Out on the bike to try and get in this months bivi and both tyres feel a bit soft, but i just put that down to spending too much time on the road bike. One rocky decent and a clattering of a rock i decide to stop and top up the tubleless tires. Current pump is very good at inflating, but also very good at removing valve cores...........
After several attempts (in the rain), much swearing and a long walk home im after a new pump.
I have a topeak race rocket. Tiny and light but it has a flexible hose rather than a direct attachment. Works well most of the time. But as you screw it on the core can come out on removal. But a few wiggles and attempts and it is usually ok. I wouldn't recommend one. Also the way it attaches to your frame means the handle fills with water. The more I think about it I realise it actually crap.
I feel your pain. When I re-discovered pumps with little connector tubes to prevent yanking on the valves I thiought they were great. Untill I started unscrewing valve cores.
I now use a topeak mountain morph and am most pleased.
I've had the "pump unscrewing the valve inner" as well. It was a Lezyne pump - been relegated to the bin!
Now got a Top Peak Mini-morph which is good enough to get MTB tyres to the right sort of pressure in reasonable time but it is a bit more work to get a road tyre to 90-100psi It's not the easiest thing to carry when road biking but I'd rather have something that works.
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry
I work for Evans so there's the disclaimer done, but this is a really good pump. I tested 5 before I set off for the TDR to be sure I had a pump that could seat my Ardent 2.4s if needed. Obv that needed a bit of pre-seating by hand first, but this was the pump that did it best of the 5, inc 3 of the main / big pump makers, Spesh, etc, 3 of which had no hope of seating the tyre anyway. Truflo also use the same model I think. It's lighter than most of the size / effectiveness. It seems to have the perfect balance of volume and size to shift air fast and easily and there's no added features to go wrong (as my Topeak did, shearing off the end of the valve somehow leaving it jammed inside the head and me walking for hours once - never again using a pump with extended tube attachments, multi-swappable anything, screw-on ends, etc. Potential user error yes but the 'feature' seems to introduce that risk in the first place. Pumps need to be simple and reliable imo).
I use these FWE pumps on all my longer rides now, they may not be the best but they're very good imo.
I learned about valve cores coming unscrewed the hard way as well.
The trick is, do them up tight with long nosed pliers as soon as you fit them and put a dab of copper slip on both the valve and pump so that the threads don't bind.
Another trick with Lezyne pumps is to superglue the rubber end caps on, otherwise you will lose them.
Worcestershire's fastest veteran vegan mountain bike endurance racer with a beard.
The best thing to with Lezyne pumps is not to buy them in the first place. I used to Loctite the valve cores into tubes when I had one, not something I want to do with tubeless valves. I use an Innovations Road Air (the long version) if it's going in a bag, Topeak Mini Morph if it's for a jersey pocket, or a Zefal HPX if it's a frame mount.
The Serfas Big Stick is what I carry now. 4 things that work for me with this pump:
- presta/shrader ready with no messing - nice to help out downed riders with a different valve to you and no hunting for a chuck;
- rubber grommit that keeps water and mud out of the valve receivers;
- the end of the handle folds out to give a good platform to push with, kinda like a pistol grip;
- cheap as chips.
Not the lightest/smallest thing out there, but reliable.