Air Pump Review

[John]

Hi,

I just wanted to write a short review of the
air-pump that is available on the A-Bike website.

When I first received my A-Bike I checked the tires
with my trusty track-pump (some-people call them
floor pumps). This pump would get the tire up to pressure
in only a few strokes, but there where two problems.
Firstly, alot of air would escape when the pump head was
disconnected. Secondly, the pumphead is difficult to
engage and disengage from the valves, due to the
limited space inside the small wheels.

Enter the Topeak Shock Pump:

This is the pump sold on the A-Bike website.
It is not actually a bike tire pump at all,
but designed to add air to bicycle suspension
systems, such as air-forks and shock absorbers.
The pump claims to go to 300psi and has an
accuarate and easily readable dial guage.

However the best thing about this pump is the
valve attachment. It is quite unique and results in
almost no lost air when detaching the pump from
the tire.

So I'm happy with my new pump.
I find that riding on even slightly underinflated
tires affects the rolling performance of the bike,
so a pump like this is a good investment I think.

PS: I have not actually used the pump to inflate
the tire from completely flat, so I don;t know
how long it takes....

John

[Garry]

Thanks John, that's very useful.

I also found that my foot pump was difficult to connect to the valve. I'll have to get one of those shock pumps later.

You are certainly right about one thing - I got mine pumped up to full pressure today and it's made an amazing difference! I was impressed with the bike before, but even more so now I strongly advise anyone who has just bought an A-Bike to check the tyre pressure as you may not be getting the full performance!

Garry

[laucnj]

Hi,

I just wanted to write a short review of the
air-pump that is available on the A-Bike website.

When I first received my A-Bike I checked the tires
with my trusty track-pump (some-people call them
floor pumps). This pump would get the tire up to pressure
in only a few strokes, but there where two problems.
Firstly, alot of air would escape when the pump head was
disconnected. Secondly, the pumphead is difficult to
engage and disengage from the valves, due to the
limited space inside the small wheels.

Enter the Topeak Shock Pump:

This is the pump sold on the A-Bike website.
It is not actually a bike tire pump at all,
but designed to add air to bicycle suspension
systems, such as air-forks and shock absorbers.
The pump claims to go to 300psi and has an
accuarate and easily readable dial guage.

However the best thing about this pump is the
valve attachment. It is quite unique and results in
almost no lost air when detaching the pump from
the tire.

So I'm happy with my new pump.
I find that riding on even slightly underinflated
tires affects the rolling performance of the bike,
so a pump like this is a good investment I think.

PS: I have not actually used the pump to inflate
the tire from completely flat, so I don;t know
how long it takes....

John

i've just bought this shock pump today & tried to pump up the front tyre (in folded mode). i heard a hissing sound when i connected the value & the meter on the gauge has no response (it stayed at 0). is this supposed to happen ? subsequent pumping seemed to have had no effect at all. i've even tried to engage & disengage the value several times just to make sure everything was securely connected. is something broken or do i have to constantly pump the tyre till i see results ? can anyone help me on this ?

[laucnj]

okay, problem solved. i brought the pump & the a-bike back to the shop. the guy gave the pump a "wake-up" call by making a few tweaks on it & then used it to pump the suspension of a mountain bike. we then tried to pump the a-bike tyres & it finally worked ! what a relief !

[Pascal TOURNOIS]

I've had exactly the same problem with the same pump. All I could manage to do with it was deflate the tyres completely...
At the end of the day, I went to a bike shop to have the tyres inflated to normal pressure. I've never used that pump again.

Could someone who's encoutered the same problem write some kind of guide thing for dummies? Me, that is...

[centerpunch]

I have the special pump, too, and mine has never worked either.

[Pascal TOURNOIS]

Maybe we're doing something wrong with the valve attachment...
I hope someone on here can help!

[Binch Shin]

Hi Pascal
I think I can help you. (although I can not use English very well )

_01. The best method of pumping A-bike by RedSun(a member of KoreanAbikeCafe)

_02. The manual of Topeak Shock DXG(PDF file)

It seems to me that the Topeak Pocket Shock Pump is most suitable for A-bike.

[Pascal TOURNOIS]

Thanks!

I got the manual as well when I bought the pump, of course, but that didn't help.

I'll give it another go when my bike needs it. I'll keep you posted about this.

Have a nice weekend.

[Binch Shin]

Pascal.. I have another Good Idea!!

In Korea, there is not the same problem. The pump is working well.
So.. I think the reason of the leaking problem is the humidity.
The Europe is very dry compared with our country.

Try this method..
_01. Push the Air release button and blow (steam of breath) on the gap.
_02. Blow on the joint of the Rotating hose and rotate it several times.

How about my Idea?

Anyway, have a nice weekend too.^^

[Pascal TOURNOIS]

Thanks Binch Shin, sounds like a good idea. I'll give it a try!

[Amuro Lee]

FREE SHOCK PUMP WORTH £29.99 ON ALL WEB ORDERS!

http://www.a-bike.co.uk/store/checkout1 ... ucts_id=39

[whohuh]

I hate to bring up an old topic, but I just bought a Topeak Pocket Shock Pump (DXG, if that makes a difference) and I tried attaching it to my abike valve but the meter of the guage reads 0 and stays that way. I also tried it on a regular bike and it did the same thing. So, I assume I'm doing something wrong I've tried all those suggestions but nothing. I did however close my finger over the valve and tried pumping and then I saw the meter move up to 20 then it went down again. Ugh this pump is making me RAGE

[rongood]

I have two of the Topeak shock pumps, and use it on my Strida as well as my A-bike. They work great, compact, easy to use, never failed except when i made the mistake of pushing the bright red button or didn't properly screw on the connector. Perhaps this will seem too obvious, but try to be sure that you have the small pink cap on the Topeak valve connector open (turn counterclockwise) as you screw on to the valve, make sure you screw the connector all the way on and then tighten the small pink cap (clockwise). Check that the bright red air-release button located near the gauge is not stuck. One more thing to check is the the piston or pump shaft. It should not be able to come out all the way. There is a black threaded stop that should be tightly attached to the housing right where the piston enters the housing. If the piston does come all the way out, you should see the black threaded stop attached to the piston, put the piston back in and tighten down the threaded black stop to the housing.