Help! Wrench force mini



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Rosie

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I am a new outdoor rider,using borrowed equipment and mostly riding alone. Stupid me went to the
gas station to fill up my cannondale tire-all the air came out. There is a WrenchForce mini pump
with the bike. I can get the tire to inflate @75% and then the air starts leaking out again. I try
and try,but only get the tire inflated to a certain point, and not a point that I could
ride.Tomorrow is July 4th, so there will be no one at my local bike shop to help me, and as I am
training for a 192 mile charity ride and only have 1 of the 6 kids at home this weekend, it would
be a great time to get some miles in. Suggestions? I am trying as hard as I can to make sure the
head of the pump is all the way over the threads to the nozzle on the tire. i am also lifting the
lever after I secure it. Help!
P.S. Please don't tell me to take KY and shove the pump up my a$$ like someone told the polar
heartrate monitor guy!
 
[email protected] (Rosie) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I am a new outdoor rider,using borrowed equipment and mostly riding alone. Stupid me went to the
> gas station to fill up my cannondale tire-all the air came out. There is a WrenchForce mini pump
> with the bike. I can get the tire to inflate @75% and then the air starts leaking out again. I try
> and try,but only get the tire inflated to a certain point, and not a point that I could
> ride.Tomorrow is July 4th, so there will be no one at my local bike shop to help me, and as I am
> training for a 192 mile charity ride and only have 1 of the 6 kids at home this weekend, it would
> be a great time to get some miles in. Suggestions? I am trying as hard as I can to make sure the
> head of the pump is all the way over the threads to the nozzle on the tire. i am also lifting the
> lever after I secure it. Help!
> P.S. Please don't tell me to take KY and shove the pump up my a$$ like someone told the polar
> heartrate monitor guy!

I'd tighten the screw collar on the pump head, and maybe spit on the rubber a bit. Then, I'd be sure
to brace the pump head carefully - pump into your left fist, so to speak, instead of trying to have
the spokes and that lever support you.

Eventually, I got the biggest (longest) pump that would fit im my carry bag. It's a Planet Bike
Roadie Medium. Minis seem to be a waste of time.

Oh, and a good floor pump for home use is a joy to use. I have a nice Beto with a gauge.
 
On 3 Jul 2003 22:08:58 -0700, [email protected] (Rosie) wrote:

>Suggestions? I am trying as hard as I can to make sure the head of the pump is all the way over the
>threads to the nozzle on the tire. i am also lifting the lever after I secure it.

You might try pushing the pump less far down, or fiddling a bit with grease or something to ghet a
better seal, if that's really the issue.

It may be a better idea to just go out and buy a proper pump, if this one isn't working.

Jasper
 
A couple of things here-

#1: WrenchForce makes a number of pumps, of which some are suitable for
mountain bike use (larger volumes of air at lower pressure) while some are optimized for road bikes
(smaller volume of air at much higher pressure). You don't mention what type of bike you have, but
given the distance of your ride coming up, it might be a road bike. If you're trying to use a
mountain bike pump to inflate a road bike, good luck trying to get much over 60psi into the tire.
Road bike pumps have smaller diameter air chambers, so you're pushing less air into the tire with
each stroke, but you can accomplish much higher pressures this way.

#2: You're desperate to get out and ride, but have no pump, right? Is
there a local place that lots of people start out rides from? I'd head out there and see if you
might borrow somebody's suitable frame pump. Most cyclists are very nice people who would be happy
to loan you their pump, and not make any rude remarks about KY.

#3: If you've got a road bike, you absolutely positively MUST get a decent
floor pump with a gauge. Decent doesn't mean expensive; I've been using the cheapie ($29.99)
WrenchForce "steel" floor pump for a couple years, and it works great. Other similar pumps are out
there. Optimal tire pressure for a road bike is in a very small range of PSI. Unless you're very
light, I'd recommend inflating to full rated PSI, before every single ride, even when you ride each
day. No way is a "thumb test" adequate for determining tire pressure.

Hope this helps-

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Rosie" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I am a new outdoor rider,using borrowed equipment and mostly riding alone. Stupid me went to the
> gas station to fill up my cannondale tire-all the air came out. There is a WrenchForce mini pump
> with the bike. I can get the tire to inflate @75% and then the air starts leaking out again. I try
> and try,but only get the tire inflated to a certain point, and not a point that I could
> ride.Tomorrow is July 4th, so there will be no one at my local bike shop to help me, and as I am
> training for a 192 mile charity ride and only have 1 of the 6 kids at home this weekend, it would
> be a great time to get some miles in. Suggestions? I am trying as hard as I can to make sure the
> head of the pump is all the way over the threads to the nozzle on the tire. i am also lifting the
> lever after I secure it. Help!
> P.S. Please don't tell me to take KY and shove the pump up my a$$ like someone told the polar
> heartrate monitor guy!
 
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