Pocketable Mini Pump?

[timsmcm]

Originally Posted by sitzmark

Unless riding solo in the boonies I've gone to a chuck and a couple of CO2 cartridges.

Used to carry a Genuine Innovations combo CO2 Inflator/pump, which actually worked well for being 7in long. Clamps onto a presta and stays there while pumping - or screw a CO2 on and use it as an inflator. CO2 cart attached to opposite end makes a good pump handle (as pictured). Not a precision tool, but is 10-11 years old and still works like new. Light, easy to pocket/snap in cage bracket, and reliable enough for emergency backup. When carrying just a couple of CO2's seems "risky" I will take this along - I know it and a patch kit will get me out of a jamb in the middle of nowhere. That said, if your reality is that you puncture frequently and ride in the middle of nowhere, you might want something more substantial.




Think they're out of production now but no doubt someone still makes something similar.

Do you people that have these like it in aluminum or carbon (plastic I'm guessing ). I have seen them for sale in both versions.

[Wayne77]

Relating to my Topeak Race Rocket recommendation earlier in the thread. Ironically, I was out on a ride this morning and the gasket on the hose end failed. Oh well, it was pretty old... Time for a new one!

This looks interesting - One Up Components EDC pump . mini pump that somehow also fits a multi tool and a tire repair kit. Has anyone tried it?

[froze]

CO2 isn't the idea way of inflating tires unless your racing. First of all CO2 cost money, maybe not a lot but the cost is there just to have air when a pump can do it for free. You also have to remember to buy more when you do use a cart. And what happens if by some very odd chance you have more than one or even two flats on a ride or somehow waste a cart because you screwed up? oops no air. You then have to contend with the wasted carts which makes them environmentally unfriendly, of course you could do what most cyclist that carry CO2 do and that's toss the spent carts on the side of the road!! that really sucks but they do it. Also CO2 air doesn't stay inside the tube like regular air does, it bleeds out about 40 psi in 24 hours, this means when you get home ideally you want to purge the tube of all CO2 and repump regular air back into it, I'm not into doing things twice. Also they don't work as well with large tires, it would take 2 small carts to do larger tires. But CO2 is necessary if you're using tubeless tires. I have rode up to several people over the years that were using CO2 and ran out of carts and I had to stop to let them use my pump, so maybe if you're lucking someone might lend you hand if you should run out of air.

Of course you could get a hybrid system that not only uses CO2 but can also be used as a pump, but you still have all the problems I mentioned above.

But there is also a situation with mini pumps that manufactures falsely advertise about. Most manufactures will proudly put on the pump packaging that their pump can reach 160 psi...NO THEY CAN'T! I have yet to see anyone get north of 125 psi even with the best mini pumps not alone 160. And if someone here has a mini that can get that I high I like to see a video of them doing so. About 98%, maybe even 99% of the mini pumps on the market won't get above 75 maybe 80 psi, this increases your chances of getting a pinch flat unless you're on tubeless. When I brought this up to my LBS who doesn't have any mini that will reach my regular riding pressure, they said they're intended to get you home...get me home? I'm on a freaking ride and I'm not going to quit my ride early and turn around to go home because of a flat! that's just stupid in my mind.

So the pumps I'm going to mention I know will reach 100 to even 110 psi because I own these pumps and those are the pressures I use, there are couple that I do not own but supposedly according to reviews they do but I can't vouch for those. One of the pumps that I have is no longer made and that's the SKS Wese Carbon Raceday pump, it's a direct connected pump and it worked quite well, it's the least effective of the others I'm going to mention but at least it would get me to 100 and 110 howbeit with the most amount of strokes and quite a bit of muscle exertion. The next two are still on the market. I have Topeak RaceRocket HP, this one will get me to 110 but it takes more strokes and and exertion than the next pump, this pump is a hose pump which in today's world of tubes lacking grommets to protect the valve stem is important as long as you keep slack in the hose. Most people don't know how to use a mini pump and as the pressure goes up so does the exertion level and people than start to "saw" the pump back and forth which stress the valve stem base and rips it destroying the tube, if you have a hose pump and keep some slack in the hose any sawing you might be doing will be negated by the hose. The next pump is a Lezyne Road Drive, this is the best of any mini pump on the market with one catch...they make it in 3 sizes, I have the large size and it can get to 110 easier than the others I mentioned so far, but if you go with one of the smaller sizes especially the smallest I seriously doubt the smallest one would get to 100psi, and the mid size one? I'm not sure, it may reach 100 but if it does it could be very difficult to do.

Ones that I heard that can reach 100 is the Birzman Velocity which looks well made; the Airace Mini Veloce Road pump; the Silca Tattico, this one is odd because I read one review that said it can reach 100 and another said it would take Hercules to get it to 100 so I'm not sure about that one.

There is another pump on the market that really isn't a true mini even though they classify it as one, it's more of a half frame pump, and that's the Topeak Road Morph G, that pump is the easiest to get to 110 of all the pumps I mentioned so far, but of course it should be because it's very large not to mention ungainly looking; I do own that pump and I can attest to it's abilities but I only used it on my touring bike because it was so large and ugly as hell it looked stupid on my road bikes, but I no longer use it because the bracketing system that comes with it did not hold the pump well and it moved all over the frame annoying the crap out of me, so for the touring bike I bought a Zefal HPX full size frame pump recently. Because the tires on the touring bike are larger than road tires I didn't want to be pumping like a mad baffone for an hour trying to fill a large tire with a mini, and the Zefal holds to the frame far better than the Road Morph could even dream about doing, not to mention the Zefal looks better; and the Zefal actually takes less strokes to fill the larger tires than the Topeak, did but the Topeak had fold out foot peg and handle that make it work like a mini floor pump but on uneven surfaces that advantage disappeared.

I have another pump to that will reach 110 easily and that's the Silca Impero in yellow with the Campy head, but that one is a classic pump and it's used now for show in my library bookcase so as not to damage it. I also have an odd duck pump I found, it's for schrader only and is made of steel, but it's small, and it has a round gauge, not sure who made it but it has Harley Davidson on it, not sure why someone would want to spend an hour pumping a motorcycle tire with it, maybe that's why it was left on the side of the road!

[sitzmark]

Originally Posted by timsmcm

Do you people that have these like it in aluminum or carbon (plastic I'm guessing ). I have seen them for sale in both versions.

Mine are carbon, but I suspect it might be "carbon-wrapped" aluminum matrix. Haven't disassembled one to know for sure, but they do resonate with a metallic note when tapped and not a "clunk" like I would expect from an all carbon tube. There is definitely a resin/plastic exterior to whatever generates the 3k pattern underneath.

If there is a weight penalty with one vs the other, then I would personally chose the lighter, but the difference is most likely not big if there is one.

[timsmcm]

I should not have done it but I did.
https://www.oneupcomponents.com/products/edc-pump
Will let everyone know how it works out after some time with it.

[kurto]

Originally Posted by froze

Ones that I heard that can reach 100 is the Birzman Velocity which looks well made; the Airace Mini Veloce Road pump; the Silca Tattico, this one is odd because I read one review that said it can reach 100 and another said it would take Hercules to get it to 100 so I'm not sure about that one.

I ended up getting a Birzman Velocity Apogee on sale from CC for $25. One of my friends has a large Birzman pump with the same head, and it's cool engineering. Thus far, it appears very well made, works nicely, and is small AF. I haven't had the need to go for 100psi, but it took a 35mm gravelking to 45psi without me wanting to kill myself. So far so good.

[chiasticon]

Originally Posted by kurto

I recently got a new bike, and my frame pump didn't fit

you bought the wrong bike.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by froze

CO2 isn't the idea way of inflating tires unless your racing. First of all CO2 cost money, maybe not a lot but the cost is there just to have air when a pump can do it for free. You also have to remember to buy more when you do use a cart. And what happens if by some very odd chance you have more than one or even two flats on a ride or somehow waste a cart because you screwed up? oops no air. You then have to contend with the wasted carts which makes them environmentally unfriendly, of course you could do what most cyclist that carry CO2 do and that's toss the spent carts on the side of the road!! that really sucks but they do it. Also CO2 air doesn't stay inside the tube like regular air does, it bleeds out about 40 psi in 24 hours, this means when you get home ideally you want to purge the tube of all CO2 and repump regular air back into it, I'm not into doing things twice. Also they don't work as well with large tires, it would take 2 small carts to do larger tires. But CO2 is necessary if you're using tubeless tires. I have rode up to several people over the years that were using CO2 and ran out of carts and I had to stop to let them use my pump, so maybe if you're lucking someone might lend you hand if you should run out of air.



Of course you could get a hybrid system that not only uses CO2 but can also be used as a pump, but you still have all the problems I mentioned above.



But there is also a situation with mini pumps that manufactures falsely advertise about. Most manufactures will proudly put on the pump packaging that their pump can reach 160 psi...NO THEY CAN'T! I have yet to see anyone get north of 125 psi even with the best mini pumps not alone 160. And if someone here has a mini that can get that I high I like to see a video of them doing so. About 98%, maybe even 99% of the mini pumps on the market won't get above 75 maybe 80 psi, this increases your chances of getting a pinch flat unless you're on tubeless. When I brought this up to my LBS who doesn't have any mini that will reach my regular riding pressure, they said they're intended to get you home...get me home? I'm on a freaking ride and I'm not going to quit my ride early and turn around to go home because of a flat! that's just stupid in my mind.



So the pumps I'm going to mention I know will reach 100 to even 110 psi because I own these pumps and those are the pressures I use, there are couple that I do not own but supposedly according to reviews they do but I can't vouch for those. One of the pumps that I have is no longer made and that's the SKS Wese Carbon Raceday pump, it's a direct connected pump and it worked quite well, it's the least effective of the others I'm going to mention but at least it would get me to 100 and 110 howbeit with the most amount of strokes and quite a bit of muscle exertion. The next two are still on the market. I have Topeak RaceRocket HP, this one will get me to 110 but it takes more strokes and and exertion than the next pump, this pump is a hose pump which in today's world of tubes lacking grommets to protect the valve stem is important as long as you keep slack in the hose. Most people don't know how to use a mini pump and as the pressure goes up so does the exertion level and people than start to "saw" the pump back and forth which stress the valve stem base and rips it destroying the tube, if you have a hose pump and keep some slack in the hose any sawing you might be doing will be negated by the hose. The next pump is a Lezyne Road Drive, this is the best of any mini pump on the market with one catch...they make it in 3 sizes, I have the large size and it can get to 110 easier than the others I mentioned so far, but if you go with one of the smaller sizes especially the smallest I seriously doubt the smallest one would get to 100psi, and the mid size one? I'm not sure, it may reach 100 but if it does it could be very difficult to do.



Ones that I heard that can reach 100 is the Birzman Velocity which looks well made; the Airace Mini Veloce Road pump; the Silca Tattico, this one is odd because I read one review that said it can reach 100 and another said it would take Hercules to get it to 100 so I'm not sure about that one.



There is another pump on the market that really isn't a true mini even though they classify it as one, it's more of a half frame pump, and that's the Topeak Road Morph G, that pump is the easiest to get to 110 of all the pumps I mentioned so far, but of course it should be because it's very large not to mention ungainly looking; I do own that pump and I can attest to it's abilities but I only used it on my touring bike because it was so large and ugly as hell it looked stupid on my road bikes, but I no longer use it because the bracketing system that comes with it did not hold the pump well and it moved all over the frame annoying the crap out of me, so for the touring bike I bought a Zefal HPX full size frame pump recently. Because the tires on the touring bike are larger than road tires I didn't want to be pumping like a mad baffone for an hour trying to fill a large tire with a mini, and the Zefal holds to the frame far better than the Road Morph could even dream about doing, not to mention the Zefal looks better; and the Zefal actually takes less strokes to fill the larger tires than the Topeak, did but the Topeak had fold out foot peg and handle that make it work like a mini floor pump but on uneven surfaces that advantage disappeared.



I have another pump to that will reach 110 easily and that's the Silca Impero in yellow with the Campy head, but that one is a classic pump and it's used now for show in my library bookcase so as not to damage it. I also have an odd duck pump I found, it's for schrader only and is made of steel, but it's small, and it has a round gauge, not sure who made it but it has Harley Davidson on it, not sure why someone would want to spend an hour pumping a motorcycle tire with it, maybe that's why it was left on the side of the road!

Dude, great post until you got to the Silca Impero. I hate that pump with a passion. You haven't lived until the guts of the pump blow out on you on a 100 degree day when your presta valve sticks open because the stupid pump lacks a check valve. You also must be very strong because the most I could manage is 90 psi at the limit of my strength.

[paredown]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Dude, great post until you got to the Silca Impero. I hate that pump with a passion. You haven't lived until the guts of the pump blow out on you on a 100 degree day when your presta valve sticks open because the stupid pump lacks a check valve. You also must be very strong because the most I could manage is 90 psi at the limit of my strength.

I think everyone did that at least once BITD--I remember doing repairs on the barrels to hold them together after they went rocketing across the room, or the road...

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by Wayne77

Relating to my Topeak Race Rocket recommendation earlier in the thread. Ironically, I was out on a ride this morning and the gasket on the hose end failed. Oh well, it was pretty old... Time for a new one!

This looks interesting - One Up Components EDC pump . mini pump that somehow also fits a multi tool and a tire repair kit. Has anyone tried it?

Long term review on Bikepacking.com today

[froze]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Dude, great post until you got to the Silca Impero. I hate that pump with a passion. You haven't lived until the guts of the pump blow out on you on a 100 degree day when your presta valve sticks open because the stupid pump lacks a check valve. You also must be very strong because the most I could manage is 90 psi at the limit of my strength.

No I'm not super strong, my pump was bought in 1984 and back in those days tires weren't made as good as they are today so I used it quite a bit, plus I raced with it, it never failed me obviously because I still have it though I haven't used it since the advent of mini pumps which was around 1989 or 90, so I got one of those and retired the Silca...but the mini's back then sucked but I did find one that would get me to 95 and that was a Torelli (can't recall the model) but even though it was tiny it actually worked though it took nearly 400 strokes to get to 95, and it was the only mini I found that would work for many years until the last 8 years or so when Lezyne came out with their Road Drive mini.

Anyway I did use my Silca today but I think the leather plunger is dried up from years of non use and dry California environment that it lived in for nearly 20 years, I did manage to get 45 psi out of it but air was leaking past the plunger; I know parts are available but I'm not interested in using it. Also keep in mind that when that Silca Impero came out it became the most widely used pump in the world even among when pro racers that had to fix their own flats in races (oh the horror of it! I wish they would go back to that), it would have never became so popular if problems plagued it.

The check valve issue just wasn't an issue, the reason you had the problem you had was that you pushed it on to far and allowed the bottom of the chuck to depress the valve core and depending on how high of a psi you got to would depend if the plunger blew out the back, this was the fault of the user not the pump. That pump relied on the presta valve's built in check valve to operate and when you cram on the head it defeated and sometimes broke the built in check valve in the presta valve. I can't recall how I learned not to put the chuck all the way on, not sure if the instructions said that or the LBS told me, but I think it must have been in the instructions because not that many of those pumps blew so people must of known how to use them, I doubt every LBS would tell them. The other thing that happened to them was because some people didn't deliver a straight stroke with the handle would bend the main barrel in the pumping process when pressure got to higher levels splitting the barrel.

Just so you know, the Silca Impero was made to pump up tubular tires, it wasn't uncommon for these tires to reach 140 psi, the Silca could do that, but by the time I bought my pump I had quit using tubs and gone to clinchers to race on and I had to put 115 psi in the rear tire (this was in the day when 20mm tires were thought to be the fastest, that along with my weight back then of 150 to 155 is why I used 115).

It's the same sort of thing that happens to people to day with minis who "saw" their pumps at higher pressure and rip valve stems from tubes. I had a SKS Puro that blew out the back in it's maiden pumping voyage, so this can happen to modern pumps.

I did live in So California and used it in "cold" (cold for S Calif! around 40) and of course days of being over 100 degrees. I've never had any presta valve sticking open no matter what pump I've ever used in over 40 years dealing with Presta valves UNLESS like with Slime brand tube I tried the presta valve cores kept bending which would release air, those were the crappiest tubes I've ever used, the valve stem would only last about a dozen pumpings even with a floor pump and the valve would bend and thus stick.

In fact I think the older presta valves from the 80's and 90's were designed a bit more robust than they are today.

[froze]

Originally Posted by kurto

I ended up getting a Birzman Velocity Apogee on sale from CC for $25. One of my friends has a large Birzman pump with the same head, and it's cool engineering. Thus far, it appears very well made, works nicely, and is small AF. I haven't had the need to go for 100psi, but it took a 35mm gravelking to 45psi without me wanting to kill myself. So far so good.

Let us know if the pump will get to 110 psi so I can add that to my list of hits or no hits, LOL!!! From what I've read it won't get above 80, but they may have changed it since the review I read came out, so try it out and let us know please.

I actually own a Birzman (I call it Birdman) Maha Apogee IV floor pump. Initially I had some issues with the head, the rubber rings kept popping out when I went to disengage the head from the valve, but after I got the third one, which was redesigned by Birdman) it works like a charm. I like this pump because all the other pumps in this price range use plastic chucks and a shorter hose, this pump seems to be really a nice pump for the money. I was going to buy the kit plus a new presta chuck to rebuild my old Silca track pump but the kit cost ($140 including chuck) more than the Birdman (cost $32 on sale) so I thought well I'll try it and if doesn't last long I'll just buy the rebuild kit/presta chuck and forget about it.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by froze

No I'm not super strong, my pump was bought in 1984 and back in those days tires weren't made as good as they are today so I used it quite a bit, plus I raced with it, it never failed me obviously because I still have it though I haven't used it since the advent of mini pumps which was around 1989 or 90, so I got one of those and retired the Silca...but the mini's back then sucked but I did find one that would get me to 95 and that was a Torelli (can't recall the model) but even though it was tiny it actually worked though it took nearly 400 strokes to get to 95, and it was the only mini I found that would work for many years until the last 8 years or so when Lezyne came out with their Road Drive mini.



Anyway I did use my Silca today but I think the leather plunger is dried up from years of non use and dry California environment that it lived in for nearly 20 years, I did manage to get 45 psi out of it but air was leaking past the plunger; I know parts are available but I'm not interested in using it. Also keep in mind that when that Silca Impero came out it became the most widely used pump in the world even among when pro racers that had to fix their own flats in races (oh the horror of it! I wish they would go back to that), it would have never became so popular if problems plagued it.



The check valve issue just wasn't an issue, the reason you had the problem you had was that you pushed it on to far and allowed the bottom of the chuck to depress the valve core and depending on how high of a psi you got to would depend if the plunger blew out the back, this was the fault of the user not the pump. That pump relied on the presta valve's built in check valve to operate and when you cram on the head it defeated and sometimes broke the built in check valve in the presta valve. I can't recall how I learned not to put the chuck all the way on, not sure if the instructions said that or the LBS told me, but I think it must have been in the instructions because not that many of those pumps blew so people must of known how to use them, I doubt every LBS would tell them. The other thing that happened to them was because some people didn't deliver a straight stroke with the handle would bend the main barrel in the pumping process when pressure got to higher levels splitting the barrel.



Just so you know, the Silca Impero was made to pump up tubular tires, it wasn't uncommon for these tires to reach 140 psi, the Silca could do that, but by the time I bought my pump I had quit using tubs and gone to clinchers to race on and I had to put 115 psi in the rear tire (this was in the day when 20mm tires were thought to be the fastest, that along with my weight back then of 150 to 155 is why I used 115).



It's the same sort of thing that happens to people to day with minis who "saw" their pumps at higher pressure and rip valve stems from tubes. I had a SKS Puro that blew out the back in it's maiden pumping voyage, so this can happen to modern pumps.



I did live in So California and used it in "cold" (cold for S Calif! around 40) and of course days of being over 100 degrees. I've never had any presta valve sticking open no matter what pump I've ever used in over 40 years dealing with Presta valves UNLESS like with Slime brand tube I tried the presta valve cores kept bending which would release air, those were the crappiest tubes I've ever used, the valve stem would only last about a dozen pumpings even with a floor pump and the valve would bend and thus stick.



In fact I think the older presta valves from the 80's and 90's were designed a bit more robust than they are today.

When I bought the Silca Impero pumps I had, the Zefal HPX pump was available. The Zefal HPX was a superior pump to it in so many ways: built in check valve, rubber plunger gasket that didn't dry out, easier to pump to higher pressures, thumb lock pump head, aluminum instead of flimsy plastic construction, etc.. The Silca was the only pump I ever had that blew out the back. The issue I think was the tubes I was using, but the pump should have had a check valve (like every other pump has) which would have prevented the blow back problem. The threaded connection at the back of the barrel is also weak that contributed to the blowing apart.

Silca no longer makes this antiquated pump and has a modern version of the same name. I have no experience with it though.

[mdeth1313]

Not sure if I missed someone else putting this one out there, but I use the topeak micro-rocket pumps. They'll fit in a jersey pocket but I use their mount (bolts in with the bottle cage).

I have both the carbon and aluminum versions and they work without issue (unless you want to be able to pump up a schrader valve tube).

[smead]

Originally Posted by mdeth1313

Not sure if I missed someone else putting this one out there, but I use the topeak micro-rocket pumps. They'll fit in a jersey pocket but I use their mount (bolts in with the bottle cage).

I have both the carbon and aluminum versions and they work without issue (unless you want to be able to pump up a schrader valve tube).

I also use this, and it's worked great, just don't expect to get much past 60 PSI. It takes a while and about 150-200 strokes to get 60 PSI in a 25, and that's perfectly fine to get me home on a training ride. If I'm doing a race ride where flat change speed is important, I carry a micro chuck with one cartridge and use that on the first flat, then rely on the micro pump for backup, if I double flat I'm out of the hunt anyway! Both fit easily in a small saddle bag.