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. A good bike pump needs a base at least as strong as you are to hold up to the force of your pumping. So, is the Booster worth its hefty price tag? We hope this review has helped you find the best bike floor pump at the best value for your pedaling needs. A handle that you can fit both hands on fully, for example, is a good sign, and three-footed pumps are a musttheyre significantly less wobbly than two-footed models. And it comes with a limited lifetime warranty, the most robust of any pump we tested. Accurate and effective, the Specialized Air Tool Pro makes filling your tires to the perfect pressure easier than any other pump in the test. Hard-core bike commuters share seven itemsfrom storm-worthy gloves to rugged tiresthat keep them (and their stuff) safe and dry in the winter. So we also highlighted the Crankbrothers Sterling, which does a better job of inflating high volume fat tires than all but one other, higher-priced option. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Youll see that the connection is super-reliable, it will never release until you want it to, and we havent noticed any air leaks during testing. We had to keep the pump uncomfortably close to the tires. Pumps that have metal barrelsthats the largest single part of each pumpwill have a longer life span, so we focused on those. Over the last 8 years, we've bought and tested nearly 30 of the best bike pumps, with the top 11 in this review. The Sport III is a simple and reliable pump that any rider can appreciate. The Charger was very accurate in our lower pressure tests (at 30 and 40 PSI), and only lost a couple of pounds in our 80 PSI road bike test. GearLab is reader-supported. It was, however, the worst performer in our pump test, requiring 10 to 15 more strokes at all psi levels than the better performers. When you click on links to buy products we may earn money to support. The hose is another place this pump comes up short. You have to be a bit more careful around them. No cherry-picked units sent by manufacturers. Then we talk to experts about what makes a good pump. As with all hand pumps, this is no substitute for a floor pump. Weve seen gauges that, in spite of their massive size, are still hard to read because of a vexing layout or poor choice of font. GearLab is founded on the principle of honest, objective, reviews. What is kind of a bummer is the gauge design. This is the less expensive of the two. Metal tends to be more sturdy and will last a while.. Looking for the best bike computer on the market? This pump is accurate and very easy to use. This gauge would make it hard to hit something like 32. 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. This generally means topping off your tubes weekly, because they leak air even when your bikes just sitting idle. Height, color combination, print size, construction, and intervals are all important factors that can differentiate between a good gauge and a bad one. Clark is a mountain biker and fair weather bike commuter who's been lucky enough to land in four singletrack meccas Grand Junction and Durango, Colorado, Santa Cruz, and Lake Tahoe, California. The next best high-volume performer, the Crankbrothers Sterling, needed twice that amount, though the 2Stage is harder to pump. This guide represents more than 20 years of collective experience in researching, testing, and writing about bike accessories. She can remember the titles on her childhood bookshelf that set her in this direction: Into Thin Air, On The Road, The Call of the Wild. The Bontrager's large metal tripod base is very sturdy and comfortable to use.
It provides a holder for the needle and cone adapters as well. For the price, we were expecting all elements of this pump to be standouts, but some were just average. Praise aside, that smart nozzle is more finicky than other similar options in this review. We like a lot of these pumps, but they're all good at different things. Those go to the Bontrager Charger and Specialized Air Tool. Of these, the Charger is another easy one to read. That may sound like a lot, but those are very respectable numbers, especially given the pumps small size. It was also faster than any pump without a dedicated high volume setting (we'll get into that below) in getting a mountain bike tire to 30 PSI. The benefits of tripod-style bases are especially apparent when pumping outdoors on less-than-level surfaces. Its 34.5 inches long, the second shortest in our test pool. This is different from the common push-on-and-flip-a-lever design on most pump heads. It took us 150 strokes to fill a hybrid tire to 35 psi, and 290 strokes to get a mountain bike tire to 30 psi. We compared the construction of every pump to evaluate its potential longevity and sturdiness. But most importantly, it fills tires quickly. The Bontrager Charger is one of the best in the test at actually inflating tires, which is the point of all of this. It works great and in seconds. We also have a pick for a portable pump to use while youre out on a ride. It's also heavy and not as stable as we'd like it to be. It switches more easily from Presta to Schrader valves than most. The Sterling struggled with the middle-of-the-road 40 PSI mark, oddly. Did you think a bike pump is just a bike pump? The other time, a set of Continental Trail King 27.5 x 2.4-inch tubeless tires with very sturdy sidewalls refused to snap into place. The JoeBlow Sport III's large and easy-to-read gauge, complete with a bright yellow adjustable guide to mark your goal pressure. If our budget floor pump isnt available: Consider the Specialized Air Tool Sport SwitchHitter II , which only narrowly came in second. The Lezyne Sport Drive gives us another stellar nozzle option. The SKS and Vibrelli were unimpressive. That head is one reason this pump isnt our top pick; the pumps very short hose is another. The hose is shorter on this pump (42 inches) than on the Lezyne Classic Drive, and the max psi and the warranty (two years) are the same as the Lezyne. If the wings are large and broad enough, the pump can still be quite reliable on flat ground. She has always been drawn to ideas about how to relate to, and play in, the wilderness. We also seek out products that will last because we know how satisfying it is to save money while investing in products that will do their job for a long time to come. 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. The version on the Bontrager Charger doesn't work nearly as well and is the pump's one big weak point. It lets you all but forget to look at which type of gauge your tire has. This style barely needs any real estate to make a solid connection and never shoves the valve down. And it keeps the volume manageable enough that it's not hard to compress (unlike the 2Stage). But if you ride tubeless tires, this pump will save you a ton of frustration and keep you out of the shop and on your wheels. Are all bike pumps equal? But its so stable, with a generously wide handle and sturdy base, that we think someone who will be using a pump a lotevery week, or even every daywould appreciate the upgrade. Is it metal or plastic? That was an easy fix. The Planet Bike MicroPro Mini Bike Pump uses a thumb-lock valve in a fixed position on the end of the pump body. This is especially important, according to a former floor pump designer interviewed by our colleague Eric Hansen, because the head is often the only part that really differentiates one pump from another. In addition, if you ride a mountain bike or any kind of tire that has a very low psi rating, a high-volume, low-pressure pump may be a better choice to take on the trail with you. 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. The Max HP and Vibrelli Performance are less stable still, and fall over with little provocation. We feel like it will serve you well for a good long time, and it's one of the less expensive options in the review. The huge 3-inch pressure gauge is super-clear and readable from nearly any height when pumping. Even the couplings are aluminum; not even the Specialized Air Tool Pro, at twice the price, has all-metal couplings. It really shines when your tires are totally dead. 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. The Specialized Air Tool Pro was the most accurate gauge we tested, and, if you overshoot your target pressure, just press the button in the middle of the handle to bleed some out. Three inches in diameter, it has white numbers on a black background, plus a contrasting hi-vis yellow needle. So youve bought a bike (or dug your old one out of the garage). Most of the pumps in this review do a pretty good job inflating high-pressure road tires. 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. It pumps up to 160 psi, enough for anything but a track bike, and it comes with a set of adaptors for sports balls. The Topeak JoeBlow Sport II and AerGun X-1000 are both good pumps, offering decent inflation rates for either road or mountain bike tires. Every time, the seal held fast no matter how hard we pumped. The Specialized Air Tool Pro costs nearly twice as much as the Lezyne Classic Floor Drive, but it doesnt offer twice as many features, nor perform twice as well, and thats why it isnt our top pick. It has so much volume and height that it is physically more difficult to compress. To test inflation speed, we counted the number of compressions it took each pump to inflate a mountain bike tire from 10 to 30 PSI and to take a road tire from 40 to 80 PSI. The Crankbrothers Sapphire had the best pumping performance, taking fewer strokes than any other model. Clark also has a science background and, with a systematic and scientifically-trained mind, rigorous gear testing is a no-brainer. The high-pressure mode is less effective but only takes three more compressions than the fastest inflating pump. The SKS Rennkompressor prioritizes size over stability. It was the only way to properly evaluate the valve seal, how well the chuck operated, how stable the pump was, and in some cases, whether or not the pump even worked. They offer similar, comfortable stances and handles that are smooth and easy to use. The Lezyne Pressure Drives solid aluminum body, smooth pumping action, removable hose, and secure pump-to-valve attachment make for a handheld pump that is functional and efficient. The Crankbrothers pump here is a less expensive option that's optimized for high volume mountain bike tires. The Air Tool Pro is just okay at inflating mountain bike tires (again beaten out by the Bontrager and the two MTB specialists listed below). Since we are sticklers for a good ride, we pump our tires to perfection almost every time we hit the road (or trail). The Booster works less well as an actual bike pump. Only one other pump we tested, the Crankbrothers Klic, also uses a screw-on head, but the Lezyne attachment is bigger and therefore easier to handle. 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. 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. These all stand upright when you step away and will deal with a few knocks. Even for people who dont plan to ride their bikes frequently, we believe its worth spending the extra money. With sweat stinging your eyes, it's no fun to bend over and squint to check the gauge. The pandemic-related stock problems with our picks appear to be resolved. SwitchHitter nozzle works with two valve types, Only average at filling high volume tires. But neither is our top pick. Its large handle, smooth pumping action, and broad base plate keep you fairly comfortable while you work. How durable the pump is. However, its longer and heavier than the Lezyne Pressure Drive, and changing from Presta to Schrader valves requires pulling apart the pump head. The Topeak JoeBlow Sport III has consistently positive user reviews, but our budget pick is the same price and has a wooden, not plastic, handle. You will be tired and frustrated if you regularly use this to inflate your tires the entire way. The Vibrelli and the Bontrager Charger also mark every 2 PSI. Bike pumps are simple devices and should last for years, with appropriate maintenance. In addition, this is the only pump we found that comes with a limited lifetime warranty, which is much better than the industry-standard two years. For example, we're blown away by the Bontrager Charger, which earns the second-highest score with one of the lowest price tags in the test.
You need a sturdy one. We pumped up a lot of tires, counting strokes and checking pressures with a separate digital gauge. Still, the combination of fast high-pressure inflation, excellent nozzle attachment skills, accuracy, and a useful bleeder valve was enough to outscore the competition. The Crankbrothers Klic HP folds out into a T shape for a good grip. However, its larger and fits the hand more ergonomically than anything we tried, and its easy to secure and release. It's large, clear, and located at the top of the pump, making it very easy to read. 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 also want an accurate gauge which is not as simple as it sounds when we take off on our ride. The Lezyne Sport Drive broke. Our head tester for this review is Clark Tate. Gauge doesn't perform well at low pressures. Though not the cheapest pump we tested, the difference in quality between a $30 pump and this one is astounding. A bleeder valve in the handle itself helps you dial everything in adding a little, bleeding a little away without leaving the helm.
We think so. Youll know the head is going bad when it no longer seals reliably and you hear the sad sound of air hissing out, no matter what you do or what god you pray to. The pump hides a needle and a cone adapter. The biggest ding to the Specialized Air Tool Sport was the illegible dial. Mounted on top of the shaft, this gauge is much easier to read than the rest. The Topeak JoeBlow Sport III and Sport 2Stage feature smaller versions of this baseplate. The most accurate pump in this review is the Lezyne Sport Drive. 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. That said, not all of them worked equally well. 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. We break them down for you below. How can we improve GearLab? Learn more. We set them out in the sun and tried Windexing the tire bead and using a tube to seat one side. The three-pronged Lezyne with a 3.5 inch gage, is quite stable. The Pista Plus remedies these issues but for more than twice the price of our top pick. This is also the steadiest, sturdiest pump we tried, which made it a favorite among our testers. The gauge is 3 inches wide, base-mounted, and readable, with contrasting black-on-white text. Plus, whatever time you lose installing it, you gain on the opposite end of the process, when you simply unthread the chuck instead of having to yank at a push-on head that wont come off. It took us 200 pumps to get the hybrid test tire to 35 psi. The behemoth JoeBlow Booster is an example of a stable, non-tripod pump. Our floor pump tests involved, as one might expect, a whole lot of pumping. We tested for quantifiable factors like inflation speed and gauge accuracy, measured weight and dimensions, and made user-based assessments of more subjective things like handle comfort and overall construction quality. It also has a sliding yellow marker to keep track of your desired pressure, as do the other Topeak options and the Aergun. The three-footed design makes it more stable than two-footed models, and there are no plastic parts (except for the gauge cover). Finally, Lezyne warranties pumps against defects in workmanship and materials for two years. To find the best pump for every user, we focused on what we think are the five most important attributes of a high-quality bike pump how easy it is to attach to a tire, whether or not you can easily read the gauge, stability, inflation speed, and accuracy. This pump is also rebuildable, and Planet Bike sells head, hose, and O-ring replacement parts. When used as a regular pump, the Topeak JoeBlow Booster also performs best with high-pressure road tires, perhaps because high pressure is sort of its main skill set. The valve head is attached to an extra-long (47-inch) rubber hose. 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. The Topeak JoeBlow Booster also has this style of auto-adjust nozzle. We look for the highest performers and then we check the price tags to help you find the best deals. The screw-on design of the Classic Floor Drives head is a standout feature. They're also the unsung hero of a truly great ride, helping you nail the balance between friction and efficiency. In addition, not all the edges of the base are flush with the ground, just the foot contact points, and we noticed less stability with all pumps designed this way. But its so stable and easy to usewith a generously wide handle and sturdy basethat we think someone who rides a lot and has to use a pump often would be enamored with the upgrade in performance. 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.) Though some of these pumps have shorter hoses, most notably the Vibrelli, AerGun, Specialized, and Crankbrothers, we never ran into a situation where they needed to be longer. Lezyne also provides a two-year warranty that covers manufacturer defects, and you can replace worn-out O-rings and the like with replacement parts from the Lezyne site. It took just eight strokes on average to get a fat tire up to 30 PSI. Material on GearLab is copyrighted. 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 broad, flat handle outshines even that on the pricey Silca Pista, which couldnt fit two hands. Here are some essential but inexpensive accessories to keep you safe and happy on the road. Both are also the best of the non-adjustable options for inflating high-volume tires. Though many of the pumps featured similar technology, we found this chuck more seamless than the rest. The pump is comfortable and usable, and it even comes with a lifetime warranty, the best of anything we looked at, regardless of price. Traditional, press-on nozzles can shove the valve back into the rim as you try to attach them. 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. And, to assure complete independence, we buy all the products we test ourselves. That's a lot of positives and one rather important negative. You can switch back and forth using a foot pedal at the base. The rest of the pumps offered double-headed nozzles: one side working with Schrader valves, the other with Presta and sometimes Dunlop. The Lezyne Alloy Drive is the equivalent of the Pressure Drive for mountain bike tires. How comfortable and sturdy the pump is. We also like that two of the base's legs tilt toward you, letting you stand further from the pump while securing it. Our Editors independently research, test, and rate the best products. Lezyne calls this head a flip chuck head. If you want your pump to last, go for a wide and hefty base plate with a gauge mounted low enough to hold extra weight low to the ground. We really like the Topeak Joe Blow Booster gauge. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. After testing 35 pumps over the past five years, we believe the Lezyne Classic Floor Drive is the best floor pump for most bike commuters thanks to its sturdy construction, easy-to-read dial, and utterly reliable screw-on head (which fits both Presta and Schrader valves). We tested some options that provide excellent performance at a stellar price point. We log how many strokes it takes to reach the proper pressure, how ergonomic the handle is, how legible the dial is, and whether or not any tiny pieces spring loose and roll into a sewer grate while we were trying to switch between valves (it has happened twice). It works best with high-pressure road tires, though. Only the Crankbrothers Sterling comes close to that efficiency with 16 compressions. Each end of the hose is clearly marked with either Presta or Schrader. Theyll all perform similarly, he saidthe designer didnt want his name or company affiliation mentionedbecause they all come from the same factories. He meant what he said, but as we discovered, the details count when it comes to pumps. Read on to find out which pump will get you out the door and pedaling away as smoothly as possible. The drawbacks: its plastic, wedge-on pump head and very short hose. That said, if you want an accurate pump that fills up your fat tires fast, with a universal nozzle that easily attaches to Presta or Schrader valves, we recommend this one. The Birzman InfiniteApogee Road recorded a much higher number of strokes than average to fill the three test tires, and it just couldnt make it to 100 psi for the 700c tire. Our testers also disliked the plastic base. We also considered subjective factors, like how stable they were and how hard they were to pump. That said, with a little patience, the connection isn't that hard to make. The Silca Pista has one of the strongest builds (all metal everything), but its small. At this point, weve researched more than 100 models, and our work always starts with reading what others have to say. The gauge is crazy easy to read, and the nozzle works with both Schrader and Presta valves. If you have a bike, you need a floor pump to keep it operating. 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. It takes a long time to fill up a mountain bike tire with this thing. The JoeBlow Sport III is the best of this bunch, with a large gauge and PSI numbers printed clearly around the outside of the rim, free of the glare of the glass. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing to save people time, energy and money when making buying decisions. To use the pump, remove the hose from its storage place inside the pumps body. It also comes with attachments for other inflatables, like exercise balls and basketballs, should you need them. It hovered at 60 psi on the dial even while attached to an uninflated tire. Both the Pedros Prestige and Super Prestige pumps have wobbly, two-footed bases that couldnt outperform three-footed options. We also prefer the wooden handle on our budget pick. And not only is the dial big, but the text on it is designed well, with large, legible numbers on a contrasting background. If you can get your hands on this model, we think youll be very happy. We know its a small matter, but our testers appreciated the convenience. The Classic Floor Drive has a maximum inflation pressure of 220 psi, well above any pressure needed by the average cyclist and more than any other model we tried, except the (now discontinued) Serfas FMP-500, which is rated to 250 pounds. Truth be told, all pumps are pretty decent. 2022 Wirecutter, Inc., A New York Times Company, A reliable option with better-than-most features, Our pick for a floor pump: Lezyne Classic Floor Drive, Budget floor-pump pick: Planet Bike ALX 2, Upgrade floor-pump pick: Specialized Air Tool Pro, Also-great hand pump: Lezyne Pressure Drive, Lennard Zinn, senior tech writer for VeloNews, Daimeon Shanks, a former pro race team mechanic, replacement head/hose combos and other parts, Specialized Air Tool Sport SwitchHitter II, Cheap Essentials for Getting Back on Your Bike. 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. The 2Stage accomplishes this feat by providing two inflation modes, which it calls Stage 1 for high volume and Stage 2 for high pressure. While its a classic setup, we believe a pump with an extended tube design is an all-around superior design. Thats as intendedits meant to be easy to carry around in a car trunk. According to one pump designer we spoke to, yes. Plus, the gauge sits in a bad spottoo low on the barrel to easily read, but high enough that the pump sometimes tips over. Either is an excellent all-around option. The AerGun X-1000 stole the show with its remarkably simple and effective pump head. 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. 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. The old-school head of the Rennkompressor has an attachment point for both Presta and Schrader valves on the same side. After 96 hours of testing, here are our picks for the best levers, patches, hand pumps, and more for most bike owners.
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