You often only realise how important a floor pump is when it's too late. For example, when the inner tube gives out its life with an abrupt "pfffft" after a puncture. With the right tyre pressure, the puncture could possibly have been avoided. And for the right pressure - normally seven to eight bar on a road bike - you need a good floor pump. With frame pumps or mini pumps, it is often difficult and imprecise to pressurise the tyre.
But what makes a good floor pump? First and foremost, it should fill the tyre with air quickly and with as little effort as possible. To do this, it needs a cylinder that is not too thick (the larger the piston cross-section, the greater the effort required to pump), a T-handle that is easy to grip, a stable base and a precise, easy-to-read pressure gauge so that you know when you have pumped enough air. A sensibly designed pump head is also important. State-of-the-art models have a locking lever that presses the rubber seal firmly against the valve during pumping. This prevents air from escaping between the seal and the valve. And the clampable rubber seal lasts longer because it is exposed to less friction when it is placed on the valve. For our test, we selected 14 pumps between €14.90 and €125 from eleven manufacturers.
You can find these models in the PDF download:
BBB Air Raid II
Bicycles Alloy Floor Pump MP-067
Blackburn Airtower 5
Oakland Clever Valve Pro
Pedros Prestige
Pro High Pressure Team
SKS Racing Compressor
SKS Airbase Pro
Specialised Airtool Comp
Topeak JoeBlow Pro
Topeak JoeBlow Sport
Xtreme Air Jumper
Zéfal Alaskan Graph
Zéfal Air 1
Downloads:
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