My favorite hand air pump
 

Hi,

Here's an excellent hand pump that I just bought, and it makes it quite easy to pump up car tires:

Topeak® Cycling Accessories — Products - JoeBlow™ Sport
http://www.topeak.com/mediafiles/products/520/

This pump is as near to perfect as I have ever seen. It has the gauge built right in, so you can see the pressure as you pump; with a bleeder valve if you go too high. It has a large metal base that is very stable, and the handle is wide enough to use both hands. The hose is fairly long and the base pivots. It has both a Schrader and a Presta valve connector, and they do not leak -- and they pop right off. It takes far less effort to use than any other hand pump I have used. It stores all the accessories on the pump, and the hose clips in so as to hold the handle in place.

What's not to like? It is not inexpensive (I paid ~$46), but it is well worth it, in my opinion.

Is it a dual-action pump? Meaning that it sends pressure to whatever you're pumping on both the up and down stroke?

I got one of these, much easier to use than a hand pump, works great.

Michelin Twin Barrel Foot Pump

Didnt buy it there though.

Hi,

I don't know if it dual action -- I'll look at the dial the next time I use it.

you can feel it if it's dual action. My pump is not, the upstroke is easy, down stroke is hard. I've done the flat to not flat pump with it, and it sucks. Just doesn't move the volume of air a car tire needs. It moved up to 15psi fairly well, only took me 15 minutes of constant pumping, but getting to 25psi was another 15 minutes. Glad I had nothing better to do at the time.

In a pinch, they'll do, but don't expect to go anywhere anytime soon..

Hiya,

30 minutes of pumping?! I moved from nearly flat (one of my snow tires had sat for 2 years) to 40PSI is ~3-4 minutes, with my Joe Blow!

That's kind of pricey for a bicycle pump. How fast and easy is it compared to a bell pump, for example? It takes me 60 pumps to get from 15 to 22 pounds in a tire, and they get harder from there. I figure that would be 300 to 500 pumps to 40 pounds, for each tire. That's impressive that you can get to 40 pounds in 3 or 4 minutes.