Cartridges? Electric? Hand pump?
What kind?
Some cheap thing that came in a repair kit. No apparent brand or model.
Topeak Mountain Morph Pump
It’s fine, not amazing. You have to unscrew the end to switch it between Schrader and Presta, but it’s usually just a one time thing to set it up for your bike.
No gauge. It’s a pretty smooth pump with a lot of air per stroke.
Seems good for the price, but if you spend a little more you can get one with a pressure gauge on it.
I’ve got a manual pump that fits nicely under my top bar. I would rather have something that can pump air without a consumable like a cartridge. Not too sure about the quality since I only tested it once, and thankfully I haven’t had a need for it.
I like had pumps for their reliability, but I’ve yet to find one that worked well and was well built. Any suggestions?
At home I have a Joe Blow and it’s a great pump, little too big to bring on trips though.
My lezyne carbon road pump was great for a decade and a half. All lezyne pumps are easy to take apart by hand and use common o-rings, or at least that was the main selling point for them back in the day, a decade or so back.
I stopped carrying a hand pump a few years ago. I carry a rare threadless CO2 inflator and two cartridges one in the inflator I carry in my back jersey pocket and another in my saddle bag. The threadless cartridges can be bought online far cheaper than the threaded cartridges. Threaded is bicycle specific and there is considerable markup in the distribution chain as a result. The threadless variety are somewhere around half to a third the cost of the others. The inflator is slightly more bulky and only compatible with one size cartridges. They can be hard to find. I always stocked the threadless type (and threaded) in my stores because they have so much value if you use them all the time.
If you happen to go this route, inspect your cartridges carefully if you buy them in cheap bulk. When the end is sealed, if it was over pressed, it may form a small lip that extends over the throat. This is not a very common issue; like maybe one in a hundred. If you are clever in situ, you will use a rock or the pavement to grind off the overhang to fit the cartridge into the inflator. When packing your kit, if you look in advance, it is far easier to knock off the edge with a file. It is just something to watch out for, like making sure an inflator has the tiny pin to puncture the cartridge.
Also, lezyne sells a little in line gage that can replace the hose that fits in their hand pumps. I really liked having one of these because it is so annoying to pump by hand and without a gauge, it is easy to leave the thing under pressured, especially if your clinchers are tight and you just thrashed your finger tips to get the thing off and back on (so you are less likely to pinch feel the pressure accurately without lots of experience).
One trick in this regard, and a way to greatly reduce pinch flats, is to sprinkle talcum powder in between the tire and tube. This will allow the tube to slip instead of pinch and will make removal and installation on the fly easier.
High quality levers are the most important bit of kit. A tire boot patch is a gift to yourself when you actually need one. Last thing I will mention, get some of the compressed towel tablets that expand when water is added. Being able to wash your hands at the end or having a rag if you are bleeding for any reason is a very nice thing to have and a couple of these compressed towel tablets will fit in any kit.
