Lezyne pump fail
Last Post 01/21/2014 02:57 AM by 79 pmooney. 12 Replies.
Author Messages
Oldfart

Posts:511

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01/17/2014 12:08 PM
Dang. I should have aired up last night before my ride so after I bottomed out on roots a couple times i decided to do that. Pull out the frame mounted alloy HV drive and because I wear contacts and can't see very well I try and use the schraeder end first and loose a bit more air then the presta end won't go on. WTF. Loose more air attempting to get the hose connected. Valve gets slightly stuck open loose more air. Decide something is hooped ride home with maybe 5 psi. Only had to ride  about 4 or 5 km and on the road so no big deal.

Get home. remove contacts and discover the end of the hose, which sits inside the pump when stored is massively corroded. I guess the aluminum end bits are not anodized. Managed to remove the "O" ring and clean out the corrosion crude, oil it all up and not it works OK.

Oiled up the other Lezyne pump too although it rides in a hydration pack and should be immune to weather or sweat related affects. Lesson learned. I have lubed the piston though in the past but never considered that the aluminum hose ends would corrode like that.

You be warned!
longslowdistance

Posts:2881

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01/17/2014 02:58 PM
Thanks for the tip. I have one wrapped in plastic on a water bottle cage mount, without delusions that it's truly protected.
Entheo

Posts:317

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01/17/2014 03:03 PM
i've been so tempted over the years to purchase a lezyne, in no small part due to its praises being sung on this (and the old) forum. however, in the reviews on amazon, issues seem to come up, and this guy's review is pretty convincing to save a bunch of money and just stick with less expensive brands...

"I had an old Zephal pump that worked flawlessly for 15 or more years. When the hose went bad and I couldn't find one that fit, I decided to replace it. This Lezyne pump got a lot of good reviews, looks gorgeous, and seemed like a "last pump you'll ever buy" type of product. I've had it less than a year, and while it works okay, it's certainly nothing to write home about. Here are the issues:

1) The wooden handles you see in the picture screw directly into the top of the pump. It is not one piece of wood, but two handles that screw into a metal threaded shaft. I noticed one was slightly loose, so I tried to hand tighten it, but it just spun around and around. Turns out the wood on both is stripped, and they feel about to fall off. The wooden handles should have a metal sleeve inside them so they can screw tightly to the pump. But they don't. I e-mailed Lezyne and their response so far has been "that's weird, we haven't seen that before". Seems odd. I sent them photos of the stripped handles and have not heard back. I fixed the issue myself by putting some toothpicks inside the handles and screwing them back on (an old trick anytime you have a stripped hole in wood), but it's not a long term repair. And even if they send me new handles, it's still a major design flaw that looks like it was done to save money. UPDATE: They sent me a new handle that doesn't have the issue, but I'm leaving the review up because I still stand by the balance of my feedback.

2) The chuck, while good quality, is a pain to use. It screws on easily enough, but in most cases to unscrew it, I end up twisting the hose, which will eventually wear out the hose. The little pressure release does little to help.

3) About 30% of the time, when I screw the chuck on to a presta valve, it won't pump it up, just fills the hose. So I unscrew, screw back on, jiggle around, then it starts working

4) Other times the pressure gauge shows no pressure being added to the tire, despite the fact that it's filling with air. So each time you stroke it, the pressure gauge goes back to zero, but the tire gets firmer and firmer.

5) I read some comments the pump moves a much higher volume of air than others. It sure doesn't feel like it. Feels like it takes exactly as long to fill a tire as any other floor pump.

I'm sure there will be people who call all these issues user error, but lets be clear: This is a bike pump. You should be able to snap it on, pump your tire, snap it off, and be on your way. I am never one to skimp on quality, but in the case of this pump, I don't believe "you get what you pay for". I feel like I got a lot less. I wrote this review intending to only discuss the handles, but as I wrote, I realize there's a lot about this pump I don't like.

Get one at the bike shop for half the money, it will probably work better."
longslowdistance

Posts:2881

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01/17/2014 03:06 PM
I may be wrong, but the Lezyne raves are for the mini pumps.
zootracer

Posts:833

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01/17/2014 04:50 PM
I gave up on my Lezyne Road Drive. It would unscrew the replaceable valve cores on my presta tubes, which made it pretty much useless. I pack a mini and co2 (3 cartridges). I bought a case of 50 16g threaded at Amazon.com for $14.00. Off topic- but I am getting a lot of flats lately. Most likely due to the lack of rain we are receiving in Ca and nothing is getting washed off the road.
Oldfart

Posts:511

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01/17/2014 11:54 PM
Zoot I bought a new hose that is presta only. One end threads on the valve and the other end presses on like most pumps. I have the press on end for my Lezyne floor pump too.
cycling chick

Posts:72

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01/18/2014 10:41 AM
I will admit it....I hate portable (specifically hand) pumps. I have never found one that I like to use. Our floor pump at home is awesome but anything portable...not my friend.

I always carry CO2 cartridges with my extra tubes and (crossing fingers while typing) I have always had good luck with them.
79pmooney

Posts:3178

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01/18/2014 06:44 PM
Why does anyone use a pump with a head that screws on? Get a pump with a thumb lock and get a life! Zephal has made frame pumps with a simple but very easy to use and reliable lock for decades. Their patent (if they had one) expired years ago. (I was using their pumps with thumb lock in 1973.) Specialized, much as I hate to blow their horn, has a really good floor pump with a thumb lock.

There is no good reason for any pump manufacturer to not provide a thumb lock and we have no business subjecting ourselves to pumps without. If you like a pump that comes without, tell the salesman or better, rep , maybe even contacting the company and say that yo9u like their pump but are waiting to get the thumb lock version. And stick to it.

Other plus of thumb lock pumps? The gasket lasts FAR longer!

Rant, rant.

Ben
zootracer

Posts:833

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01/18/2014 10:01 PM
I was using a mini a few days ago after a flat. The thumb lock got jammed on one of my fingers and it hurt like a son of a gun. Anyway I can hurt myself, I'll find it...

At one time Zefal had a frame pump with a screw on pump head. Ever see the Movie "Finding Forrester"? There is a shot of Sean Connery using one toward the end of the movie.
vtguy

Posts:298

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01/19/2014 07:29 AM
You folks should use a Silca frame pump as God intended.
zootracer

Posts:833

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01/19/2014 10:06 AM
I take it back about the Zefal screw on hose. The hose pulls out from the handle. They still make them...

Actually the big thing about frame pumps now is because of the sloping top tubes on most bikes, they won't fit. Even Blackburn stopped making their FP1...
Ron

Posts:34

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01/20/2014 10:19 PM
Good to know. And wow, it's not fun to have your pump not work when you rarely need it.

On the road once I couldn't get the chamber to seal, it just kept on pumping air out of the chamber, but not through the house. It was extremely hot out that day, so I just went for my CO2.

I played with it a bit at home and got it to work, I don't think with anything too crazy, just some finagle'ing. But, now I make sure to take them off the mount and test them every few weeks.
79pmooney

Posts:3178

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01/21/2014 02:57 AM
I have to shake my head. The Zephal HPs and HPXs have been so reliable over 4+ decades that "testing" them would just be a waste of time. They simply work. And when they start failing to work, it is because a disaster has happened (falling off the frame and getting run over; even that isn't always fatal or encountering a dog's head) or gaskets/seals are starting to fail because that pump has inflated hundreds of tires. Granted now, the HPs I have on half my bikes are a little shaky, but not one of those is newer than say 1990 (isn't that when the HPX came out?) and some a lot older.

Pumps are old technology. Getting them right isn't difficult.

Ben


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