It's comparison time!
This week it's the compact and rugged BikeHut Suspension Shock Pump vs the large and dependable Topeak Joe Blow Sport. Note: all comments made in regard to mountain board tyres (~8" - 10"). The suitability of these pumps for other applications may vary.
I did a review approximately 8 months ago on the BikeHut Suspension Shock Pump here, that got quite a few hits, but probably from mountain bikers who want to pump up their shock pumps to ridiculously high pressures. Since then, I decided to replace it with the considerably larger Topeak Joe Blow Sport. My reasoning behind this was that the BikeHut, whilst small, was never quite small enough and as a consequence ended up left in the boot of the car more times than not. I usually knew the type of terrain I will be riding and set an appropriate psi accordingly. In addition, if I am unlucky enough to get a puncture, I don't usually carry a repair kit and associated tools with me anyway so a travel pump in these circumstances would be useless.
My requirements for a new pump was then based on the following requirements: a) be reasonably cheap, b) have a pressure gauge, c) be reasonably rugged, and d) have a decent nozzle (whatever the bit is called that attaches to the valve; nozzle will do for now).
The BikeHut pump has a great nozzle. Being of a screw type, it fixes nice and securely onto the valve and with its flexible hose, is great at getting at those sometimes hard to get valves (Rockstar Pros with valves facing inwards for example). I couldn't find a larger pump with this kind of nozzle, the preferred one being a lock on/off type arrangement that is fatter around the valve. Fortunately, so far this has not been an issue, though I may at a later date switch the valves across...
Size, not at present being an issue for reasons given above, meant that I could go for a far larger pump. This has the great benefit that I'm not sat by the side of the road pumping furiously for a couple of minutes with the BikeHut to get up to pressure. With the Topeak, it only takes half a dozen pumps to get up to my maximum 40psi from completely flat. From my previous BikeHut review I stated that it was probably the furious pumping that lead to its final demise; the Topeak I'm hoping should last a while due to it's relative under-use.
The BikeHut Shock Pump should be praised for its ruggedness. To reinstate, the pump is still in great condition, it's only the rubber seals that have perished. Likewise, the Topeak benefits from metal shaft, metal base and robust aluminium alloy locking lever (to quote from the BikeRadar review here).
Only downsize (so far) is the length of hose of both products. I could accept the BikeHut's short 6 inch hose done to keep the overall product down to size, but the Topeak hose isn't quite long enough to reach from the ground to the kitchen work surface (don't tell the wife!). An extra 12 inches max would have been useful, but when working at ground level, all is okay.
Back to the requirements above. Firstly, cost - around £20 for the BikeHut and £30 for the Topeak. I'm hoping the Topeak should last a few years and justify the slightly higher cost.
Pressure gauge. Again, both units come equipped with one though I don't intend to try and find out if they are accurate or not. BikeRadar says the Topeak gauge is 'pretty accurate', though in reality, as long as all your tyres are approximatley the same then that's good enough for me.
I've mentioned ruggedness and nozzles already so that'll do for now. Will update as and when something breaks.
Have a good weekend all those riding this weekend for Round 3 of the ATBA championships! Hope the weather stays nice, and remember, we really want to see those videos!
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