Floor Pumps
Browse used floor pumps for sale from riders across the UK. A track pump stands on a base plate and drives a long barrel with both hands, usually topping out somewhere between 120 and 220 psi with a gauge at the base or up at eye level, and gets a road tyre to 100 psi in ten to fifteen strokes. This is the pump that lives in the garage and gets used before every ride, rather than the one carried on the bike.
What should I look for in a floor pump?
Barrel material sets the feel: steel barrels like the SKS Rennkompressor take heavy use and rebuild well, while alloy saves weight that matters very little on a garage floor. Beyond that, judge the gauge position and its range, since a 220 psi gauge is hard to read accurately at the 25 psi a mountain bike tyre wants, and check the hose is long enough to reach a valve at the top of the wheel without dragging the base over. A wide metal footplate and a full-width handle make the difference over years of use.
Is a floor pump better than a mini pump?
For home use, yes, and by a wide margin: stroke volume, a stable base and a readable gauge mean you set pressure rather than guess it. A hand pump is a roadside tool with a fraction of the barrel volume, and pressures read from a tiny gauge or from thumb pressure are approximate at best. Owning both is normal, and a floor pump is the one that determines how your tyres actually feel.
Can a floor pump seat a tubeless tyre?
Sometimes, if the tyre is a snug fit on the rim and the tape is fresh, but a stubborn bead needs more air than a standard barrel can deliver in one go. Dual-chamber pumps solve this by pressurising a second reservoir to around 160 psi and dumping it through the valve in a single burst, and separate booster tanks do the same job alongside a normal pump. Remove the valve core first, whichever route you take, as it roughly doubles the airflow.
What wears out on a used floor pump?
Ask the seller to pump it against a blocked head; if the handle sinks slowly, the piston washer has dried out or the barrel is scored. Check the hose at both crimped ends for cracking, the Presta grommet in the chuck for a compressed, ovalised bore, and the base for hairline cracks around the barrel mount where plastic bases fail. Gauges drift with age and after being dropped, so a used pump reading 15 psi at rest will read 15 psi high all the way up.
What is a fair price for a used floor pump?
Basic plastic-based pumps are worth very little second-hand because a new one costs less than the postage on a heavy steel one, so these are worth having only as a local collection at a token price. Rebuildable models and dual-chamber pumps such as the Topeak JoeBlow Booster or Bontrager TLR Flash Charger justify around half to two-thirds of new when the hose and gauge are sound. Buy new if the seal is gone on a pump whose maker does not sell rebuild parts, since that is the whole tool.