Electric tire pumps?

"Kovie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:gqnTb.160930$sv6.885795@attbi_s52...

Quoted message said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for bike
tires. The convenience is obvious and I

imagine

Quoted message said:

that even with a digital pressure guage and a way to cutoff the air after

a

Quoted message said:

given pressure is reached, it shouldn't be that expensive. Given that

tires

Quoted message said:

often lose pressure between rides, this seems like a product that a lot of people would appreciate
and be willing to buy.

I've seen them and have had them in the past. My friend Sheila has a very nice little one, with
digital gauge built in (you set it for the desired amount and it stops automatically) that works
with a 12v cigarette lighter. It was pretty cheep if I remember correctly (Wal Mart probably). It's
something like this:

tinyurl.com2xhgyOpen ↗

It seems to me that they're not advertised heavily, since they like, everywhere. This one
seems cool ...

tinyurl.com2q2x6Open ↗

I would get one except that I got a big ol' workshop air compressor that fills my tires in about 1
second ... and would blow them apart in about 3 seconds I'm sure (c:

C.Q.C.

Kovie said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for bike
tires. The convenience is obvious

It is? With a decent track pump the strokes needed to top up a tyre take less long than plugging
something in...
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> Kill the tomato!

"Kovie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<gqnTb.160930$sv6.885795@attbi_s52>...

Quoted message said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for
bike tires.

Because they're noisy at high pressure, slower than a hand pump for the volume required, and don't
work well when you're in the middle of nowhere and get a flat.

This being the bike industry, there's a better question in why nobody has marketed 1 pound sized
disposable compressed gas cylinders filled with genuine Alpine air or something.

I already had a US$30.00 12V air compressor around the house (for filling up car tires, inflatable
rafts, etc.). For about US$50, I bought a 12V power supply (useful for jump starting your car if
your battery is dead) at Costco.

The power supply plugs into standard 110V household current and provides a 12V cigarette lighter
outlet, allowing you to plug in 12V accessories (cell phone chargers and the like). I use the
combination for filling the bike tires. The compressor has an analog gauge. It's accurate, but not
very finely calibrated. Once you understand what it's trying to tell you, its pretty easy to
consistently fill your tires properly.

One word of caution: don't try this inside for the first time until your wife is awake ;-)

Neil

"Kovie" wrote

Quoted message said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for bike
tires. The convenience is obvious and I imagine that even with a digital pressure guage and a way
to cutoff the air after a given pressure is reached, it shouldn't be that expensive. Given that
tires often lose pressure between rides, this seems like a product that a lot of people would
appreciate and be willing to buy.

On 2 Feb 2004 06:57:56 -0800, [email hidden] (Brian

Huntley) may have said:

"Kovie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<gqnTb.160930$sv6.885795@attbi_s52>...

Quoted message said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for
bike tires.

Because they're noisy at high pressure, slower than a hand pump for the volume required, and don't
work well when you're in the middle of nowhere and get a flat.

That said, there are tons of them available inexpensively with 12VDC plugs for the typical American
car's cigarette lighter socket. Some are not terribly noisy, many will (eventually) produce as much
as 150 to 200psi, none in my experience are as fast as a large hand pump, and many of them have a
fairly short service life.

If you don't mind spending semi-serious bucks, there are 150psi compressors available which are
*very* quiet; they are used to power dental drills, and their nose level is typically under 25db;
some are so close to noiseless that they are difficult to hear at all.

Quoted message said:

This being the bike industry, there's a better question in why nobody has marketed 1 pound sized
disposable compressed gas cylinders filled with genuine Alpine air or something.

A better question is why no one is marketing a custom gas with a large molecular size to minimize
the normal leak-down speed. Of course, it would probably weigh a gram more than an equivalent volume
of air per tire, so certain factions would never adopt it, and if there wasn't a supply of it
available that was made in France, I doubt that it would be allowed on the Tour...

--
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it's also possible that I'm busy.
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On 2 Feb 2004 07:50:13 -0800, [email hidden] (Neil_Brooks) may

have said:

I already had a US$30.00 12V air compressor around the house (for filling up car tires, inflatable
rafts, etc.). For about US$50, I bought a 12V power supply (useful for jump starting your car if
your battery is dead) at Costco.

Both in one name-brand package, cheaper:

harborfreight.comDisplayitem.tafOpen ↗

Alternately, a cordless 145psi compressor is also available:

harborfreight.comDisplayitem.tafOpen ↗

That one could be handy for a lot of people. I don't know how well it works or how long it runs on a
charge, but Campbell-Hausfeld is a well-known name. I have one of their home shop units that's 25
years old and still works just fine.

Quoted message said:

The power supply plugs into standard 110V household current and provides a 12V cigarette lighter
outlet, allowing you to plug in 12V accessories (cell phone chargers and the like). I use the
combination for filling the bike tires. The compressor has an analog gauge. It's accurate, but not
very finely calibrated. Once you understand what it's trying to tell you, its pretty easy to
consistently fill your tires properly.

Maybe faster with a hand pump, though.

Quoted message said:

One word of caution: don't try this inside for the first time until your wife is awake ;-)

I have no data on the noise level of the Coleman combo, but I would not expect it to be quiet by
comparison to a toaster or digital clock...

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Brian Huntley said:

This being the bike industry, there's a better question in why nobody has marketed 1 pound sized
disposable compressed gas cylinders filled with genuine Alpine air or something.

Don't give 'em any ideas!

Matt O.

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kovie said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for bike
tires. The convenience is obvious

It is? With a decent track pump the strokes needed to top up a tyre take less long than plugging
something in...

Absolutely. The biggest effort is taking off the dust caps and fitting the nozzle.

W. K. said:

"David Damerell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Kovie said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for bike
tires. The convenience is obvious

It is? With a decent track pump the strokes needed to top up a tyre take less long than plugging
something in...

Absolutely. The biggest effort is taking off the dust caps and fitting the nozzle.

I stopped using those dust caps about a year ago. It hasn't caused any problems yet. I don't bother
with the presta retainer nut anymore (the one that holds the valve onto the rim) either, which
makes changing a tube faster, and which isn't useful since my frame and my floor pumps both lock
onto the valve.

I don't see what an electric pump could do besides eliminating a minuscule amount of exercise -- it
would basically be a version of leaf-blower syndrome.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent. -- Walt Kelly

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Werehatrack


A better question is why no one is marketing a custom gas with a large molecular size to minimize
the normal leak-down speed. Of course, it would probably weigh a gram more than an equivalent volume
of air per tire, so certain factions would never adopt it, and if there wasn't a supply of it
available that was made in France, I doubt that it would be allowed on the Tour...

Probably more than 1g/tire-I determined a mountain bike at 60 psi could save 18 g/tire using the highly permeable He, an extra gram for H2
.
I suspect they wouldn't ban something that is heavier and hence slow than air just because it's less permeable and therefore more reliable. Would make even stronger sense for a portable repair or replensihment cylinder-if you already have a leak or add a patch, your seal is at least suspect.

What large molecule gasses did you have in mind-organic halides or ethers?
I could run some precise weight penalties.

Quoted message said:

"Kovie" wrote

Quoted message said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for bike
tires. The convenience is obvious and I imagine that even with a digital pressure guage and a
way to cutoff the air after a given pressure is reached, it shouldn't be that expensive. Given
that tires often lose pressure between rides, this seems like a product that a lot of people
would appreciate and be willing to buy.

I have two pumps that I bought from Target. One 12V (car) and one 120V AC. $10 normal retail, $5 on
sale. Pumps my tubies to 130 in ~2 minutes. The built in pressure gauge is nice too. Save my energy
for the rides.

Richard Chan said:

Quoted message said:

"Kovie" wrote

Quoted message said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for bike
tires. The convenience is obvious and I imagine that even with a digital pressure guage and a
way to cutoff the air after a given pressure is reached, it shouldn't be that expensive. Given
that tires often lose pressure between rides, this seems like a product that a lot of people
would appreciate and be willing to buy.

I have two pumps that I bought from Target. One 12V (car) and one 120V AC. $10 normal retail, $5
on sale. Pumps my tubies to 130 in ~2 minutes.

That seems very slow, at least compared to a decent floor pump.

Quoted message said:

The built in pressure gauge is nice too. Save my energy for the rides.

!!!!

You should get a crew to carry you in a stretcher straight from your bed to the beginning of the
ride. That would save much more energy. Make sure you don't do any warm-up before your ride, either
-- it's bad for you 😉

--
Benjamin Lewis

Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent. -- Walt Kelly

I'm aware of 12V pumps designed for car tires and inflatable rafts and mattresses and such, but
they're not designed for home bike use and tend to be slow and noisy. I guess I was asking why there
aren't any bike-specific pumps designed for home use, and marketed as such. Some might view it as a
useless vanity product, but the same can be said about expensive full-suspension mountain bikes
bought by people who end up using them exclusively on paved roads, or 4WDs that never go off-road or
see any snow or ice. For people who live alone and ride their bikes a couple of times a month, I
suppose an electric pump is silly. But in multiple-bike households that ride nearly every day, it
seems like a useful convenience product.

--
Kovie [email hidden]

"Kovie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:gqnTb.160930$sv6.885795@attbi_s52...

Quoted message said:

Just wondering why there don't seem to be any commercially available electric air pumps for bike
tires. The convenience is obvious and I

imagine

Quoted message said:

that even with a digital pressure guage and a way to cutoff the air after

a

Quoted message said:

given pressure is reached, it shouldn't be that expensive. Given that

tires

Quoted message said:

often lose pressure between rides, this seems like a product that a lot of people would appreciate
and be willing to buy.

--
Kovie [email hidden]

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 20:52:22 GMT, meb <[email hidden]>

may have said:

Werehatrack said:

A better question is why no one is marketing a custom gas with a large molecular size to
minimize the normal leak-down speed. Of course, it would probably weigh a gram more than an
equivalent volume of air per tire, so certain factions would never adopt it, and if there
wasn't a supply of it available that was made in France, I doubt that it would be allowed on
the Tour...

Probably more than 1g/tire-I determined a mountain bike at 60 psi could save 18 g/tire using the
highly permeable He, an extra gram for
H2 . I suspect they wouldn't ban something that is heavier and hence slow than air just because
it's less permeable and therefore more reliable. Would make even stronger sense for a portable
repair or replensihment cylinder-if you already have a leak or add a patch, your seal is at
least suspect.

What large molecule gasses did you have in mind-organic halides or ethers? I could run some precise
weight penalties.

I hadn't actually given it serious thought, but it would have to be nontoxic, non-ozone-depleting,
preferably non-greenhouse, and not reactive with anything in tires or tubes. I'm not enough of a
chemist to be able to evaluate candidates which might meet that set of requirements.

--
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Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
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Quoted message said:

I'm aware of 12V pumps designed for car tires and inflatable rafts and mattresses and such, but
they're not designed for home bike use and tend to be slow and noisy. I guess I was asking why
there aren't any bike-specific pumps designed for home use, and marketed as such. Some might view
it as a useless vanity product,

Yes.

Quoted message said:

but the same can be said about expensive full-suspension mountain bikes bought by people who end
up using them exclusively on paved roads,

Yes.

Quoted message said:

or 4WDs that never go off-road or see any snow or ice.

Yes. These last two examples are also stupid ideas. How does that make electric bike pumps a
good idea?

Quoted message said:

For people who live alone and ride their bikes a couple of times a month, I suppose an electric
pump is silly.

Yes.

Quoted message said:

But in multiple-bike households that ride nearly every day, it seems like a useful convenience
product.

What kind of hand pumps are you folks using, anyway? Pumping up a tire is easier than climbing a
staircase. Do you have an elevator installed in your home? I'm reminded of the woman who went hungry
during that big power outage since her electric can opener didn't work.

"Convenience" isn't always something to strive for -- and in the case of electric bike pumps you
would probably barely even get that.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent. -- Walt Kelly

On Mon, 02 Feb 2004 12:32:31 -0800, Benjamin Lewis <[email hidden]>

may have said:

Richard Chan said:

The built in pressure gauge is nice too. Save my energy for the rides.

!!!!

You should get a crew to carry you in a stretcher straight from your bed to the beginning of the
ride. That would save much more energy. Make sure you don't do any warm-up before your ride, either
-- it's bad for you 😉

Why, in my day, we had to carry our bikes a mile through the swamp just to get to the dirt path to
the general store where they had a hand-cranked compressor. One of us would have to get the flywheel
spinning and then the other would engage the clutch and inflate the tire. By the time the bikes were
ready to ride, we needed the wind in our faces just to cool off. You just don't find a setup that
good at getting you warmed up anymore.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
it's also possible that I'm busy.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Colin Anderson said:

One of these compressors sunds loke just what i need so I can still keep my tyres pumped up while
I've got a broken shoulder. Getting the wife to pump up the tyre on the trainer bike mekes me
unpopular! Cheers Colin

Do you have a floor pump? That only requires one hand. In fact, with a little ingenuity, you could
rig it to be usable with just your feet
(e.g. attach the bottom to something, the wall for example, and put a strap on the handle you can
slip your foot into. Presto, you can pump your tires with no hands, lying down.)

Why does asking for help when you need it make you unpopular?

--
Benjamin Lewis

Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent. -- Walt Kelly

One of these compressors sunds loke just what i need so I can still keep my tyres pumped up while
I've got a broken shoulder. Getting the wife to pump up the tyre on the trainer bike mekes me
unpopular! Cheers Colin

"Benjamin Lewis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm aware of 12V pumps designed for car tires and inflatable rafts and mattresses and such, but
they're not designed for home bike use and tend to be slow and noisy. I guess I was asking why
there aren't any bike-specific pumps designed for home use, and marketed as such. Some might
view it as a useless vanity product,

Yes.

Quoted message said:

but the same can be said about expensive full-suspension mountain bikes bought by people who end
up using them exclusively on paved roads,

Yes.

Quoted message said:

or 4WDs that never go off-road or see any snow or ice.

Yes. These last two examples are also stupid ideas. How does that make electric bike pumps a
good idea?

Quoted message said:

For people who live alone and ride their bikes a couple of times a

month,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I suppose an electric pump is silly.

Yes.

Quoted message said:

But in multiple-bike households that ride nearly every day, it seems

like

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a useful convenience product.

What kind of hand pumps are you folks using, anyway? Pumping up a tire is easier than climbing a
staircase. Do you have an elevator installed in your home? I'm reminded of the woman who went
hungry during that big power outage since her electric can opener didn't work.

"Convenience" isn't always something to strive for -- and in the case of electric bike pumps you
would probably barely even get that.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent. -- Walt Kelly

My point was that people buy things even though they don't really need them and won't use them for
their intended purposes. We could argue whether or not there is a genuine need for electric bike
pumps, but that wasn't the point I tried to make with these examples. They were simply meant to
demonstrate that there is often a market for certain kinds of products that goes well beyond that
segment of the market where they're really needed. It may be vanity that mainly drives this, but
that doesn't seem to bother the companies that make them or their shareholders. As for whether there
is a legitimate market for such a pump, if it were well-made, quiet, fast, reliable, accurate, safe,
relatively affordable, etc., I'd say yes. I pump my tires before each ride, and this is just one
more pre-ride ritual I wouldn't mind making easier. No, I don't "need" such a pump, nor do most
people "need" electric can openers, but if it makes life easier, I don't see a problem. (Just make
sure to have manual versions handy, especially if you live off of canned tuna!)

Other examples of bike technology most people don't really "need", but have come to appreciate,
because they allow you to focus on riding, not maintenance, or simply make riding more enjoyable:

STI shifting Glueless patches and Slime Quick-release levers Computers Wireless computers Easier to
adjust helmet straps Greater gear selection CO2 cartridges Lightweight multitools

--
Kovie [email hidden]

"Benjamin Lewis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm aware of 12V pumps designed for car tires and inflatable rafts and mattresses and such, but
they're not designed for home bike use and tend to be slow and noisy. I guess I was asking why
there aren't any bike-specific pumps designed for home use, and marketed as such. Some might
view it as a useless vanity product,

Yes.

Quoted message said:

but the same can be said about expensive full-suspension mountain bikes bought by people who end
up using them exclusively on paved roads,

Yes.

Quoted message said:

or 4WDs that never go off-road or see any snow or ice.

Yes. These last two examples are also stupid ideas. How does that make electric bike pumps a
good idea?

Quoted message said:

For people who live alone and ride their bikes a couple of times a

month,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I suppose an electric pump is silly.

Yes.

Quoted message said:

But in multiple-bike households that ride nearly every day, it seems

like

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

a useful convenience product.

What kind of hand pumps are you folks using, anyway? Pumping up a tire is easier than climbing a
staircase. Do you have an elevator installed in your home? I'm reminded of the woman who went
hungry during that big power outage since her electric can opener didn't work.

"Convenience" isn't always something to strive for -- and in the case of electric bike pumps you
would probably barely even get that.

--
Benjamin Lewis

Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent. -- Walt Kelly