On Friday, December 7, 2018 at 8:07:56 PM UTC, duane wrote:
On 07/12/2018 1:30 p.m., Andre Jute wrote:
On Friday, December 7, 2018 at 5:37:29 PM UTC, duane wrote:
On 07/12/2018 12:24 p.m., Andre Jute wrote:
WHAT I SHOULD HAVE ADDED TO THE SKS RENNKOMPRESSOR OVERVIEW.

For those too busy or slack to follow the links, there's an important piece of information I didn't mention because it should be obvious, but apparently some commenters didn't grasp the point.

***The Rennkompressor is a full-size stand-, garage- or foot-pump.*** It stands tall even when closed, reaching past hip height on short people, and nearly to hip height on tall people. The barrel is long and thin, which is how it achieves the enormous pressure of 16 bar while still permitting fast pumping on the stages where speed matters. To fill even a 622x60mm Big Apple, an enormous volume of air for a bicycle tyre, to 2 or 3 bar takes just a few strokes because even in the thin barrel the height assures a very substantial volume of air.

When you see one of those fashionable modern so-called stand-pumps against the Rennkompressor you understand instantly that you've been shortchanged: those things are only half the height or less (!) of a proper garage pump like the Rennkompressor... Of course reaching an even remotely respectable pressure on these cafe racer fashion accessories will take umpteen gazillion strokes because the shorts barrel simply isn't all that capacious.

You don't carry the Rennkompressor with you on the bike. It's fabulous too for people who cannot bend too far.

I hope that clears up some misunderstandings without addressing each individually.

BTW, I have an electric compressor with a storage tank for my airbrush and all kinds of valve fittings came in the extensive kit with it, probably a Presta or at least Shrader head as well. I've been wondering if I could use this compressor on bicycle tyres but have done nothing to test it as I pump up my tyres only once a month since a wide variety of inflation pressures are safe now I'm not such a speed freak (I no longer go over 50kph on bad surfaces) and no longer hop up on or down from sidewalks.

Andre Jute
I suppose when I'm 90 I'll have to try those little cylinders of compressed air on my bike. Sigh. Some emanations of modernity are so dispiriting.

On Thursday, December 6, 2018 at 2:26:02 PM UTC, Andre Jute wrote:
A floor pump I really like, to the extent that we have two of them, is the SKS Rennkompressor. It has several available heads, but the best one is a double-hole head with a flip lever; I imagine that it won't last as long as the also available brass and steel heads, and that in a few years the plastic and rubber double-hole head will have to be replaced, but that doesn't bother me, as I have spare parts laid in, and the Rennkompressor is famous for having been rebuildable for about half a century now. It's an aesthetically, kinesthetically and operationally pleasing pump and, of course, its speed leaves those miniature abominations curled up and dying in its dust, which helps a lot if you're trying to fill 622x60mm Big Apples.

On this page
https://www.sks-germany.com/en/products/rennkompressor/
you can see the pump, same as you see on the TdF, all it's four heads -- the one I like, called the Multi Valve, is second from the left (as I say, likely the least long-lived but also the most convenient) and below that you can click for the amazingly complete available replacement parts list.