Categories: Accessories and GearReverenceTechnology

Reverence: Kuwahara Hirame Pump Head

The Kuwahara Hirame pump head

I pump my tires up every single day, and every day it is the only part of Cycling I don’t like. The act of pumping while holding the pump in place is itself a bit of a bummer, especially if you are trying to do it in your Cycling shoes because your brain is too small to contemplate doing it while you’re still wearing your Adilettes. But even under the best circumstances of pumping your tires with rubber soles, it is still just pumping. Up and down, up and down. Is the dial pointed at the right spot? Up and down, up and down. Yuck.

Ignoring all that, the worst part of pumping tires is actually connecting the pump to the valve stem in the first place. My old Silca pumps would always pop off under pressure. Infuriating; if there is one thing I can’t stand, it’s an inanimate object that refuses to obey my strictest orders. At one point I had a velcro strap with a hole in it that I wrapped around the tire to hold it on for me. Greatest pump ever, my ass. Other lever pump heads are so tight you’re likely to tear off your valve stem in the process of connecting or loosening it. Lezyne has the best mainstream solution with the screw-on head, combined with a lovely air-release button you can use to maximum woopie-cushion effect. If, however, you use valve extenders like I do, then it’s maddening to get a good seal on the devil and eventually you lose your patience and ruin the threads, making it as good as a Silca pump head.

Enter the Kuwahara Hirame pump head. @Oli flashed a photo of his a while back and I became immediately obsessed. I was also amazed at how expensive they were, which only served to deepen the fascination. Amazon’s checkout is so easy that I don’t even remember placing the order; all I remember is putting it in my shopping cart. Thusly I was amazed to find one of these little babies in my mailbox a while later.

We Keepers have a pact never to post a Reverence within 6 months of owning a product, but pacts are made to be broken. This thing is insane; I’ve only had it for about a month, and I’m in love with thing. I occasionally walk into the workshop just to look at it. Even when I have nothing whatsoever to pump up, I’ll just flip the lever back and forth and hold it in my hand a bit.

I don’t even hate pumping up my tires anymore. Connecting it is as easy as can be, it holds tight without stressing the valve, and it comes off just as simply.

Just, awesome.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

frank says:

Jun 20 2015 at 5:31 pm

@unversio

Google, genius.

@Gianni

If, however, you use valve extenders like I do, then it’s maddening to get a good seal on the devel and eventually you lose your patience and ruin the threads, making it as good as a Silca pump head.

Devel? Is that a typo or a cycling word I’ve never heard of. I hope it’s a typo. The different parts of a inflator stem deserve their own names, for sure.

FFS. Typo.
unversio says:

Jun 20 2015 at 6:12 pm

@frank

@unversio

Google, genius.

O, it was an impulse statement -- fuck it.
Ccos says:

Jun 20 2015 at 6:56 pm

Don't like pumping up your tires? Lordy, it's the first open door to obsessive compulsiveness: "shall the front tire be 92 or 95 psi today?" I myself have a Serfas pump which has provided a nice price to warranty ratio to warrant a second one (under warranty!). My Irish-German cheapness (they're cheap right?) has kept me from springing for that Sica model which requires a second mortgage (that and my fear of the VMH who occasionally reviews the books).

On a side note, I rode our local MS-150 today (tomorrow is canceled on account of "torrential rain" FFS) but I thought of a previous post by Brett asking how to deal with a guy who was otherwise cool but was a rolling rule violation (except "Bob" today was a complete douche bag and looks like a gigantic piece of upside down candy corn which has been vomited onto a bicycle, but otherwise is "cool"). My Asperger's can sometimes be hard to keep under wraps.
steelhead says:

Jun 20 2015 at 8:43 pm

Just ordered one of these pump heads from "Track Supermarket" for $55 US dollars along with some replacement rubber gaskets at 10 bucks for 3 . Thanks so much for this article Frank as I also pump up my tubs every day with half assed pump heads am very much looking forwards to a hassle free one .
steelhead says:

Jun 20 2015 at 8:54 pm

@steelhead

Just ordered one of these pump heads from “Track Supermarket” for $55 US dollars along with some replacement rubber gaskets at 10 bucks for 3 . Thanks so much for this article Frank as I also pump up my tubs every day with half assed pump heads am very much looking forward to a hassle free one .
pistard says:

Jun 20 2015 at 10:42 pm

I left a Hirame head sitting on my desk at work for a couple weeks while it waited for a new pump. Didn't think anything of it at the time, but apparently it made the wrong impression on some (non cycling) colleagues and clients. Finally twigged when one asked about the fancy hash pipe...
tessar says:

Jun 21 2015 at 5:16 am
@frank

I fear I may have opened a new level of expenses, but have you considered Silca's valve-extenders? These things do two things to your bike:
1. Neither leak nor unthread (even with Lezyne heads), which is their primary purpose other than extending
2. Obey the Principle of Silence better than any other extender on the market thanks to elastomers on the ends
I've transferred mine twice already and they still hold function.
Joe says:

Jun 21 2015 at 9:16 am

Adilettes? Shower shoes are for wearing in the shower. I believe they fell out of favor/favour as pre/apre racewear last century. For fuck's sake, color matched/team-issue running shoes are now correct.

And the socks and sandals look was always too granola and tie-dye anyway.
frank says:

Jun 21 2015 at 10:31 am

@Joe

More than one way to skin a cat.
joe says:

Jun 21 2015 at 3:32 pm

@frank

very nice!