Keeping your tyres pumped up to the recommended tyre pressure is a great way to prevent punctures. However, it’s often hard to reach the required pressure if you are using only a hand pump.
Fortunately, Cyclehoop have been working on installing a limited number of public bike pumps in London. The below map shows you where you can find your nearest one:
View Public Bike Pumps in a larger map
It is hopeful that the scheme will expand with support from local councils. Another interesting scheme is the one run in Suffolk where local pubs are being asked to store puncture repair kits.
Cool scheme.
All through Germany there are inner tube vending machines for those times you are short and all the stores are shut. Another scheme that could easily work in the UK.
According to this map, the majority of keen cyclists must live, or at least frequent, in east London… that’s really interesting.
I believe BikeWorks on Cambridge Heath Road have a pump outside you can use. I saw one chained up to a bike stand last time I was there.
Very good idea. Do they have pressure gauges?
Yes. I saw one yesterday in Bricklane market.
Evans in High Holbourn has a pump chained to the rack outside
Hopefully this’ll come across as a helpful suggestion rather than a grouch, but if the people who made the map read this, can they please give better descriptions of where the pumps are? For example, the one in Bromley is “next to the cycle shelter”, but the symbol is so big it could be anywhere from Bromley South to Sundridge Park. Also, I’ve noticed that Evans in The Cut has a pump available outside – perhaps it’s something all Evanses do.
As with most maps that have icons you just have to zoom in to the one you want. The icons stay the same size. If the map was all the UK, each icon would cover quite a bit of the country.
Good point Brian. I’m guessing, but I think that the pump in Bromley is likely to be beside the cycle shelters at Bromley South railway station.
What a great idea, hopefully these will appear West Dulwich way in due course. Cloud 9 Cycles (www.cloud9cycles.com) on Store Street have a pump outside as well which I’m forever using.
Our communal secure bike shed at work has a Joe Blow on a chain which is very handy.
I once saw a stand with a bike pump and a whole array of other useful bike tools (Allen keys, tyre levers, screwdriver etc) on steel cables. It was in Hoboken, New Jersey, of all places! Very handy indeed.
I think people really need to become aware of how important it is to have properly inflated tyres. Far more efficient, and less vulnerable to punctures. Occasionally I’ll gently point it out to people whose tyres are clearly about to reach atmospheric pressure!
Yeah the Evans at London Bridge has a pump outside as well.
Great idea. Presumably the patchy distribution reflects councils which have put money into the scheme so far?
When I looked at the one in Kennington it was only for schraeder valve fitting!
Great idea. The village shop at Corhampton, Hampshire has puncture repair kits and Real Lancashire Eccles Cakes.
All of the Evans shops have a pump that they will let you use. Majority of them are chained up outside the shop. I think I’ve seen a couple where there isn’t space in the street, so they have them just inside the door. Off the top of my head, Crouch End and Margaret Street are just inside the store.
Just zoom in close to pinpoint the ‘almost’ precise location. Alternatively, just go to street-view and click on each location. Would help if they had a slightly better description though. Some of them don’t have descriptions at all.
Carolyn, (and anyone else who was wondering), these pumps have ‘intelligent’ heads so they fit both Schraeder/ car-type and Presta valves. One hole for both types. Anything else would alienate a large part of the cycling population. I used the one at Kennington a while back and my bike has lovely slim Presta valves 🙂 It worked great.
http://www.cyclehoop.com/products/public-bicycle-pump
I just used one of these pumps this morning and was amazed to see a) how much under the recommended pressure my tyres were and b) what a difference inflating the tyres to the recommended pressure made to the speed and handling of my bike. It really was quite noticeable
First aid for my tires, please! Is a very good idea
Such a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
The public pump at the corner of Cable street and Dock Street, E1 seems not to be working. Can’t find any reference as to who maintains them, ie who to tell!
What’s the source of the location data, this website? Theres one opposite east Croydon station (along with tools n hire locker) but not shown here – – cyclehoops website doesn’t show it either (guessing theyre a brand tho mainly central ldn?)
Oh this is cyclehoop map…yet shows Bromley as having one which their website didn’t seem to
The hackney and broadway market ones are broken
Kennington one (outside Three Stags Pub) is broken.
There’s a really good pump and repair station with all necessary tools on the south side of IKEA in Greenwich.
Neither of the pumps shown in Brixton are there??
The pump in the London wall car park is broken and completely deflated my tyre so I had to walk miles with a bike in a worse state than it was before.
It should be removed from the map unless repaired. Absolutely shocking wayfinding to get to it too.