It's a bit more finicky than the top two examples but only really gave us trouble when tires were flat. Though not the least expensive pump we tested, our budget pick is the Planet Bike ALX 2, because the difference in quality between a $35 pump and a $60 pump is enormous. A good bike pump needs a base at least as strong as you are to hold up to the force of your pumping. All trademarks property of their respective owners This gauge would make it hard to hit something like 32. Were assuming this was random, and not endemic, but either way we found sturdier pumps that cost less. The other Topeak pumps all read out at 5 PSI increments, as do the Lezyne and Crankbrother gauges. That head is one reason this pump isnt our top pick; the pumps very short hose is another. Another in the mini-floor-pump camp, the Topeak Road Morph G was the fastest pump in our tests, but its sizeits nearly 14 inches longseriously pushed the boundaries of portability. We like a lot of these pumps, but they're all good at different things. Working a tire change with the impressive JoeBlow Booster. You will be tired and frustrated if you regularly use this to inflate your tires the entire way. Topeak describes the Pocket Rocket as a pump for roadies, but we couldnt get our 700c tire up to the 100 psi mark. Mounted on top of the shaft, this gauge is much easier to read than the rest. Our Editors independently research, test, and rate the best products. It's simple and bright white with largish black letters. We independently review everything we recommend. It really shines when your tires are totally dead. Lezyne calls this head a flip chuck head. The Lezyne Pressure Drive is a smartly designed handheld bike pump capable of filling the types of tires most frequently used by recreational riders. She has always been drawn to ideas about how to relate to, and play in, the wilderness. Whether we were looking at a floor or handheld pump, we learned to prize, above all else, the following qualities: To test for these different criteria, we did a few things. Most of the pumps in this review do a pretty good job inflating high-pressure road tires. It's large, clear, and located at the top of the pump, making it very easy to read. It has a removable, two-sided chuck: One end works with Presta tube valves, and the other works with Schrader. The Booster works less well as an actual bike pump. Its small enough to carry in a jersey pocket but also comes with a bracket that you can attach to your frame. We were not able to get the road bike tire to 100 psi at all. We look for a simple, secure connection to the valve, a stable platform, and easy pumping. The benefits of tripod-style bases are especially apparent when pumping outdoors on less-than-level surfaces. The pump hides a needle and a cone adapter. It pumps up to 160 psi, enough for anything but a track bike, and it comes with a set of adaptors for sports balls. However, its larger and fits the hand more ergonomically than anything we tried, and its easy to secure and release. Man, we love this pump, the less-expensive underdog that beats out glitzier competition for its pure utility. But those are strictly for adding to your on-the-go repair kit and using when you get a flat on the roada floor pump takes a lot less effort to use. The Crankbrothers pump here is a less expensive option that's optimized for high volume mountain bike tires. However, its longer and heavier than the Lezyne Pressure Drive, and changing from Presta to Schrader valves requires pulling apart the pump head. Whether it's finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we'll help you get it right (the first time). Then we gave up and tried an air compressor and a few shop mechanics. The Sport III is a simple and reliable pump that any rider can appreciate. Its reasonably readable gauge is precise enough (marking every 2 PSI) to help you nail your numbers. Double-sided nozzle for Presta and Schrader, Settings for high volume and high pressure. The Specialized SwitchHitter II nozzle was the best auto-adjuting option we tested. But the two-footed base is wobbly, the handle was too small to be comfortable, and testers were afraid theyd lose the detachable Presta valve adapter. This article was edited by Ria Misra and Christine Ryan. There is a ton of variability among these simple devices that are meant to fill your tires with air and read out their pressure levels. We looked for pumps that nontechnical folks could disassemble to replace parts like O-rings and gaskets. And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves. For the price, we were expecting all elements of this pump to be standouts, but some were just average. And not only is the dial big, but the text on it is designed well, with large, legible numbers on a contrasting background. Also, as this is a serious cycling pump for a serious cyclist, it therefore doesnt come with any adaptors for anything other than bike tubes. Whether or not the pump can be serviced. Finally, Lezyne warranties pumps against defects in workmanship and materials for two years. You have to be a bit more careful around them. How can we improve GearLab? Material on GearLab is copyrighted. First, we get studious with online reviews, relying upon the expertise at Bicycling, Cycling Weekly, GearLab, BikeRadar, and MTBR to point us in the right direction. It took more pumps to inflate a mountain bike tire than any other option in the test and was about average at filling a road tire. Among all the pumps we tested, nothing reached this level of quality at the same price. For handheld pumps we did the same, again with three tires each at a different pressure rating (30 psi, 35 psi, and 100 psi), inflated twice. The base of the Sport III provides a lot of lateral stability but not much front to back. (There goes all your hard-earned air, in a rush!) No ads. To use the pump, remove the hose from its storage place inside the pumps body. Though the AerGun struggles more with the lower pressures (under by about 3 PSI) and the Bontrager with the higher ones (under by around 4). The valve on the ALX 2 is nothing specialand its one reason this pump isnt our main pickbut nothing in this price range is. You can switch back and forth using a foot pedal at the base. This is annoying, and it happens because the base plate doesn't extend very far toward you when you're pumping, pulling you in closer to the pump to hold it down and making things less comfortable than they could be. The Specialized Air Tool Pro gauge is big and marked at every 2 PSI with thin tick marks and at every 20 in large numbers. The Lezyne Sport Drive broke. The plastic pieces are small, and wind, darkness, cold hands, and impatience could complicate making the switch in the field. The 2Stage accomplishes this feat by providing two inflation modes, which it calls Stage 1 for high volume and Stage 2 for high pressure. That makes a huge difference when you are pumping up a 100 psi road bike tire and need leverage to work air into the tube. Our experts test thousands of products each year using thoughtful test plans that bring out key performance differences between competing products. Since we are sticklers for a good ride, we pump our tires to perfection almost every time we hit the road (or trail). Accurate and effective, the Specialized Air Tool Pro makes filling your tires to the perfect pressure easier than any other pump in the test. We also have a pick for a portable pump to use while youre out on a ride. Truth be told, all pumps are pretty decent. When used to install tubeless tires, using a big burst of air to set the bead of the tire against the rim of the wheel, it works wonderfully. It has a stable base with a 59-inch hose giving you much more flexibility for inflating tires and a pressure bleeding button on the nozzle and at the top of the hose. That was an easy fix. If you're a tubeless riding roadie, this will set you up perfectly (this is why it gets a lower inflation rating, despite performing beautifully as an air compressor.) That's 100 to 375% fewer strokes than it takes the competition. If you have a bike, you need a floor pump to keep it operating. Its nozzle is smart, accommodating both Schrader and Presta valves without adjustment, it's stable, has a comfortable handle, and its gauge is bright, precise, and accurate. First, it does the basic labor of inflating your tires tubes. We also asked friends and fellow bicycle enthusiasts to join in our testing rounds to balance our experts' perspectives on the best features for all experience levels. The Pista Plus remedies these issues but for more than twice the price of our top pick. If the wings are large and broad enough, the pump can still be quite reliable on flat ground. No matter what kind of bike you rideroad bike or mountain bike, beach cruiser or hybrid, ebike or unicycleyou need a way to inflate its tires. It's tall, with a high gauge, and it tips over easily. Three inches in diameter, it has white numbers on a black background, plus a contrasting hi-vis yellow needle. The gauge is also notable. We ended up riding them with a tube for a while and leaving them in a hot car to get the pesky sidewalls to settle down. Its true that its not a high-volume pump, the kind that is best suited for mountain bike tires. It has foldable feet and an easily removable handle for travel. Thats less of an issue with an at-home pump, but an important consideration with a portable one. The Vibrelli chuck didn't work very well at all, and the SKS Rennkompressor has a longer nozzle face with a Schrader and a Presta opening stacked on top of one another. The valve head is attached to an extra-long (47-inch) rubber hose. And those marks are very close together. How comfortable and sturdy the pump is. And like all hose attachments, this one reduces the odds of bending or even breaking the valve. This is also what you need to fix a leaky stem, which could be the cause of your flat in the first place. Once youve screwed the pump head onto your tires valve, the Classic Floor Drive will never, ever release the valve until you want it to. That said, not all of them worked equally well. We the world's most carefully tested and objective gear reviews, Nozzle works with Presta and Schrader valves, accurate, well-placed pressure relief valve, Inexpensive, stable, comfortable, auto select nozzle for Presta and Schrader valves, Works great with high volume tires, stable, universal nozzle works with Presta and Schrader, Excellent performance, universal nozzle, long hose, air bleed valve, easy to read gauge, Relatively affordable, accurate, secure connection, valve core tool and pressure relief valve, Expensive, heavy, tippy in one direction, not great for high-volume tires, Nozzle can be tricky to use, no ball or bladder adapters, Not so great with high-pressure tires, gauge is harder to read than some, Expensive, heavy, hard work to fill chamber, gauge struggles at low pressures, Not meant for high volume tires, not the most precise or easiest gauge to read, With a bleeder valve in its handle and a nozzle that works with Schrader and Presta valves, this pump does its job well, A comfortable pump with an auto selecting nozzle and low price tag, This high-value pump works exceptionally well with high volume tires and features a universal nozzle, A high-quality and high priced model that replaces an air compressor to inflate tubeless tires, A thoughtfully constructed, accurate pump thats great for high pressure tires up to 220 PSI, This pump offers the best mix of accuracy and ease in the test, A simple pump with one of our favorite technological innovations, the auto-selecting nozzle, This light and little pump is optimized for high volume and high pressure and features a universal nozzle, An excellent choice for tubeless tire fans, An excellent choice for high volume tires that also works well with high-pressure tires, Built to last, this popular model brings a lot of performance per dollar to the table, This bike pump offers a combination of accuracy, excellent user-friendliness, and affordability, A less expensive option for roadies who dont need the latest and greatest, This is a good pump, but not the best at anything and there are more exciting options, This pump has some cool features but lacks stability making it hard to use. This mostly metal pump is a smart buy, from its extra-large pressure gauge to its recently redesigned screw-on pump head. The hardest part is getting the tire itself on the rim, and that's not the pump's fault. Even though thats a serious, sweaty workout, its a high bar to set for a handheld pump, one that not all of the pumps we tested could accomplish. Having to screw the head onto the valve takes a little longer than the usual push-on valves with a locking lever, but we think most people will appreciate the secure connection for the price of those few seconds. The second half runs from 30 to 160 PSI, only marking every 5 PSI. Matthew Edwards has spent five years in the cycling industry as a salesperson, mechanic, and amateur bike racer, and Dave Yasuda is a road, mountain, and commuting cyclist with more than 30 years in the saddle. Versatile and compact, this pump will fill the flat-fixing needs of any commuter while on the road. Looking for the best bike trainer available today? We tried these pumps on Schrader and Presta valves, high-pressure road bike tires, and high-volume mountain bike rubber. This is a pump made for someone who is going to use it a lot, and the handle and the base are where its best features are focused. There was less variation when we tested inflation on high-pressure road bike tires, and there's a much larger spread when it comes to inflating high-volume mountain bike tires. The Specialized Air Tool Pro was a tester favorite. Their efficiency and accuracy vary greatly, and our side-by-side testing methods shake out the details. The old-school head of the Rennkompressor has an attachment point for both Presta and Schrader valves on the same side. The pandemic-related stock problems with our picks appear to be resolved. We only make money if you purchase a product through our links, and we never accept free products from manufacturers. Our floor pump tests involved, as one might expect, a whole lot of pumping. Gauge doesn't perform well at low pressures. And it comes with a limited lifetime warranty, the most robust of any pump we tested. When inflating tires, this pump still outperformed many of the others we tested, outdoing not just the similar Specialized Air Tool Sport, but even the Lezyne and the Air Tool Pro by a few strokes. After 30-plus hours of research and testing, we think the Delta Cycle Michelangelo Gravity Standis the best bike rack for storing bikes in limited-space homes. As with all hand pumps, this is no substitute for a floor pump. Its nozzle is a bit more finicky than the best options, and it isn't as accurate at lower pressures, below 40 PSI or so. With more high-quality parts than anything comparably priced, the Planet Bike ALX 2 is, we believe, the best choice for someone who doesnt ride every day or every week. This pump is also rebuildable, and Planet Bike sells head, hose, and O-ring replacement parts. It took just eight strokes on average to get a fat tire up to 30 PSI. Of these, the Topeak JoeBlow Sport 2Stage works the best, with the Sport III and Max HP getting a bit trickier by degrees. The good news is that a quality pump can be rebuilt; Lezyne sells replacement head/hose combos and other parts. It combines an L-shaped head thats refreshingly easy to fit between spokes with a removable and reversible chuck (one end fits Schrader tire valves; the other, Presta valves). Specialized's SwitchHitter II nozzle also automatically adjusts to either a Schrader or Presta valve. We compared the construction of every pump to evaluate its potential longevity and sturdiness. It's a handy detail. Anything you get at a bike shop, if you dont use it as a hammer, youll be fine, said Lennard Zinn, author of the most popular bike-repair manuals in the US. The Crankbrothers Klic attempts a solution to an annoying storage problemthe floppy tube gets stored in the handle. That said, with a little patience, the connection isn't that hard to make. One of our primary goals during testing is to decide if a product's performance is worth its price tag. Since it's meant for road tires, that's not a huge deal-breaker for us. Traditional, press-on nozzles can shove the valve back into the rim as you try to attach them. The rest of the pumps were competing for top high-pressure inflation honors. Its not as stable as the Lezyne, but it does sit completely flush with the ground and remains steadier than the other midrange options. Inflating a bike tire can feel like a high-intensity interval workout. Even so, our budget pick was only five to eight strokes behind, is more stable, and doesnt have a plastic handle. The double-sided gauge is also finicky with flat tires. The screw-on design of the Classic Floor Drives head is a standout feature. If you can muster a little patience when your tire is totally flat, this pump is an excellent deal. Every time, the seal held fast no matter how hard we pumped. With this long of a hose, you can also place the pump toward the middle of your bike and inflate both tires without having to move the pump, regardless of the valve position on the wheels. Look at a pumps hardware, advised Chris Haunold. It nailed the higher pressures in the test but overestimated the 30 PSI test by 2 pounds. It took us 200 pumps to get the hybrid test tire to 35 psi. In high-pressure mode, this pump required more compressions to fill our road bike tire than any other pump tested. With pumps like this, which attach to a valve stem by screwing it on, its possible to unscrew a removable valve core (a few Presta valves have these) while removing your pump. Our pick, the Lezyne Classic Floor Drive, excels in this task due to the design of its pump head, which you screw securelyrather than wedgeonto your valve. The Planet Bike MicroPro Mini Bike Pump uses a thumb-lock valve in a fixed position on the end of the pump body. Because of this, it doesn't score well. We also want an accurate gauge which is not as simple as it sounds when we take off on our ride. We also look at Amazon, online bike shops like Competitive Cyclist, and outdoor retailers such as REI to read customer reviews, all of which help us decide which pumps to examine in person. Though many of the pumps featured similar technology, we found this chuck more seamless than the rest. It also has to work with both Schrader and Presta valves, the two most common types in the US. Those features make it challenging to use since it often falls over whenever you step away from it, even just to attach its nozzle to a tire. Clark also has a science background and, with a systematic and scientifically-trained mind, rigorous gear testing is a no-brainer. The Max HP is a little smaller, the Lezyne Sport darker with smaller numbers, and the Crankbrother has smaller numbers and an eye-tiring blue and white color scheme. With sweat stinging your eyes, it's no fun to bend over and squint to check the gauge. However, as with other heads of this type, you run the risk of the head popping off midstroke if you havent seated it correctly. It's marked at intervals of 5 PSI, which is less precise than we'd like, but pretty typical. It hovered at 60 psi on the dial even while attached to an uninflated tire. They will certainly still serve if you're a trail rider, though. This style barely needs any real estate to make a solid connection and never shoves the valve down. The valve attachment is a flip model, made of combined metal and plastic, and has the usual drawback: You have to make sure its properly attached or it might pop off suddenly. But most importantly, it fills tires quickly. If you want to fill up mountain bike tires as fast as possible, reach for the Topeak JoeBlow Sport 2Stage.
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