Thursday, July 5, 2007

NYT looks at frame pumps

My best news source, Yo A, sent along this item from today's New York Times.

According to the article, which was headlined "Anti-Hitchhiking Insurance":
Lauren Hefferon, the director of and a tour leader at Ciclismo Classico, a company in Arlington, Mass., that runs cycling tours worldwide, tested [five] pumps during her daily commute to and from work.

Definitely worth a look. In case the link no longer works, the pumps tested were:

1. PLANET BIKE ROADIE $29.99, www.planetbike.com. (one of her favorites).

2. CRANK BROTHERS POWER PUMP PRO $30, www.crankbrothers.com. Small enough for a pocket, and equipped with a pressure gauge, but it required "a lot of baby strokes," she was quoted as saying.

3. GENUINE INNOVATIONS SECONDWIND ROAD CARBON $49.99, www.genuineinnovations.com. A hybrid pump/CO2 system. She said the CO2 system worked well but the pump, the smallest of the bunch, required a lot of "stamina."

4. DAHON BIOLOGIC POSTPUMP $30, www.dahon.com. She said this one pumped well.

5. TOPEAK MINI MORPH $30, www.rei.com. The article called this an "easy to use" floor pump. Huh? Looks like a frame pump in the picture. Time to dock the proofreader's pay... [Note: I've since been corrected on this entry and owe an apology to proofreaders everywhere. See comments below.]

Once again, thanks to YoA.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Mini Morph looks like a frame pump, but is used like a floor pump. The ends are hinged and permit vertical use. Works OK, but is not a real frame pump, in my mind, because it requires a plastic holder rather than being compressed by the main triangle.

Time to dock the blogger some "knows-what-he's-talking-about" points . . .

Mike Dayton said...

Ouch! I guess I had that one coming...

Thanks, anonymous.

Sign me,

Sufficiently humbled

Mike / Raleigh/

Anonymous said...

That was written with a smile and a wink, but came across a bit harsh. Sorry.

Mike Dayton said...

Anon,

No worries. Got tripped up by my own glib remark. A good lesson in that for me.

Thanks much for your comments about how the pump works.

Mike