“Set up in 1880, Les Etablissements AFA are specialized in the design of toe-clips, toe-straps, bicycle bells and racks. Later called POUTRAIT, the company works closely with famous riders to develop products. In partnership with Mr Lapize and Mr Christophe, both French famous cyclists, POUTRAIT created, at the beginning of the twentieth century, products under two new brands: LAPIZE and CHRISTOPHE.
A few years after the creation of AFA / POUTRAIT, another French industrialist, Mr. Sclaverand, invented and manufactured the first bicycle valve which took his name for decades before being called the French valve or Presta valve.”
Fast forward 100 years and the company is named Zefal, after their best selling product line. The Bike Hermit loves Zefal pumps. The Zefal Husky floor pump was the only one robust enough to hold up to the everyday requirements of a bike shop that fixed A LOT of flat tires. The Zefal HPX line is just as well built, and when you are in the middle of freakin’ Bolivia with a flat tire, you just want a pump that works.
Zefal says the pump is designed to fit vertically along the seat tube inside the frame and it is held in place by spring tension. One end of the pump is shaped to fit against the top tube snugly, without twisting, and the other end incorporates replaceable “wings” which get bracketed by the down tube and seat tube. That works fine except it eliminates the possibility of using a seat tube water bottle cage, which doesn’t make much sense, especially when many vintage bikes and many current touring bikes have a pump peg brazed onto the trailing side of the head tube. Zefal “declines all responsibility” whatever that means, for mounting the pump along the top tube.
However you want to mount it, here’s what you need to know:
–There are four sizes; 1,2,3 and 4
-The number 4 pump measures roughly 58 cm (22 3/4″) in length when compressed to the point where the handle just contacts the barrel. Applying more force compresses the spring inside the handle which bottoms out when the overall length of the pump reaches about 52 cm. (20 1/2″). The relative numbers for the number 3 pump are 52cm to 46cm, and for the number 2, 47cm to 41cm. and for the number 1, 42cm to 37cm
You will need to determine the correct size pump based on the inside dimensions of your bike frame parallel to the tube where the pump will mount.
PLEASE WATCH THIS TOO:
The long, slim barrel of these pumps puts a lot of air to the tires quickly and up to a claimed 160 PSI of pressure. The barrel, handle and the pump head are made of aluminum and the piston shaft is steel. The “wings” are made of hard plastic and one of those on my pump has broken, but I was pleased to discover that there are replacement parts for those. Replacements are also available for the metal cap and inner pieces of the head and for the rubber washer on the business end of the piston.
In addition, not that we recommend or endorse it, the Bike Hermit has found his pump to be an effective deterrent to persistent, chasing dogs. One well placed blow between the eyes usually makes them rethink their choices.