Topeak Joe Blow - SmartHead update

Neil Brooks said:

Bought the SmartHead upgrade for my Joe Blow floor pump:

http://www.topeak.com/products/pump_024.html

Those who criticized the JB for its slightly clunky (I'm being kind)
valve were right . . . but at $15, this is a transformational little
gizmo.

Not only does the auto Presta/Schrader work seamlessly, but the
apply/remove is smooth, quiet, and efficient. Gone are the 5-10#
losses on removal that I'd grown accustomed to.

Plus, having spliced the new head in on the existing hose, this bad
boy has Shaq's reach now ;-)

I'd now unhesitatingly recommend this pump.

You gonna bring that bad boy to tomorrow's Metric? (Or 75/7.5?!?)

Top-off Bill

Bill Sornson said:

Neil Brooks said:

Bought the SmartHead upgrade for my Joe Blow floor pump:

http://www.topeak.com/products/pump_024.html

Those who criticized the JB for its slightly clunky (I'm being kind)
valve were right . . . but at $15, this is a transformational little
gizmo.

Not only does the auto Presta/Schrader work seamlessly, but the
apply/remove is smooth, quiet, and efficient. Gone are the 5-10#
losses on removal that I'd grown accustomed to.

Plus, having spliced the new head in on the existing hose, this bad
boy has Shaq's reach now ;-)

I'd now unhesitatingly recommend this pump.

You gonna bring that bad boy to tomorrow's Metric? (Or 75/7.5?!?)

Don't need to. Alpine's only 35 miles out. It'll reach. (Yeah, I'm
bringin' it).

In the immortal words of Elvis Costello . . .

"Pump it up when you don't really need it.
Pump it up until you can feel it."

'scuse me while I go load a few CD's to the MP3 player (one earphone
only . . . of course . . . .)

Any other SoCal people doing that ride this Saturday?

www.alpinechallenge.com

Neil Brooks said:

Bought the SmartHead upgrade for my Joe Blow floor pump:

(snipped)

Quoted message said:

I'd now unhesitatingly recommend this pump.

How robust is it? It looks like the head itself is made out of plastic,
and I question how long its moving parts will work right before wearing
out under the stress of releasing the pump at 100+ psi. Is the
thumbclick lever set in plastic that will wear out and make it
impossible to get a seal?

Quoted message said:

Neil Brooks said:

Bought the SmartHead upgrade for my Joe Blow floor pump:

(snipped)

Quoted message said:

I'd now unhesitatingly recommend this pump.

How robust is it? It looks like the head itself is made out of plastic,
and I question how long its moving parts will work right before wearing
out under the stress of releasing the pump at 100+ psi. Is the
thumbclick lever set in plastic that will wear out and make it
impossible to get a seal?

The lever and the valve are both decent gauge metal, as is the pin
around which the lever swings.

The rest of the head is high-density plastic (that looks like you
could run it over with the car all day long without damage).

Time will tell, but I think the SmartHead's durability should far
exceed the OEM part, and I had no problem with the durability of it
over about 10k miles of fills.

Jeff Starr said:

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 20:28:35 GMT, Neil Brooks <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

The lever and the valve are both decent gauge metal, as is the pin
around which the lever swings.

The rest of the head is high-density plastic (that looks like you
could run it over with the car all day long without damage).

Time will tell, but I think the SmartHead's durability should far
exceed the OEM part, and I had no problem with the durability of it
over about 10k miles of fills.

Hi, I also replaced the two sided head that came with my Joe Blow
Sport, with a Smarthead. I agree the Smarthead is a quality piece,
that will most likely last a very long time. With the original head, I
had to replace the o-ring that was around the lever. It wore out and
started leaking.

I have also been using the Digital Smarthead Gauge for a couple of
years now, and it too, has worked flawlessly. I think Topeak makes
some decent stuff.

I've converted literally every floor pump I have to the Topeak
SmartHead. It really IS the head we've all been waiting for. Yeah,
it's kinda big and certainly ugly, but it works.

I did have one blow up on me - the pin that serves as the lever's
pivot worked its way out and a bunch of tiny little springs went
flying all over the place. I never did find them all, or get it back
together correctly (and I'm the king of reassembly). Still, I didn't
hesitate a second in ordering another one.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

Quoted message said:

Hi, I also replaced the two sided head that came with my Joe Blow
Sport, with a Smarthead. I agree the Smarthead is a quality piece,
that will most likely last a very long time. With the original head, I
had to replace the o-ring that was around the lever. It wore out and
started leaking.

I have also been using the Digital Smarthead Gauge for a couple of
years now, and it too, has worked flawlessly. I think Topeak makes
some decent stuff.

I did this upgrade also, because of the leaking the original 2 headed
piece that came with the sport. I was disappointed that I had to splice it
into the original hose, with that clamp and that other part they give you.
I was under the impression you could screw that new hose and head directly
into the pump, since they are both Topeak products. But after I tightened
the clamp enough, it works fine. I don't know how the smarthead works, but
it's a big improvement over the head that came with the pump.

Callistus Valerius said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I did this upgrade also, because of the leaking the original 2 headed
piece that came with the sport. I was disappointed that I had to splice it
into the original hose, with that clamp and that other part they give you.
I was under the impression you could screw that new hose and head directly
into the pump, since they are both Topeak products. But after I tightened
the clamp enough, it works fine. I don't know how the smarthead works, but
it's a big improvement over the head that came with the pump.

I too, was a little surprised that it didn't just screw on. I somehow
swapped the fitting from the old hose to the new one. It works fine,
the Smarthead hose is a little longer, which doesn't matter.
I got the Smarthead on sale using a Performance 20% off online cpn
and getting Team Performance points, so I got mine for like $10-12.

Life is Good!
Jeff

I have the Topeak Joe Blow pump, and have had it for about 7 months, and I
have had no problems, love the pump and the smart head has been great.

"Neil Brooks" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bought the SmartHead upgrade for my Joe Blow floor pump:

http://www.topeak.com/products/pump_024.html

Those who criticized the JB for its slightly clunky (I'm being kind)
valve were right . . . but at $15, this is a transformational little
gizmo.

Not only does the auto Presta/Schrader work seamlessly, but the
apply/remove is smooth, quiet, and efficient. Gone are the 5-10#
losses on removal that I'd grown accustomed to.

Plus, having spliced the new head in on the existing hose, this bad
boy has Shaq's reach now ;-)

I'd now unhesitatingly recommend this pump.