air chuck, presta-schraeder, recommendations?

Michael Press said:

I want a chuck for a floor pump that works well with both
presta valves and schraeder valves. Recommendations?

I've never had great luck with any of the combination chucks. The best
solution I've found is my latest Silca floor pump. It has a good quality
Schraeder fiiting on the end of the hose that screws onto the big brass
presta chuck. When you want to use it on a Schraeder valve, you just unscrew
it from the presta chuck and connect it to your Schraeder valve. Works great
with both types of valves.

I think this is it (can't see the details too well):
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/images/products/full/silppdbd04.jpg

Art Harris

Arthur Harris said:

Michael Press said:

I want a chuck for a floor pump that works well with both
presta valves and schraeder valves. Recommendations?

I've never had great luck with any of the combination chucks. The best
solution I've found is my latest Silca floor pump. It has a good quality
Schraeder fiiting on the end of the hose that screws onto the big brass
presta chuck. When you want to use it on a Schraeder valve, you just unscrew
it from the presta chuck and connect it to your Schraeder valve. Works great
with both types of valves.

I think this is it (can't see the details too well):
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/images/products/full/silppdbd04.jpg

Art Harris

If you intend to use presta, I myself would strenuously disagree with
you. "Modern" Silca chucks are about the worst of all possible choices
when it comes to presta. There was a period in the late 80's Silica
had a superb reversible design on their chucks which none has yet
surpassed. However, the modern "redesigned" (since the 90's?) Silca
chuck suck eggs.

I replaced my "redesigned" Silca chuck with a plastic chuck/hose combo
from a mail order house for $6, and things couldn't be better. I can
actually have tires pumped instead of getting frustrated with the chuck
that couldn't pump a presta if my life depended upon it.

damyth said:

Arthur Harris said:

I've never had great luck with any of the combination chucks. The best
solution I've found is my latest Silca floor pump. It has a good quality
Schraeder fiiting on the end of the hose that screws onto the big brass
presta chuck. When you want to use it on a Schraeder valve, you just
unscrew
it from the presta chuck and connect it to your Schraeder valve. Works
great
with both types of valves.

Quoted message said:

If you intend to use presta, I myself would strenuously disagree with
you. "Modern" Silca chucks are about the worst of all possible choices
when it comes to presta. There was a period in the late 80's Silica
had a superb reversible design on their chucks which none has yet
surpassed. However, the modern "redesigned" (since the 90's?) Silca
chuck suck eggs.

I think you're talking about a different Silca chuck. The one I have looks
identical to the "big brass" Silca chuck of old except that a Schraeder
fitting screws onto the input end. It is not a "reversible" chuck. I bought
this pump 3-4 years ago. It works just as well as the ancient Silca pump I
had in the early '80s. I top off my tires with a few strokes and no leakage
at all.

Art Harris

Arthur Harris said:

damyth said:

Arthur Harris said:

I've never had great luck with any of the combination chucks. The best
solution I've found is my latest Silca floor pump. It has a good quality
Schraeder fiiting on the end of the hose that screws onto the big brass
presta chuck. When you want to use it on a Schraeder valve, you just
unscrew
it from the presta chuck and connect it to your Schraeder valve. Works
great
with both types of valves.

Quoted message said:

If you intend to use presta, I myself would strenuously disagree with
you. "Modern" Silca chucks are about the worst of all possible choices
when it comes to presta. There was a period in the late 80's Silica
had a superb reversible design on their chucks which none has yet
surpassed. However, the modern "redesigned" (since the 90's?) Silca
chuck suck eggs.

I think you're talking about a different Silca chuck. The one I have looks
identical to the "big brass" Silca chuck of old except that a Schraeder
fitting screws onto the input end. It is not a "reversible" chuck. I bought
this pump 3-4 years ago. It works just as well as the ancient Silca pump I
had in the early '80s. I top off my tires with a few strokes and no leakage
at all.

Art Harris

The "modern" (i.e. crappy) chuck to which I refer to is the one marked
"24.0" on this web site:

http://www.silcapompe.it/adaptors_en.htm

Click on the photo to see a slightly enlarged picture of it.

You buy any Silica floor pump that's probably the chuck you get. Avoid
that chuck like the plague.

I've had a topeak pump for several years now. I beleive that they are
the ones that came with the combination chuck originally. Mine worked
great for many years. When the original chuck broke, I bought a
replacement for about $12.00. I works great. Here is the one that I
have:

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

You can buy it here:

http://www.todson.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TODSON&Category_Code=PumpParts

damyth said:

The "modern" (i.e. crappy) chuck to which I refer to is the one marked
"24.0" on this web site:

http://www.silcapompe.it/adaptors_en.htm

Click on the photo to see a slightly enlarged picture of it.

The number "24.0" at that site looks like the old reliable "presta only"
chuck that's been around forever. I don't see how that could be used with a
Schraeder valve. What type of problem have you had with that chuck?

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tools/tire.html

Art Harris

Michael Press said:

I want a chuck for a floor pump that works well with both
presta valves and schraeder valves. Recommendations?

--
Michael Press

Silca brass...$10. The one that does both.

Arthur Harris said:

damyth said:

The "modern" (i.e. crappy) chuck to which I refer to is the one marked
"24.0" on this web site:

http://www.silcapompe.it/adaptors_en.htm

Click on the photo to see a slightly enlarged picture of it.

The number "24.0" at that site looks like the old reliable "presta only"
chuck that's been around forever. I don't see how that could be used with a
Schraeder valve. What type of problem have you had with that chuck?

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tools/tire.html

Art Harris

The "modern" chuck is prone to blow offs. When it doesn't blow off it
leaks air, to which to have to resort to holding the chuck while
simultaneously pumping. (Yes, new rubber grommets, and made sure that
the upper cap is securely compressing the grommet against the valve,
once it has been mounted for pumping.)

The older "unsurpassed" reversible design was beautiful. I tried to
find a pic of it on the net but can't find one, since it probably
preceded the arrival of the internet outside of educational
institutions. Imagine the top half of the "24.0" chuck. The old chuck
essentially had a design which the bottom was a mirror image to the
top. It had two rubber grommets, one on top and one on the bottom.
The chuck barrel had an internal shoulder to support the grommet that
almost spanned 80% of the cross sectional barrel area, providing firm
support to the rubber grommets. The brass part that actually connected
to the hose actually allowed the chuck to rotate independently of the
hose, to prevent any "kinks" to the hose while pumping.

I sincerely believe the older chuck design was why everyone bought
Silca pumps during the mid eighties. Now you'd hard pressed to find a
Silca floor pump in a LBS.

damyth said:

The "modern" chuck is prone to blow offs. When it doesn't blow off it
leaks air, to which to have to resort to holding the chuck while
simultaneously pumping. (Yes, new rubber grommets, and made sure that
the upper cap is securely compressing the grommet against the valve,
once it has been mounted for pumping.)

Only time I had blow-off problems was when I accidently installed the
grommet backwards. Only leaks when the rubber grommet is worn out.

Quoted message said:

The older "unsurpassed" reversible design was beautiful. I tried to
find a pic of it on the net but can't find one, since it probably
preceded the arrival of the internet outside of educational
institutions. Imagine the top half of the "24.0" chuck. The old chuck
essentially had a design which the bottom was a mirror image to the
top. It had two rubber grommets, one on top and one on the bottom.
The chuck barrel had an internal shoulder to support the grommet that
almost spanned 80% of the cross sectional barrel area, providing firm
support to the rubber grommets. The brass part that actually connected
to the hose actually allowed the chuck to rotate independently of the
hose, to prevent any "kinks" to the hose while pumping.

I just opened up and compared the innards of my 20+ year old Silca chuck
with the one I got a couple of years ago. There's no difference at all
inside. Outside, the input end of the old one was designed to attach to the
hose, like this:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tools/tire.html

The newer one has a Schaeder fitting at the input.

Art Harris

andresmuro said:

I've had a topeak pump for several years now. I beleive that they are
the ones that came with the combination chuck originally. Mine worked
great for many years. When the original chuck broke, I bought a
replacement for about $12.00. I works great. Here is the one that I
have:

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

You can buy it here:

http://www.todson.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TODSON&Category_Code=PumpParts

I use nothing but the Topeak dual heads. They work great on both
types of valves and never, ever, ever blow off.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

In article <[email hidden]>,

damyth said:

The "modern" chuck is prone to blow offs. When it doesn't blow off it
leaks air, to which to have to resort to holding the chuck while
simultaneously pumping. (Yes, new rubber grommets, and made sure that
the upper cap is securely compressing the grommet against the valve,
once it has been mounted for pumping.)

I don't know what you're doing wrong, but I've never had a
problem with the current 30.0 chuck, or the 24.0 chuck it's based on.

Quoted message said:

The older "unsurpassed" reversible design was beautiful. I tried to
find a pic of it on the net but can't find one, since it probably
preceded the arrival of the internet outside of educational
institutions. Imagine the top half of the "24.0" chuck. The old chuck
essentially had a design which the bottom was a mirror image to the
top. It had two rubber grommets, one on top and one on the bottom.
The chuck barrel had an internal shoulder to support the grommet that
almost spanned 80% of the cross sectional barrel area, providing firm
support to the rubber grommets.

I think this chuck was designated as the 27.0. It uses the same
chuck washers as the silca impero (washer 323.1) if I'm not mistaken.
I have one of these chucks too and haven't had any problems with it,
but haven't found it to be any better (or worse) than the 24.0/30.0.

Quoted message said:

The brass part that actually connected
to the hose actually allowed the chuck to rotate independently of the
hose, to prevent any "kinks" to the hose while pumping.

Rotating is only relevant for schrader where you screw the
chuck onto the valve. For presta valves, I don't see why you don't
just untwist the hose _before_ you push it on.

Quoted message said:

I sincerely believe the older chuck design was why everyone bought
Silca pumps during the mid eighties. Now you'd hard pressed to find a
Silca floor pump in a LBS.

The presta chuck that people generally raved about then was
the 24.0, while all the complaints I recall hearing were about the
about the reversible chuck that you're praising. I don't understand
the fuss though - I've never had a problem with either design, except
that I find both a little annoying to use on schrader valves, needing
to be screwed on instead of pressed/clamped.

-Luns

On Sat, 04 Feb 2006 09:32:16 -0700, Mark Hickey <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I use nothing but the Topeak dual heads. They work great on both
types of valves and never, ever, ever blow off.

What works for Prestas with an air hose from a compessor? I'm getting
a bit tired of having to swap Presta adapters on and off to air up the
tires on the roadies. (I suppose that if the Silca chuck works, it
might be easier to deal with than the cheapie brass adapter stubs, but
I hear that one get dissed as often as not.)
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Werehatrack said:

On Sat, 04 Feb 2006 09:32:16 -0700, Mark Hickey <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

I use nothing but the Topeak dual heads. They work great on both types
of valves and never, ever, ever blow off.

What works for Prestas with an air hose from a compessor? I'm getting a
bit tired of having to swap Presta adapters on and off to air up the tires
on the roadies. (I suppose that if the Silca chuck works, it might be
easier to deal with than the cheapie brass adapter stubs, but I hear that
one get dissed as often as not.)

Any bike shop should have a Presta head that simply fits into a Schrader
head and stays there. My Zefal Husky pump came with one of these. I just
bought another at the LBS for $8 or so. I don't remember seeing a brand
name on it. It was probably just a generic part from one of the big
distributors.

Matt O.

It's very odd that this subject came up tonight. This afternoon I
started out on a ride & realized that I hadn't checked my air pressure.
A couple of miles from my house is a LBS, where I stopped in to check
my air pressure & decided to get a small accessory that I've needed.
Asked to use their pressure gage. Was given a large Sesfras (sp?)
floor pump. (I didn't even know they made pumps. I thought saddles
were there thing) It had dust caked on it from rain. Obviously been
sitting outside for a while. I surmised they loose too many pressure
gages, so they loan customers large floor pumps. The head appeared
similar to the Topeak in an above URL. It was huge. It flipped open &
went on the presta stem w/ ease. It was so much easer to grip & use
that any other pump head I have ever used. My tires were ~15psi low (or
the gage read low, I should check the pressure now I'm home) The gage
was also huge. I could read it even though it was caked w/ dust. And it
pumped much easier that any pump in memory, certainly the Topek Joe
Blow w/ a double-sided head that I now use. I think its price was $45.
It's definitely gone on my to buy list. When I read this over, it
sounds like I'm on their payroll. But I'm genuinely surprised that a
pump could be that superior.
Now someone will probably say it's made by Topeak, John

It's very odd that this subject came up tonight. This afternoon I
started out on a ride & realized that I hadn't checked my air pressure.
A couple of miles from my house is a LBS, where I stopped in to check
my air pressure & decided to get a small accessory that I've needed.
Asked to use their pressure gage. Was given a large Sesfras (sp?)
floor pump. (I didn't even know they made pumps. I thought saddles
were there thing) It had dust caked on it from rain. Obviously been
sitting outside for a while. I surmised they loose too many pressure
gages, so they loan customers large floor pumps. The head appeared
similar to the Topeak in an above URL. It was huge. It flipped open &
went on the presta stem w/ ease. It was so much easer to grip & use
that any other pump head I have ever used. My tires were ~15psi low (or
the gage read low, I should check the pressure now I'm home) The gage
was also huge. I could read it even though it was caked w/ dust. And it
pumped much easier that any pump in memory, certainly the Topek Joe
Blow w/ a double-sided head that I now use. I think its price was $45.
It's definitely gone on my to buy list. When I read this over, it
sounds like I'm on their payroll. But I'm genuinely surprised that a
pump could be that superior.
Now someone will probably say it's made by Topeak, John

Luns Tee said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

damyth said:

The "modern" chuck is prone to blow offs. When it doesn't blow off it
leaks air, to which to have to resort to holding the chuck while
simultaneously pumping. (Yes, new rubber grommets, and made sure that
the upper cap is securely compressing the grommet against the valve,
once it has been mounted for pumping.)

I don't know what you're doing wrong, but I've never had a
problem with the current 30.0 chuck, or the 24.0 chuck it's based on.

Quoted message said:

The older "unsurpassed" reversible design was beautiful. I tried to
find a pic of it on the net but can't find one, since it probably
preceded the arrival of the internet outside of educational
institutions. Imagine the top half of the "24.0" chuck. The old chuck
essentially had a design which the bottom was a mirror image to the
top. It had two rubber grommets, one on top and one on the bottom.
The chuck barrel had an internal shoulder to support the grommet that
almost spanned 80% of the cross sectional barrel area, providing firm
support to the rubber grommets.

I think this chuck was designated as the 27.0. It uses the same
chuck washers as the silca impero (washer 323.1) if I'm not mistaken.
I have one of these chucks too and haven't had any problems with it,
but haven't found it to be any better (or worse) than the 24.0/30.0.

Quoted message said:

The brass part that actually connected
to the hose actually allowed the chuck to rotate independently of the
hose, to prevent any "kinks" to the hose while pumping.

Rotating is only relevant for schrader where you screw the
chuck onto the valve. For presta valves, I don't see why you don't
just untwist the hose _before_ you push it on.

Quoted message said:

I sincerely believe the older chuck design was why everyone bought
Silca pumps during the mid eighties. Now you'd hard pressed to find a
Silca floor pump in a LBS.

The presta chuck that people generally raved about then was
the 24.0, while all the complaints I recall hearing were about the
about the reversible chuck that you're praising. I don't understand
the fuss though - I've never had a problem with either design, except
that I find both a little annoying to use on schrader valves, needing
to be screwed on instead of pressed/clamped.

-Luns

Well, that's exactly the point, isn't it? Blame the "clueless"
operator for using the thing incorrectly when the chuck itself doesn't
work worth a damn. FWIW, I tried at least 2 new grommets and different
orientations, and it still worked like [censored]. I wouldn't wish this
chuck on my worst enemy. 🙂

As I stated earlier, instead of putting up with the frustration of the
Silca 24.0 chuck I went ahead and bought a cheap replacement PLASTIC
"auto-sensing" chuck/hose combo from a well known mail-order house. In
this household there are 6 bikes for 3 people (all daily bike
commuters), and this chuck has served us well for the last year or so.
With no fuss and muss, compared to the Silca 24.0 chuck.

While the plastic chuck is not with it's disadvantages, it functions
light years ahead of the Silca 24.0 chuck. I'm almost certain the
rubber grommets inside that chuck won't be available separately as
parts. The auto-sensing function also depends on back-pressure, which
is a bit problematic when attempting to pump a new tube. But there is
an easy workaround for this which I've posted on another thread.

BTW, I think you've accurately described the "27.0" chuck which I
praised earlier. There were a few revisions of the 27.0 chuck, and not
all of those worked well. For example, not all varieties of 27.0
allowed the chuck to rotate independently of the hose, and this posed a
problem for the Schrader attachment, as you commented. There was only
one particular version that worked well for me, and it had two brass
"washers" inside, to give additional support to the rubber grommets,
iirc. If you know anyone who has one of these 27.0 chucks for sale,
I'd be grateful for the reference. 🙂

john said:

It's very odd that this subject came up tonight. This afternoon I
started out on a ride & realized that I hadn't checked my air pressure.
A couple of miles from my house is a LBS, where I stopped in to check
my air pressure & decided to get a small accessory that I've needed.
Asked to use their pressure gage. Was given a large Sesfras (sp?)
floor pump.

ITYM Serfas.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On 5 Feb 2006 02:32:18 -0800, "damyth" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Well, that's exactly the point, isn't it? Blame the "clueless"
operator for using the thing incorrectly when the chuck itself doesn't
work worth a damn.

It's also possible that you got a random unit that has some unusual
flaw or problem. Given the number of users who have reported zero
trouble with them, I think there's a good chance that this may be the
case for yours.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Quoted message said:

damyth said:

The "modern" chuck is prone to blow offs.

-snip-

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The older "unsurpassed" reversible design was beautiful. I tried to
find a pic of it on the net but can't find one, since it probably
preceded the arrival of the internet outside of educational
institutions. Imagine the top half of the "24.0" chuck. The old chuck
essentially had a design which the bottom was a mirror image to the
top. It had two rubber grommets, one on top and one on the bottom.
The chuck barrel had an internal shoulder to support the grommet that
almost spanned 80% of the cross sectional barrel area, providing firm
support to the rubber grommets.

-snip-

Luns Tee said:

I think this chuck was designated as the 27.0. It uses the same
chuck washers as the silca impero (washer 323.1) if I'm not mistaken.
I have one of these chucks too and haven't had any problems with it,
but haven't found it to be any better (or worse) than the 24.0/30.0.

-snip-
These photos may help:
http://www.yellowjersey.org/pumpbits.html

Frankly we're selling lock-on PV-SV heads more than Silca
brass now.

And if, as you write, "Now you'd hard pressed to find a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Silca floor pump in a LBS.", what _do_ you see out

there?? We sell a lot of Silca- for a very selfish reason -
they do not come back broken like the Asian pumps we dabble in.

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