Lee Hill
People usually prefer to ride bikes for physical fitness. When you ride a bike, you are burning your calories. So, a rider will not suffer from obesity.
There are various types of bikes available in the market, like mountain bikes, road bikes, and various others. But when the tires of your bike are punctured, then you wander everywhere to find a bike pump in the shop. Sometimes the shops are far away from you, and you have to walk with your bicycle a few distances, which is tedious.
Well, this problem happens to the majority of people. So, you should buy a good bicycle pump. Now the question arises Where to buy a bicycle pump’.Well, there are many options. You can prefer to purchase online or offline. Even various types of bike pumps are available in the market.
What Is a Bike Pump?
A pump always tries to displace a liquid by its mechanical action. A bike pump is a positive displacement pump. These pumps can inflate the tires of the bike. A piston usually operates these pumps. You can perform the action of the piston by hand.
When you fill your bike’s tires with suitable air pressure, it allows your bike to roll easily.
Working Principle of Bike Pump
A bike pump compresses air. It has a piston-cylinder arrangement. The pressure inside the cylinder of a bike pump is usually less than atmospheric pressure. So, whenever we push the piston, the air enters the cylinder.
When the air pressure in the cylinder equates with atmospheric pressure, the unidirectional valves prevent the airflow inside the cylinder. Now the cylinder has high-pressure air. This high-pressure air is allowed to move into the tire.
Now you will pull the piston. The volume of air inside the cylinder increases, and pressure decreases. So, the air will try to escape from the tires to the cylinder. But a unidirectional valve fitted to the tire will prevent the backflow of air.
A bike pump has an adapter, which connects the pump to the valve of the tire. Usually, all the bike tires have two types of valves, Schrader and Presta valve.
Types of Bike Pump
#1. Stand Pump
Stand pumps are also called floor pumps. These bike pumps should be on the home of a rider. They can provide high air pressure to inflated tires, which is impossible for portable bike pumps. These pumps are pretty efficient.
They have a very simple operation. You need to place the base of the stand pump on the floor, and you need to push and pull the piston. The piston is also called a handle. The push and pull mechanism of the handle allows the air to enter into your inflated tires.
You can find these pumps in shops. But, you can keep it at home. They can inflate your tires properly within a short possible time.
#2. Hand Pump
Hand pumps are also called mini-pumps. You can carry these pumps everywhere. Sometimes your tires may lose air in the middle of the road, and you need to inflate them immediately. In such situations, hand pumps are the best solution.
But it cannot provide so much high pressure to your tire stand pump compared to the stand pump. Although the hand pumps are portable, they are less efficient.
#3. Foot Pumps
These pumps cannot pump air in road bikes. They cannot generate high-pressure air into the tires of a road bike. But, the tires of mountain bikes are a bit different. The tires are usually large and require very low pressure. So, the foot pumps can inflate the tires of mountain bikes.
#4. CO2 Inflators
These carbon dioxide inflators can inflate the tires of bikes within a very short period. It is quite beneficial for the racers. When a racer’s bike punctures, carbon dioxide inflators fill the air in the tires. But, you should remember one thing that carbon dioxide leaks at a much faster rate as compared to air.
#5. Electric Pump
These pumps inflate bike tires, but they do not involve any manual labor. They have an inbuilt pressure gauge that shows the correct reading of pressure.
So, there is no chance to overinflate the tires of your bike. These pumps are also costly. Again as it is an electronic device, you should check within short intervals.
Buying a Bike Pump
Well, if you are riding a bike, then you should buy a bike pump. But, the main question arises in your mind “Where to buy a bike pump?”. There are plenty of options for it. We can buy a bike pump both online as well as offline.
Some people prefer to bike pumps by going to the market, and offline shopping has some advantages. You can physically check the bike pump, which is not possible in online shopping.
If you prefer to buy offline, almost every major retail chain will have bike pumps, including Walmart, Target, and Home Depot.
If you are not averse to buying online, everything is available on the internet. There are a lot of websites where you can buy a bike pump, including Amazon and eBay.
The price differs from one website to another, and a good website may offer some lucrative discounts while buying a bike pump. You can get various bike pumps of different brands under one roof.
You can compare them by reading the reviews. Again there are multiple types of bike pumps. So, you need to select the bike pump according to your ride. A mountain bike rider needs a bike pump which will be different from a road bike pump.
If you are looking for a specialty biking store, I would suggest Dicks Sporting Goods. You can buy online with them as well.
Wrap Up
A bike pump can inflate your tires within a short duration. Different types of bike pumps are available. In today’s world, where to buy a bike air pump is not a problem. The solutions are endless.
We have shared some websites and retail stores where you can purchase them. You need to decide whether you want to have offline or online shopping. Even different brands and different varieties of bike pumps are available. So, choose it according to your tires.
