Electric Air Pumps 2024

[fooferdoggie]

I was looking at Flextail's sleeping pad pumps and by chance, spotted their Tiny Bike Pump. I haven't done any research on it, but I thought I would just add to the list of options here. If anyone knows more please do share.

should get the sleeping pad too waiting for that sucker to pump your tire.

 

[Aushiker]

should get the sleeping pad too waiting for that sucker to pump your tire.

According to this article at BikeRadar, where they have actually used the pump, it took just shy of a minute each (timed at 56 and 58 seconds) to pump 45c gravel tyres, inflating both to around 55psi / 3.8 BAR. If am on the side of the road, I could live with that. That said, I would still carry my hand pump for those 'oh heck' moments, but I would leave the CO2 canisters behind.

 

[fooferdoggie]

According to this article at BikeRadar, where they have actually used the pump, it took just shy of a minute each (timed at 56 and 58 seconds) to pump 45c gravel tyres, inflating both to around 55psi / 3.8 BAR. I am on the side of the road, and I could live with that. That said, I would still carry my hand pump for those 'oh heck' moments, but I would leave the CO2 canisters behind.

ya that's not bad. but I need air so seldom usually only when I have run out of sealant that's just not cost-effective. its a lot of money to save some weight on a e-bike. my Makita does the bulk of the job If I did not already have c0-2 and hand pumps maybe. but its too late now it would be a toy.

 

[gromike]

That's some cool gear, but 89 quid is 116 dollars!

 

[Aushiker]

That's some cool gear, but 89 quid is 116 dollars!

Yes, up there with the Fumpa pumps.

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. I was caught up in the joy of not sitting on a rock roadside, pumping a little pump a zillion times by hand.

I was all caught up in the paranoia of getting a flat, and went a little overboard.

Mr Tuffy tire liners for $95

And Tannus inserts for $220 as well.


I had high expectations for my CO2 inflator and thought I'd waste a $3 cylinder to see how many tires I could fill.

I was thinking that I could fill a few car tires and a bunch of bike tires, but an entire cartridge wasn't even enough to get my 26"x4" tire to take shape !!
WTF??!!

I didn't want to waste $15-$20 worth of CO2 cartridges to find out how many it would actually take to fill my tire, so I just carried half dozen cartridges with me in my tool bag.

They were heavy, took up a ton of space, and would clunk around inside the tool bag, so I ditched them and put my little micro pump in my tool bag instead.
I just decided to take a chance on having to spend half a day pumping up a tire if I had to.


Then I got the rechargeable compressor, and carried that in my tool bag.

Then I got a new e-bike and put a second battery in a rear rack battery bag, so I had to carry some tools strapped to the top tube on my e-bike,..

I ended up getting a flat and the compressor came in real handy.
I didn't have Flat-out in my tires yet because the wheels weren't balanced so I had to reinflate my tire 3-4 times to make the 10 km trip home.

Then my rear rack broke off but I managed to attach my second battery to my top tube using Polymorph plastic to make brackets.
(It looks like crap, but it works Awesome !!)

Now I had to carry all my tools in my pockets, so I reduced everything to the bare essentials,..

My new e-bike tires are easy to work on, so I don't need tire irons, and they are on a fat bike frame with tons of clearance, especially now without the rack and fenders in the way, so I can fix a tube without removing the wheel.

The mechanics wire replaces tape and zip ties. I find it more universally usable and it stores easily.

,.. sitting on a rock roadside, pumping a little pump a zillion times by hand.

I was wondering about that and decided to try and pump up my tire (27.5"X2.8") just to see how long it would take me?

I also bought a shock pump that I carried with me until my rack broke off, so I used that,..

I pumped for five minutes and managed to get my tire from flat to 10 PSI.
That's not bad. I rode the e-bike with ~8 PSI when I got the flat, so I went back to my original micro pump for now, until I figure out a way to carry my shock pump with me.

I certainly could have paid for a rescue with all the money I've spent on flat tire prevention, maybe even rescue helicopter?

But I think it's funner buying lots of stuff than a helicopter ride.

 

[6zfshdb]

Here in the US, AAA covers bikes. Not sure about CA though.

 

[PCeBiker]

Here in the US, AAA covers bikes. Not sure about CA though.

Yeah, I think CAA might cover towing but I don't drive anymore and didn't want to pay for CAA for my ebike.
I had it for my car for a couple years and it was $70 a year but it only covered 10 km of towing, so I spent $140 to get 160 km of towing.
I canceled it after 2 years figuring $280 would have paid for a tow.

People are generally curious and helpful and I've had people stop and ask if I was OK more than half a dozen times when I stopped to swap batteries or adjust something, so I'm sure they would take $50 to drive me home.

BUT,.. If I have a breakdown on a trail, a few miles from a road, I'm going to have to get myself to the road.

I bought the Tannus inserts specifically because they said that you can ride on a flat tire at 6 mph without damaging the rim or tire, but on my first ebike with 26"X4" tires, the rear tire would fall off the rim and get jammed in the frame, so I'd have to carry the rear end of the bike.
That would suck on a trail like this with an 80 pound e-bike,..

My new e-bike has 27.5"X2.8" tires, and the tires stay on the rim when they're flat, so I'll just ride the damn thing with a flat tire to reach a road if I have to.

Meanwhile,.. I've kinda lost interest in riding on trails that are all rutted up by quads, especially when they're full of water.

I used to love playing in the muck.
Not so much anymore.

 

[Nvreloader]

Here in the US, AAA covers bikes. Not sure about CA though.

6z
Maybe in your part of the world,
When I had AAA, the first time I called AAA for help, they would NOT leave the pavement to help/get to you, that does a lot of good when there is only one paved road going thru the county and you are on a bladed gravel road with 2 flat tires... ymmv
ps,
I cancelled AAA soon there after.

 

[6zfshdb]

Yeah, AAA is only good if you can drag your disabled bike out to a paved road. For me anyway, for most of the places I ride, it's better than nothing. AAA or not, I doubt you will find any tow truck that will go off road on a bike trail. Having to drag your bike a mile or so to a paved road crossing is still a lot better than dragging it 20 miles back to my truck.

I have AAA for my vehicles, so the bike coverage is part of the premium. Sure, the money you pay in premiums over the years is far more than paying for a few tows, but the convenience of calling one number instead of trying to find a tow truck on your own is worth it to me. The AAA app also works in areas with weak cell coverage where calls won't go through. I ride in a lot of places like this so the feature is useful to me.

I suppose it all depends on where you ride and whether you're willing to pay for the convenience.

 

[PCeBiker]

I suppose it all depends on where you ride and whether you're willing to pay for the convenience.

One trick to keep in mind if you've got a flat in the middle of nowhere, is to stuff your flat tire with anything available, pine needles, weeds, garbage, anything to fill your tire so you're not riding on your rim and the tire stays on the rim.

You'll probably wreck your tube, but your tire and rim should survive.

My friend filled his mountain bike tire with pine needles when he got a flat on the trail.
It worked great and he managed to ride his bike and lumpy tire a few miles back to his car.