What shock pump

[ashleydwsmith]

I have a betd shock pump that I thought was going to be good. My god it’s awful, so difficult to put air into the shock. To the point where it has caused me a problem with my shoulder.
So what’s a good shock pump please.

 

[RustyIron]

My god it’s awful, so difficult to put air into the shock. To the point where it has caused me a problem with my shoulder.

I suppose it depends on what's "awful" about your existing pump. Keep in mind that you're pumping up your shock to very high pressure. The piston in the shock is very small diameter, so you can pump it up to those high pressures. That results in very low volume per stroke, meaning you need a lot of pump strokes to fill the shock.

So is it the repetitive motion of a lot of strokes that hurts your shoulder, or is it the amount of strength required to pump the air that hurts your shoulder? For me, there is the potential to have it hurt, so I'm very deliberate in the way that I pump up the shock. That's probably going to be your best bet, as all the shock pumps I've ever had have been similar in the effort they require.

My primary shock pump is a digital Fox. You can get the exact same pump labeled as Rockshox, too. Surely, they're all churned out of the same factory in China.

 

[steve_sordy]

I have two shock pumps. One that has a short stroke and a large dial gauge. The large dial makes it easy to read and is accurate. I bought it for my hardtail and it was absolutely great. However, the short stroke makes pumping up shocks really hard work; the higher-pressure requirement is a swine! The crunch point came when I fitted a new shock to my bike. It had two Schrader valves and the fitment on the pump didn't access the 2nd Schrader valve nicely and it was really awkward to use. I was away from home and asked to borrow a pump from the trail centre LBS. It was a long-stroke pump and it was brilliant! So easy to pump up to 300+ psi. I was so impressed that I bought one. But the dial gauge is smaller and the intervals between pressure points is large, ie less accurate. I have now sold the bike that had that awkward shock, so I can use either pump without any awkwardness.

The result is that on the fork I use the old pump with ease and accuracy. But on the shock, I use the new long stroke pump for the ease, but then check the accuracy with the old pump.

If I had to have just one, I'd go for the long stroke for the ease of use (it really is a lot easier above 100psi and gets relatively easier the higher the pressure required). The accuracy is a convenience.

But the ideal must be a long stroke pump with a large dial!