Electric bike pumps - another new thing?

[aidan.f]

Whilst out riding today spotted someone using a portable electric pump, new thing to me ..well everyday's a skool day
It seemed to be a lot slower than any half decent $pump albeit  fat MTB tyre was being inflated.. yeah 2-3 mins is specified
Apart from lack of speed the possibility of a bat flattery means to me a solution that is just going to cause a problem.
Anyone used one?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081RMWV7R/ref=as_li_ss_tl?SubscriptionId=AKIAJO7E5OLQ67NVPFZA&ascsubtag=422557696-192-&tag=msnukrfre-21&th=1

[JonBuoy]

Someone kindly let me have a go with theirs when I got adventurous on the shopping bike, punctured and then discovered that my pump didn't work.  It seemed pretty neat and reasonably fast and I Googled it when I got home.  I think it was the smallest Fumpa.

I wasn't too surprised at the price of £80 but a bit underwhelmed by the fact that it can only inflate '1-2 tyres on a single charge.'  I just hope that the guy who it belonged to didn't have a puncture later in his ride.

[mzjo]

Someone kindly let me have a go with theirs when I got adventurous on the shopping bike, punctured and then discovered that my pump didn't work.  It seemed pretty neat and reasonably fast and I Googled it when I got home.  I think it was the smallest Fumpa.

I wasn't too surprised at the price of £80 but a bit underwhelmed by the fact that it can only inflate '1-2 tyres on a single charge.'  I just hope that the guy who it belonged to didn't have a puncture later in his ride.

Another thing to charge up off your dynohub or powerbank

[grams]

I have/had the one in the link. It’s fine for use at home but every time I tried to use it outdoors in anger it was flat. Not sure if that’s a problem with the battery technology (high current LiFePo) or my unit, but it put me off. Also they invariably come with a Schrader valve and a stupid brass Presta adapter that is  easy to misplace.

A guy I ride with has a Fumpa that we used today and it also was flat when he tried to use it today, although he’s used it successfully many times before.

The argument is they’re a substitute for CO2 cartridges. The Fumpa is meant to be the same weight and size as two cartridges and a nozzle. Like CO2, you’d be taking a gamble to not have a proper pump too.

[Kim]

I looked into them a while back when a friend with wrist impairments got a bike.  At that point most of what you could get were effectively cheap battery drills with a compressor bolted on, designed for inflating car tyres - not the sort of thing you'd want to carry on a bike.  We concluded that a car-style foot pump for home use, combined with CO2 for use on the road was a simpler solution.

Might be clever if you could run the compressor from an ebike battery, given that you'd be lugging it around anyway and it would pretty much eliminate battery capacity (or failing to have charged) issues.

Since the demise of the Cyclaire, it's good that there is a reasonable portable option for people who can't operate a traditional hand pump.  Electrons are a bit more universal than CO2 cartridges; even if you do need to wait for the thing to charge.


While we're here I should confess that my 'track pump' is a Stanley compressor with a Prestaflator...

[Adam]

I use a Bosch one in the shop which will do about 4 tyres on a charge, but they're noisy things.  I remember about 8 or 9 years ago on a FNRttC to Brighton, someone using an electric pump to inflate their tyre at around 2:30 am near the start of Lonesome Lane on the outskirts of Reigate, and seeing bedroom lights start to come on. 

[Kim]

The Cyclaire also has that problem (it's a similar compressor, driven by a pull-cord ratchet mechanism like you'd use to start a small combustion engine), though I've no qualms about using it in urban areas in daytime.  It's the pump I carry for utility riding because it's a luggage-friendly shape, which means I don't have to think about it when locking the bike.

[grams]

I looked into them a while back when a friend with wrist impairments got a bike.  At that point most of what you could get were effectively cheap battery drills with a compressor bolted on, designed for inflating car tyres - not the sort of thing you'd want to carry on a bike.

If you’re already invested in a power tool battery system and bored of tripping over your track pump these things are excellent.

[iandusud]

If you have any Makita 18v cordless tools then I would highly recommend their compressor which can be bought bare (without battery). Soemone selling them for £32 on Ebay at the moment. Absolutely brilliant bit of kit. Battery lasts for ages. Great for car tyres (if you have a car). I've not looked back since.

[Kim]

If you have any Makita 18v cordless tools then I would highly recommend their compressor which can be bought bare (without battery). Soemone selling them for £32 on Ebay at the moment.

Beware of the difference between "Makita" and "for Makita" in eBay listings.  The latter is no-name chinesium that's compatible with the Makita batteries. (Which isn't to say that some of them aren't good value.  The knock-off brushless impact driver's surprisingly well-made.)

[quixoticgeek]

If you have any Makita 18v cordless tools then I would highly recommend their compressor which can be bought bare (without battery). Soemone selling them for £32 on Ebay at the moment.

Beware of the difference between "Makita" and "for Makita" in eBay listings.  The latter is no-name chinesium that's compatible with the Makita batteries. (Which isn't to say that some of them aren't good value.  The knock-off brushless impact driver's surprisingly well-made.)

The genuine Makita pumps are 54-114€ currently in .NL.

For the original poster. I seriously considered one of the tiny lipo powered portable pumps. As an energy saver on long trips as much as anything. Getting 32mm tyres back up to 5bar is not easy at the road side. I have Schrader to presta adapters on both tyre valves so that I can use the compressors at gas stations. When I went to hell, I was getting a flat every 60km for the first 600km. And it was really becoming a faff getting the tyre back up to pressure. Even with a turbo morph G pump, which is a very large pump to carry on the bike.

I don't understand how anyone thinks mini pumps are a good idea, esp when you realise some of them require 300+ strokes to get a tyre back up to pressure. That's a lot of pumping. Makes connection of a widget that just does it for you, very appealing...

Also not to mention not everyone who rides bikes has the upper body strength or dexterity to drive a normal pump...

J

[Frank9755]

I bought one as an experiment a couple of years ago.

It wasn't bad. Slow, but it worked. It came in handy for inflating a paddling pool, and for topping up car tyres, as well as a few bikes.

But it's now gathering dust as it hasn't really inflated the last couple of times I've tried it. Not sure why, maybe a connection isn't air tight or something.

I toyed with the idea of upgrading to a Fumpa, but never got round to it.

[Sergeant Pluck]

If you have any Makita 18v cordless tools then I would highly recommend their compressor which can be bought bare (without battery). Soemone selling them for £32 on Ebay at the moment. Absolutely brilliant bit of kit. Battery lasts for ages. Great for car tyres (if you have a car). I've not looked back since.

That prompted me to look to see if Bosch do similar as I have 18 V batteries. They do, but ’tis a cumbersome unwieldy beast:

https://www.bosch-diy.com/gb/en/p/universalpump-18v-0603947100

[T42]

Whilst out riding today spotted someone using a portable electric pump, new thing to me ..well everyday's a skool day
It seemed to be a lot slower than any half decent $pump albeit  fat MTB tyre was being inflated.. yeah 2-3 mins is specified
Apart from lack of speed the possibility of a bat flattery means to me a solution that is just going to cause a problem.
Anyone used one?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081RMWV7R/ref=as_li_ss_tl?SubscriptionId=AKIAJO7E5OLQ67NVPFZA&ascsubtag=422557696-192-&tag=msnukrfre-21&th=1

About twice the weight of a Road Morph. And half the apoplexy.

[perpetual dan]

Since getting tubless tyres i don’t pump tyres up mid-ride nearly so often.

But when the tubless doesn’t seal quickly there tends to be a lot of pumping. Which is a faff. A faff which I suppose might exhaust a pump’s battery, given the reports above. (QG’s every 60km sounds terrible, but also capable of flattening a battery pump by lunchtime.) If I can’t pump it manually when the battery does go then I’ll end up with two pumps.

As an accessory to an e-bike, it makes a lot more sense.

[T42]

Also not to mention not everyone who rides bikes has the upper body strength or dexterity to drive a normal pump...

There's also the folk who'll go "ooo, you've got an electric pump, can you do mine?"  without a thought that they'll be robbing you of a tyresworth of juice.  After my collar-bone healed in 2002 I needed a gas pump. I carried it for years thereafter and used up more than one cartridge on chum's bikes. Didn't charge them the 3€ a cartridge, either.