Bontrager electric tire pump

In article
<[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

One of my local bike shops has a brand new product. This is a
Bontrager portable battery-powered pump with a "smart head" that will
do both presta and schrader. The cost is about $70.

They claim that it will also do car tires.

This product is so new I cannot find out anything about it on the web
including the Bontrager site. Has anyone actually tried one of
these? If so how about reporting your results?

thanks,

HMB

No idea, never seen it, but the cost and concept sound absurd to me.

12V-powered (typically from the accessory port on your car) pumps for
cars cost about $20.

Good, functional frame-mounted bike pumps also cost $20. The more
compact models that can be carried in a jersey pocket have their
detractors, but I have had good success with them. They also cost $20.
Virtually all of them will do both presta and Schrader, and the one I
just bought has the same sort of smart head you describe, and is
switchable from "high volume" to "high pressure."

Good floor pumps with integrated pressure gauges also cost $20. I think
mine will take a 700-31ish (cyclocross) tire to 70 lbs in less than a
minute.

People actually desperate for speed when reinflating a tire (ie,
mountain bike racers) use CO2, which is so close to instantaneous as
doesn't matter.

What are you hoping to accomplish? <-- That's not a smarty-pants
rhetorical question, you may have a need or want I haven't considered.

If space is a consideration, maybe the Bontrager makes sense.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"My scenarios may give the impression I could be an excellent crook.
Not true - I am a talented lawyer." - Sandy in rec.bicycles.racing

On Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:22:22 -0800 (PST), [email hidden] may have

Quoted message said:

One of my local bike shops has a brand new product. This is a
Bontrager portable battery-powered pump with a "smart head" that will
do both presta and schrader. The cost is about $70.

They claim that it will also do car tires.

This product is so new I cannot find out anything about it on the web
including the Bontrager site. Has anyone actually tried one of
these? If so how about reporting your results?

I have neither seen nor used one of those, but I would point out that
an automotive battery booster pack with an internal 12V-powered
compressor can be found in many locales for less than the price cited
for the Bontrager unit. I have two of them. The typical units
supplied have a Schrader-only hose, and all of the samples I have
examined include a completely useless "Presta adapter" that will not
even fit on a Presta valve*. However, since I keep a Schrader adapter
on one of the Presta valves of each of my Presta-equipped bikes, this
is not much of an issue for me.

As someone else pointed out, a simple 12V electric compressor capable
of pumping up a bike tire (or, if one is exceptionally patient, a car
tire) is often possible to find for under $25, but those have the
singular disadvantage of not being terribly useful without the
required accessory, specifically an automobile with a cigarette
lighter socket into which the plug can be inserted to power the unit.

On the other hand, both of my battery-pack-and-compressor units are
rather heavy; something lighter would be a nice alternative, though
not if it meant that the useful run time was too short.

On the gripping hand, however, the power source for a hand pump is
pretty much always going to be available, and the weight problem is
not an issue with most of them. This may explain why I have one of
those in my seat bag.

I wouldn't pay extra for the compressor with the Bontrager name
without a compelling reason...and given that the item does not appear
in any online merchandise listing or that manufacturer's own website,
I'd want to be sure it was an actual authorized Bontrager product (and
not someone's misappropriation of the name) before I laid out any cash
for one.

* The adapters that were included with the two booster/compressor
units in my possession were not drilled through at a diameter that
would allow the adapters to fit over a Presta's valve locking nut.
When I counterbored one to allow it to be installed, its other
failings (lack of an o-ring, incorrect length) became apparent. If
you buy one of these, expect the included Presta adapter to be
worthless.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

You can get the same thing at Wal-Mart for about half that price,
complete with shut-off pressure settings. You'll have to supply your
own presta head, though. I haven't used a manual pump in years.

Quoted message said:

One of my local bike shops has a brand new product. This is a
Bontrager portable battery-powered pump with a "smart head" that will
do both presta and schrader. The cost is about $70.

They claim that it will also do car tires.

This product is so new I cannot find out anything about it on the web
including the Bontrager site. Has anyone actually tried one of
these? If so how about reporting your results?

thanks,

HMB

Quoted message said:

* The adapters that were included with the two booster/compressor
units in my possession were not drilled through at a diameter that
would allow the adapters to fit over a Presta's valve locking nut.
When I counterbored one to allow it to be installed, its other
failings (lack of an o-ring, incorrect length) became apparent. If
you buy one of these, expect the included Presta adapter to be
worthless.

Are you sure that's not a Woods adapter? Real Presta adapters can be
purchased at the LBS for $1, and on a large purchase they'll often just
throw them in.

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:55:59 -0800, Rex Kerr <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Are you sure that's not a Woods adapter? Real Presta adapters can be
purchased at the LBS for $1, and on a large purchase they'll often just
throw them in.

You mean one of these? the difference seems readily apparent:

http://www.altex.com/catalog/html/Power_&_Extension_Cords_230/product_3845.html

still just me said:

You mean one of these? the difference seems readily apparent:

http://www.altex.com/catalog/html/Power_&_Extension_Cords_230/product_3845.html

No, like one of these:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_w.html#valve

(scroll down, it's not jumping there directly in my browser)

Rex Kerr said:

still just me said:

You mean one of these? the difference seems readily apparent:
http://www.altex.com/catalog/html/Power_&_Extension_Cords_230/product_3845.html

No, like one of these:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_w.html#valve

That's a picture of the valve... here's an adaptor that goes the other
way (use woods pump on schrader valve):

http://www.weldtite.co.uk/detail.asp?ProductID=191&navID=4

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

still just me said:

You mean one of these? the difference seems readily apparent:
http://www.altex.com/catalog/html/Power_&_Extension_Cords_230/product_3845.html

Quoted message said:

Rex Kerr said:

No, like one of these:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_w.html#valve

Rex Kerr said:

That's a picture of the valve... here's an adaptor that goes the other
way (use woods pump on schrader valve):
http://www.weldtite.co.uk/detail.asp?ProductID=191&navID=4

we fondly call the 'other' one <<adapteur polonaise>>

http://www.yellowjersey.org/nuvalve.html

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Quoted message said:

One of my local bike shops has a brand new product. This is a
Bontrager portable battery-powered pump with a "smart head" that will
do both presta and schrader. The cost is about $70.

They claim that it will also do car tires.

This product is so new I cannot find out anything about it on the web
including the Bontrager site. Has anyone actually tried one of
these? If so how about reporting your results?

thanks,

HMB

Did it look remarkably like this one, except with a Bontrager sticker
on it?

http://www.amazon.com/Schwinn-SW74180-Electric-Bike-Pump/dp/B000DZF6X8

/s

Scott Gordo said:

Did it look remarkably like this one, except with a Bontrager sticker
on it?

http://www.amazon.com/Schwinn-SW74180-Electric-Bike-Pump/dp/B000DZF6X8

Gonna really look bulky in those roadie jersey pockets!

Bill "flag down a car and use the lighter adapter?" S.

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:55:59 -0800, Rex Kerr <[email hidden]> may

have said:

Quoted message said:

* The adapters that were included with the two booster/compressor
units in my possession were not drilled through at a diameter that
would allow the adapters to fit over a Presta's valve locking nut.
When I counterbored one to allow it to be installed, its other
failings (lack of an o-ring, incorrect length) became apparent. If
you buy one of these, expect the included Presta adapter to be
worthless.

Are you sure that's not a Woods adapter?

Well, since the docs that came with one of the booster/compressor
units called it a Presta valve adapter, they weren't being ambiguous
about the claimed application. The Woods and Presta threads aren't
exactly the same, but they're close enough that confusion would be
possible, particularly since it's a good bet that the person writing
the English-language docs was not one of the people involved in
actually designing the product.

Quoted message said:

Real Presta adapters can be
purchased at the LBS for $1, and on a large purchase they'll often just
throw them in.

I keep a jar of them around so that when someone needs one, I can just
stick one on their stem and give it to them to keep. I carry some in
my flat kit, and have doled one out to a hapless cyclist at a gas
station a couple of times.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

I own two Bontrager pumps because I have two homes and several bikes. I purchased both pumps in Houston at The Bike Barn and they will definitely inflate car tires. My only problem has been with the air chuck which eventually leaks. You can easily replace the air chuck if it starts leaking. I cannot find the pump on the internet.
 
Regards,
 
John
Â