Mini pumps

I see! But with a mini-pump? Is the Topeak Pocket Rocket really that capable? I have my doubts...

No idea, I've never tried one. Sorry, may have misunderstood your question as about such high tyre pressures in general. If it's for a mini pump, it may be a marketing boast. Or just a notional top performance stat that in practice is never used.

If it's for a mini pump, it may be a marketing boast.

WTF?!? Oliver, you mean to tell me that sometimes marketing and advertising people bend the truth in an attempt to sell stuff to people? As an innocent consumer I find this notion utterly abhorrent! How very dare they!

Yours,

Confounded of Camberwell

WTF?!? Oliver, you mean to tell me that sometimes marketing and advertising people bend the truth in an attempt to sell stuff to people? As an innocent consumer I find this notion utterly abhorrent! How very dare they!

Yours,

Confounded of Camberwell

Yesterday I finally bought a mini-ish pump that I feel happy with. Its the Specialized WindPipe. Its a small frame-mountable tyre and shocks pump. It does come with a guage (yes hippy, you're probably right about it breaking or going wrong), but since it was designed to pump suspensions on bikes also, I figured it would be reasonably accurate. It pumps to 220psi, and therefore I would never worry about repairing at roadside, and riding off with a too low pressure. It was £30 (I bought it at Ev*ns), which was double what other good mini-pumps cost, but it does feel pretty heavy duty, so I'm more comfortable with the cost. I'll give some feedback after I've used it.

I flatted on the way up to the Eilidh Memorial Ride, and for the first time since I bought it, I had to pump a tyre fully using my Specialized WindPipe. Normally I pump at home with my SKS TP11 (rated 232psi). I pumped my Maxxis ReFuse to 90psi with little effort. Then I switched to the High Pressure setting, and pumped to 105psi with even less effort than before. The trade-off is that on the latter setting, the air is pumped in, in very small quantities. It took 3-4 times as long to pump in the last 15psi, as the previous 90psi.

A really good little pump, and strong too (rated 220psi). Not as tiny as some others in this category.

EDITED: 220psi, not 300psi.

I'll stick my oar in with a vote for the wrench force mini road, and some words about a couple of others:

Blackburn airstick

I had one of these short fat double-acting pumps, and it worked well until its valve springs rusted. They compress air on both the in and the out parts of the stroke. Air enters down the shaft from the handle to the plunger where ring valves allow it out to the chambers on either side of the plunger. Air compressed by the out stroke makes its way to the head through the double skin that makes these pumps quite fat for the amount of air they move. The out stroke is almost as hard as the in stroke, something i found slightly awkward. I liked the pivoted handle.

Specialized air tool

Smart looking, single acting pumps. The slim bodies of the road and mini road versions promise high pressures. I've used and dismantled the road version, and looked closely at the mini road ones in shops.

The mechanism for locking the handle to the body for storage interferes with pushing the piston all the way when pumping. This makes them quite inefficient at high pressures as a significant volume of compressed air is wasted on each stroke. This can be fixed by removing the locking tabs if you intend to keep the pump in your bag.

I liked the slimmness and long stroke of the road air tool, but, without a compression lever, i found its rubber connector fiddly and unreliable.

The decals seem to be soluble in sweat and suncream.

Wrenchforce mini road

A slim pump with a slightly 'value' appearance. Double acting, but with roughly the opposite air flow to the backburn pumps, and the better for it. Air enters through valves at both ends of the cylinder, and ring valves on the plunger allow air into the shaft, from where it flows down a thin axial pipe to reach the head of the pump. This is a slimmer arrangement than the blackburn, and there are no springs to rust. The out stroke is always significantly easier than the instroke, partly because the volume of the shaft into which the air is being forced is increasing as the axial pipe is being withdrawn from it. I think the stroke length is a little longer than the blackburn i had too.

Perhaps the out stroke is so easy as to not be worth the complexity, but in practice i've found this pump effective and (so far) reliable, and the internal design is much neater than the blackburn.

This pump has a pivoting handle like the blackburn, and a connector with a compression lever that rattles. I fixed the rattle with an elastic band, and this i my favourite pump so far.

I know it's not "mini" as such, but what's wrong a Zefal HPX? Cheap, works beautifully, lasts forever and provided you buy the right size mounts neatly to the frame without any zip tie/velcro mingingness.

I flatted on the way up to the Eilidh Memorial Ride, and for the first time since I bought it, I had to pump a tyre fully using my Specialized WindPipe. Normally I pump at home with my SKS TP11 (rated 232psi). I pumped my Maxxis ReFuse to 90psi with little effort. Then I switched to the High Pressure setting, and pumped to 105psi with even less effort than before. The trade-off is that on the latter setting, the air is pumped in, in very small quantities. It took 3-4 times as long to pump in the last 15psi, as the previous 90psi.

A really good little pump, and strong too (rated 300psi). Not as tiny as some others in this category.

ta for that, that pump sound like a great idea to have in a small flat without requiring a track pump to push it above 100psi, the one we have take up a lots of space in the closet!

I know it's not "mini" as such, but what's wrong a Zefal HPX? Cheap, works beautifully, lasts forever and provided you buy the right size mounts neatly to the frame without any zip tie/velcro mingingness.

+1 frame fit pumps ftw

ta for that, that pump sound like a great idea to have in a small flat without requiring a track pump to push it above 100psi, the one we have take up a lots of space in the closet!

Ed, if space is the issue, maybe the CycleAir pump might be good. It pumps to 120psi, and should easily fit under your bed, below the sink, at the side of the fridge, etc, etc, etc.

For me, it has to be a full track pump at home, and a good mini-pump in the bag.

But the Specialized WindPipe is one of a few Mini-pumps that pump to 150psi or more, and could be a substitute for a track pump. But it is so much easier to pump with a track pump, that anything else just seems too much effort. My 2p.

i thought this is as good a place as any to post this but i fount that the Specialized air tool fits nicely in the seat post.
Pictures say all really, and the allen key is all i need to get to it.
I quite like the idea of having it tucked away at all times.

Ed, if space is the issue, maybe the CycleAir pump might be good. It pumps to 120psi, and should easily fit under your bed, below the sink, at the side of the fridge, etc, etc, etc.

For me, it has to be a full track pump at home, and a good mini-pump in the bag.

But the Specialized WindPipe is one of a few Mini-pumps that pump to 150psi or more, and could be a substitute for a track pump. But it is so much easier to pump with a track pump, that anything else just seems too much effort. My 2p.

well, both me and the missus bike only need to be pumped at 100psi, so that pump is idea for that plus having a LBS within our doorsteps, we can just pop round and ask them to borrow a big pump if we need (very unlikely) to pump the tyres above 120psi, if the Specialized can pump up to 150psi, then pumping to 100psi shouldn't be exactly Everest, let alone the hill of Surrey.

I have yet to use a good mini pump that gets my tyres above 100psi, so can anyone recommend one? CO2 cartridges look really wasteful, so they're out the window.

Small, light(ish), less than £30. 100psi (actually pumps to that rather than the manufacturer claiming so), 140psi would be nice :P

Mini-Pumps List: (all pumping to 160psi, and some to 300psi or more)

Blackburn Mini Air Stick SL - ??mm, 58gr, 160psi
http://www.blackburndesign.com/road_pumps.html
Blackburn Mini Air Stick Two Stage - ??mm, 84gr, 160psi
http://www.blackburndesign.com/road_pumps.html
Blackburn Air Stick - ??mm, 160gr, 160psi
http://www.blackburndesign.com/road_pumps.html

Lezyne Shock Drive - 205mm, 84gr, 300psi
http://www.lezyne.com/index.php/products/hand-pumps/shock-drive.html
Lezyne Road Drive - 216mm (med), 90gr (med), 160psi
http://www.lezyne.com/index.php/products/hand-pumps/road-drive-m.html
Lezyne Carbon Road Drive - 216mm (med), 88gr (med), 160psi
http://www.lezyne.com/index.php/products/hand-pumps/carbon-road-drvie-m.html
Lezyne Micro Floor Drive HP - 300mm, 160gr, 160psi
http://www.lezyne.com/index.php/products/hand-pumps/micro-floor-drive-hp.html
Lezyne Micro Floor Drive HPG with gauge - 300mm, 192gr, 160psi
http://www.lezyne.com/index.php/products/hand-pumps/micro-floor-drive-hpg.html

SKS Suspension Air Mechanic Shock - 270mm, 230gr, 360psi
http://www.sks-germany.com/sks.php?l=en&a=product&i=1375250000

Specialized WindPipe Shock - ??mm, ??gr, 220psi
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=42020&eid=384

Topeak Mini Morph - 260mm, 170gr, 160psi
http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/MiniMorph
Topeak Micro Rocket CB - 160mm, 55gr, 160psi
http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/MicroRocketCB
Topeak Turbo Morph - 322mm, 280gr, 160psi
http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/TurboMorphG
Topeak Pocket Shock Dx W/gauge - 215mm, 170gr, 300psi
http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/PocketShockDXG
Topeak Propshock - 185mm, 170gr, 300psi
http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/PropShock
Topeak Micro Rocket CBT - 200mm, 70gr, 160psi
http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/MicroRocketCBT
Topeak Master Blaster Harpoon DX - 259mm, 215gr, 160psi
http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/HarpoonDX
Topeak Master Blaster Einstein DX - 243mm, 210gr, 160psi
http://www.topeak.com/products/Mini-Pumps/EinsteinDX

Something quite different:

Cyclaire Plus
http://www.cyclaire.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26
http://www.timani-ltd.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_3&products_id=8&zenid=22fbf1e5166360de754bb599338ced1d

19 Attachments

I've got the Topeak Mini Morph (see GA2G's post) which is excellent,

Sturdy, has a footrest, tube connection to minimise ripping off the valve.

Think it cost me about £20, and it's pretty small.

Its great and comes with a saddlebag. You can also buy replacement parts (the rubber bits which connect to the valve) when its worn, which is always a good sign that something is built with longterm durability in mind. I'd say its better than a track pump for someone with limited strength too, as you can use your whole body instead of just your arms to operate it.

I've used one of these & it really does work well

im a fan of my topeak, easily gets to full pressure, its a shame it doesnt have a pressure guage though.

a guy in waterloo evans recommened it to my bro and i ended up getting one as well. aparently he had a sick titanium fixed.

Lezyne Pressure Drive - nicely made, nice looking, compact and even blows tyres up as well...

I fell out of love with my Blackburn Air Stik when the postman brought this:

It's a 16cm-long Air Stik SL, also made by Blackburn. The whole pump fits inside a jersey pocket, so there's no chance of it jumping out when you go over a bump. 15 quid from eBay, 20 from most shops. You can inflate a tyre from empty to rideable in jig time - maybe no' up to 120psi, right enough, but certainly hard enough that it doesn't feel spongy. Presta only. Also available in white.

Got a spare crank bro power pro if anyone's interested? like the one posted above^

Another recommendation is the Pocket Rocket DX, not too big, but neither too small to make it diffcuilt to pump up to 100psi;

a really nice finish too, tempted to get the carbon fibre version but for a simple pump a bit over my station.

I fell out of love with my Blackburn Air Stik when the postman brought this:

It's a 16cm-long Air Stik SL, also made by Blackburn. The whole pump fits inside a jersey pocket, so there's no chance of it jumping out when you go over a bump. 15 quid from eBay, 20 from most shops. You can inflate a tyre from empty to rideable in jig time - maybe no' up to 120psi, right enough, but certainly hard enough that it doesn't feel spongy. Presta only. Also available in white.

I've got a spare virtually unused one of these (with frame mount). Brought it as an emergency pump but my brother then brought me a Lezyne Pressure Drive which I marginally prefer, it's not that it's a better pump, just I find it easier to handle a slightly bigger pump. Just my personal preference :) I want one of Lezyne's pen gauges to go with the Pressure Drive, so would happily trade my Air Stik SL for one if anyone's interested. Or make me an offer.

I've used one of these & it really does work well

Agreed, that it looks really handy, but I spoke to some shop staff about it, and they said it does work exactly as advertised - though its slow in operation. The technology behind it is brilliant though.

For those that don't know this item; it works by pulling the handle/cord OUT, and on the inward rewind stroke, it generates power to pump air out. No pushing involved.

I also have a spare Cyclaire, liked the idea of this, but to be honest never got on with it, so it now just sits in my desk at work in case of dire emergency. So happy to accept offers or a swap for a Lezyne Pen Gauge for this as well. Pm me if interested.

No offers for my Parker pen yet?!

No offers for my Parker pen yet?!

It is a very fine Parker pen.

Lezyne Pressure Drive Mini Pump small. Very good so far. One problem - it has rubber seals and when I have it in a jersey pocket, body heat makes it bigger and longer (not sure about harder!). Unplug the end and it remains calm but ready.

I thought I'd relay this to the forum.

I had a shit of a day with punctures, and failing tubes, and this is what happened.

I rode through some broken glass, that I saw too late, and punctured the rear. Got out my spare tube and changed it. Inflated with my Specialized Windpipe Shock. I pumped to 80psi with ease on the LOW setting, then continued to 120psi on the HIGH setting. There is NO effort in adding this extra air pressure. It feels similar to just beginning to pump up a flat tyre, when there is almost no resistance.

It does take a long time, but the high pressure is very easily achieved. Once I was on my way, I found out the valve on the replacement tube was faulty, and leaking. No more spares, meant walking home. Two and a half hours of lovely Sunday morning walking. Wonderful. Shit.

Anyway, I decided, with no more replacement tubes, I'd get the Capo 5 ready for later. I haven't been on the Capo in many months. Since winter actually. So I inflated the front to 120psi (Specialized Pro Quick Step). The rear, I inflated to 125psi, easily. Then the unthinkable happened.

The nozzle attachment when unscrewed, totally removed the tube stem. Instant deflation. All that effort wasted. I re-pumped using my slightly defective SKS TK1, but learnt that if the tube stem isn't extremely well secured, the Windpipe Shock will detach it.

But, as a test, it shows, that it pumps fast in LOW, and is good; then even better in HIGH setting. But it does take quite a long time to pump to high settings, but the effort is not even noticed.

Oh yes, the Specialized Pro Quick Step, is noticably faster than the Maxxis ReFuse, when both pumped to 120psi.