Madelineoak

Hello,
I am a commuter cyclist getting a road bike for the first time, and I'm looking for a good portable pump. I have the Topeak Road Morph G on my commuter, which works great to get a tire up to pressure (and has an accurate gauge). My new bike is 16 lbs, and I'd like to get an appropriately light pump for it, but reading reviews it sounds like most of these pumps struggle to get up to 60 psi, let alone 90-110 which I would prefer. Can you refer me to a pump that could do a better job reaching ideal pressure, yet is lighter than the Road Morph?

Thanks

tagaproject6

Get 28mm tires or bigger if your bike can handle the width, so you don't have to get such high pressures.

datlas 

No portable pump is going to be as good as a home floor pump. Just use the road morph you have to get you home after a flat. Easy and saves $$$.

terrymorse 

Recommend you use a CO2 inflator on you light bike.

The light-and-small road pumps require a lot of work to get a tire up to pressure.

If you really want a pump, consider one of the combination CO2/hand pumps, like this one.

Madelineoak

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm looking at a couple of versions of the combo pumps with CO2. I don't understand quite how they work, but I like the idea of having both options available.

Ogsarg

There are plenty of mini pumps out there that will get you to 100+PSI but don't expect it to be easy. Generally speaking, the smaller the pump, the more strokes and effort it takes. I would strongly suggest that you get something that has a flexible connection to the valve stem. It will make things way easier and possibly prevent you from damaging the stem.

I carry the Topeak Racerocket and have used it a half dozen times on the road. For a 25c tire, it takes about 125 strokes to get it up to a pressure that I can ride on, which is maybe 80PSI. I've used it enough that I can generally tell when I've got enough pressure based on how hard it is to pump and it gets pretty hard. Might get pretty sick of it if I had to get to 100.

If I was getting one now, I'd probably go for something with a longer stroke to get more air per stroke.

DOS

Mini morph isn’t tiny and lacks a gauge, but is small enough to carry in a jersey and easily inflates to 100psi or more.

canklecat

TopeakRocket HP, or the longer HPX for fewer strokes to riding pressure. I have both. Best ergonomics of any mini pump I've tried. And convertible for Presta or Schrader.

Blackburn Core Slim is also very good. Comparable to the Topeak RaceRocket HPX. Functional valve core tool in end cap. Better looking but ergonomics aren't as good - sharp edged metal end caps, no rubber grip. But very good anyway.

I also carry CO2 in case I flat on a group ride but haven't needed it yet.

I *have* used my mini pumps to help other folks when their only CO2 cartridge was spent and they had a second puncture.

Kabuki12

I ride vintage road bikes and have always used my Zefal or Silca frame pumps. I was given a CO2 kit by someone who can’t ride anymore but I have never used it even though the opportunity has occurred. To be honest , I am a little intimidated by it, how does it know the pressure ? I am afraid of over inflating and ruining the tires.

TrojanHorse

"It" just equalizes with what's in the cannister. I think a 12g (roadie sized) CO2 is unlikely to asplode your tire and should get you up to about 100 psi depending on the air volume in the tire. Make sure you deflate and reinflate the tire when you get home, CO2 doesn't last.

As for light pumps, the road morph G is the smallest useful pump I've come across but it doesn't really mount nicely on a road bike. I use a lezyne road drive instead but they're hard as heck to use if you have to inflate a tire all the way up. It's basically for testing for leaks and starting a tube or when I run out of CO2

TheDudeIsHere

I really dislike CO2. I have had a couple of defects, or bummers, whatever you might call them. New canisters that are empty though never used.

I remember doing a century with a guy who swore by CO2. He had 2 on the ride. Ended up losing the air in his tire, goofed another. Ended up borrowing my frame pump right after a debate on CO2 vs pump.

Now I use the Lezyne chrome pump (model ?). It gets me up to 90 psi which is enough to get me off a mountain road and finish a ride. Fits nicely on the bike. Sadly the modern bikes have a radius in the top tube so it's hard to carry the old Zefal pump that allowed me 110.

As far as the OP, if I lost 5 or 6 pounds (maybe more) going from a commuter to a light roadie, I don't think I'd sweat a few extra grams on a pump.

canklecat

I handled every Lezyne mini pump when REI stocked the complete lineup, and just couldn't see any advantage to their design. I like some Lezyne products, especially their Road Caddy minimalist saddle bag. But they don't have the best mini pump design.

Needing to detach and reattach the hose seems unnecessarily fussy with the Lezyne. And it has the same problem I dislike with the otherwise excellent Blackburn Core Slim -- no rubber grip, hard metal edges on the end caps.

But the Blackburn includes a useful metal valve core tool. That, plus the longish stroke and efficiency and good looks, makes it worth considering. Topeak claims to with the RaceRockets, but it's soft plastic -- pretty much useless.

The Topeak is more versatile since it's convertible for Presta or Schrader. Until fairly recently one of my hybrids used Schrader rims and tubes, and the Topeak RaceRocket HP was short enough to fit in the medium sized saddlebag. While it didn't have the same volume per stroke for larger tires it was still handy on that bike.

BTW, some video tutorials show inflating the tire mounted on the bike. This usually necessitates using only one arm to push the pump. It's more efficient to inflate the tire off the bike. Then you can balance the effort between both arms, pulling the pump toward you with one hand while pushing or bracing with the other. I picked up that trick last year after my shoulder was broken and dislocated. I mostly used the injured arm to support the pump, bracing it against my torso, while using my left hand to pull the pump toward me. The hoses make it easier. The wheel can flop around a bit, no problems. Or hook a finger around a spoke to support it if you prefer. Either works fine. Now with both arms in good shape again I can pump to 90-100 psi, no problem. Just takes more strokes with a shorter mini pump -- usually around 200-300 strokes with the shorter Topeak RaceRocket HP. Around 150-200 with the HPX or Blackburn Core Slim.

Garfield Cat

A 16 lb bike: you can still use the Road Morph. Its going to be about the use of that bike. Recreational riding, training rides, no big deal. Group rides with the fast group? Maybe just the cartridges.

79pmooney

I don't have the answer to how you mount the good "portable" pumps to modern carbon fiber frames, but the answer to your question is the Zephal HPX. With it, you can get your tires up to any pressure you will ever want to ride easily. They last for years, even decades. (Zephal HPXs are black. The aluminum version is the "Classic".) The HPXx are a joy to use. ~90 easy strokes to inflate from scratch and topping off pressure is easy. (And so is getting the pump on and off without lossing air. Yes, you can damage innertube valves pumping pumping improperly. The trick is to hold your left hand around the pump head with your thumb on the tire. Now all your pumping force goes into your hand, not the valve.)

Us old-school steelies have been using those pumps and their predecessors for the past 45 years. They work. In fact they work so well you need no other inflation devices. I owned only Zephal HPS (the predecessor), one pump per bike, for 20 years and all through my racing days before I bought a floor pump. Lent my HP to a clubmate and watched him put 120 psi in his time trial tires. He was a skinny engineer/masters age racer and he accomplished this without difficulty.)

You might be able to get the plastic Zephal pump clips around the left seatstay. I've seen folks mounting their pumps there but never looked closely to see how they did it.

Ben

MagicHour

Get a CO2 kit + and micro pump as backup in jersey pocket or mounted to water bottle cage. Ie, Topeak micro rocket in carbon or AL and Genuine Innovations Microflate Nano are both very light and small carrys.

mstateglfr 

No.

You have a pump that is well designed and constructed. Its accurate and easy to inflate to pressure.

Why move away from that just to save 100g and make use more difficult?