How to get a bike pump always at hand without attaching it to the bike? Dumb question, isn’t it? Just put one in your bag, will you answer. Okay, but how do you do if you want to carry a bag, if your bag is too small or that your pump is just too big? Ah.
British designer Philip Robinson proposes another way to solve the case: Hide it in the bike itself.
Its BioLogic ZorinPump is a combination of a seat-post and a floor-pump, hiding the pump mechanism inside the seat-post without adding extra weight to the bike. When you want to pump your tires up, just detach the seat and use it as the outer wall of the pump. (A variant use would be to sit on your pump; your tires would take a bit longer to get in shape, but at least, you don’t sweat.)
You’ll get a chance to find Robinson’s ZorinPump. He managed to get it manufactured by Dahon, a bicycle and cycling equipment maker, and the pump is currently on sale in nearly 30 countries.
paul in cinti – April 12, 2007
Seatpost pumps have been around for at least 20 years. It seems like a good idea, but in reality it is much simpler and more effective to carry a mini-pump or CO2 inflater.
Tut – April 13, 2007
Thanks, Paul, I didn’t know that. Is it possible for you to grab some pictures or point to some pages where we can check one of those 20-year-old seatpost pumps?
Paul in Cinti – April 15, 2007
Unfortunately the Internet is poor place to look for information on failed products from the late eighties. I tried searching on Bikeforums.net but it is crashing a lot again.
The pump I remember was more like a track pump than this Zorin pump. It had a T-handle that came out of the bottom of the seatpost, but the valve attachment point was below the seat. This meant you had to slide a greasy seatpost between the spokes and try to hold on to it while pumping. This new design takes care of a few of those problems.
At one point I had hundreds of bicycle magazines from the eighties and nineties. After moving them one too many times they went to the recycling center. I remember ads and reviews of the older product, but can’t remember what it was called or who made it.
If my brain manages to fire up the right synapses for me to remember the information I’ll come back here and post it.
Love the site by the way.
Tut – April 16, 2007
It’s too bad I don’t have any more details on the Zorin pump to compare its efficiency against the pumps you described. Nevertheless, I think it should be better than the those from the 80s-90s. Dahon bought the concept, sells it in several countries, and I hope that, with its experience, Dahon is aware that seatpost pumps aren’t that new.