the tire.
I guess it comes down to a couple of psi, but I still use the separate gauge because I find it much easier to read than the one on my pump.

 

[erik saunders]

david...

what kind of pumps do pro teams use?!... at the SF GP in 2006 Bjarne Riis borrowed my blackburn floor pump out of the back of our teams van to pump ivan bassos tires... the mother f**ker returned it broke!!! DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION?