amazinmets73

Title says it all. Looking for the least obtrusive carry pump for riding. C02 cartridges have too slim a margin for error. Two strikes and you're out. I'm willing to sacrifice efficiency for size but it needs to be able to get me home.

DrIsotope

Lezyne Road Drive is 180mm long (about 7") and weighs a scant 82g (3oz.) There's a carbon version that shaves another 10g. And it actually works.

amazinmets73

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Lezyne-...-/202524250178

This thing?

DrIsotope

No, this thing. Or alternately, Carbon Lite Drive. I've had a Road Drive behind my seattube water bottle cage for 2 years now. I have no complaints.

datlas 

Realize that the smaller ones will take longer to pump. Like 200+ strokes. I strongly advise getting one with a hose connection, the direct ones can bend and/or wreck the valve if you are in a hurry (like when you are angry at your stupid flat!).

I honestly prefer CO2 for group/club rides to save time, pump for solo rides when time not an issue.

noodle soup

+1

on a group ride, pumps are for chumps.

MagicHour

Topeak Micro Rocket AL/Carbon is tiny and pretty good, especially if you still plan on carrying CO2 and using pump as a backup. It’ll get you home but takes around 5 minutes and a couple hundred pumps.

woodcraft

This works for me- Blackburn airstick.

6" long, fits in saddlebag. I don't get many flats, & groups often include a frame pump or such,

but it gets pulled out for use by others as well. It's a workout to fill a tire, but so what.

seedsbelize 

I also have a tiny Blackburn, with a hose. It's a struggle to reach 100 psi, though it can be done. I pretty much opted for another Zefal frame pump.

jimincalif

Yes, I carry both this pump (fits in my saddle bag - Topeak medium), and CO2. I use the CO2 but like having a backup plan.

cycledogg

Until there are no cartridges left!
You: Hey, Bud, you gotta spare co2 ?
Bud: Nope, just used it.
You:

MagicHour

Not mentioned in my previous reply, I also have the same Blackburn (Airstik SL). They're both decent mini pumps, I slightly prefer the Topeak for Ergonomic reasons when pumping, BUT I keep the Topeak cage-mounted on another bike offsite for part of the season, so the Blackburn is the one I grab.

woodcraft

If you don't care about weight (or cost),

this one looks pretty good.

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...pero-hand-pump

There was also an uber-skinny CF line out a while back, but I don't think it was ready for prime time.

canklecat

Topeak RaceRocket HP. Best mini-pump I've tried or owned. The Lezynes look really nifty but the ergonomics aren't quite as friendly. I was disappointed because I really wanted the Lezyne -- it just looks good and is cleverly designed. Ditto my Blackburn Core Slim, which is longer and has more ooomph per stroke, but the hard metal edges dig in after 150 or so strokes.

The Topeak RaceRocket is very carefully designed to be as ergonomic as possible. Rubber grip on the bottom, rounded ends with rubbery caps, very smooth stroke, a hose just long enough to avoid jerking the valve too much, and an adjustable chuck for Presta or Schrader. My Blackburn Core Slim is Presta only.

I like the Topeak so well I plan to get the fatter version for mountain bike tires. Fatter tube, more volume per stroke but less pressure. They also make an HPX version, slightly longer than the regular HP, also for road bikes to get 'em up over 110 psi. I never pump higher than 100 or so psi on my 700x23 tires, so the regular HP is good enough. Usually I just go by feel, which works out to 75-85 psi. I weigh 150 so that's good enough for me.

Trick to using a mini-pump effectively is to brace the butt into your fist and brace the fist against your torso. Hook a finger around a spoke or the rim. Pull the wheel and upper end of the pump together toward your torso. It's less tiring to use your bicep, shoulder and lats than to push with the triceps.

I learned that technique last year after my right shoulder was dislocated and broken. First trip on the road bike, six weeks into recovery, I had a flat. It was excruciating to use my regular technique for pumping. After a few minutes I changed my technique, and used the right arm only to brace the pump, and the left to do the work. Worked perfectly. I'm still using it.

That's actually harder to do with a longer pump, like a full length frame pump like my old Zefal. A mini-pump takes more strokes but isn't particularly tiring with the right technique.

noodle soup

When you are on a group ride, with multiple people carrying 2 CO2 cartridges, a pump is unnecessary. More than 1 flat on a road ride, has happened to me twice(in 41 years of road cycling). When I rode tubed tires, I would always carry 2 tubes + 2 CO2 cartridges.

Now that I went tubeless, I carry 1 tube, and 1 CO2 cartridge.

If I'm doing a solo ride with a mix of gravel/pavement, I do carry a Blackburn Airstick SL in case I want to vary tire pressure for the conditions.

deacon mark

I don't think so, my pump as an endless supply of air and I do carry co2 but they can not work right if you get in a hurry and are not careful. So I say it is the brains that carry the air because lots of room for error.

cycledogg

Yeah, and I would hate to be the "chump" trying to bum a co2 cartridge to pump my tire.

noodle soup

What goes around, comes around. The group I ride with is a pretty close group of friends, and we don't worry about giving a friend a CO2 cartridge if someone is having an unlucky day(multiple flats). We all carry 2 cartridges, and I can't recall the last time our group got multiple flats on a ride

I'm not saying it's a bad Idea for someone to carry a mini-pump, but I'd be irritated if someone started using a pump when CO2 is available,

I'd hate to be the chump that holds up the group by using a pump.

If your friends give you a hard time about needing a CO2 cartridge, maybe you should find some better people to ride with.

TimothyH

Co2 is plan A while a mini pump is plan B.

I've had a Co2 inflator freeze to the valve and it doesn't come off easily on cold winter days. Late, tired, cold/hot, bonked at the end of a long ride - they can be fumbled.

Its nice to start a tube with a pump to be sure part of the tube isn't caught under the bead. If someone isn't willing to wait a few minutes while a rider seats his tube so that it doesn't flat a second time then they can ride on and we'll catch up, or not.

A guy I ride with carries a full size frame pump sticking out of his jersey pocket. It is funny to see but everyone knows Rich when they seem him riding.

I carry a Lezyne Carbon Road Drive for high pressure and a Lezyne HV Drive for low pressure/gravel. Both are unobtrusive in a jersey pocket. The carbon pump is like a piece of jewelry.






-Tim-

WhyFi

Bumming a cartridge when you're completely unprepared is one thing - it's poor form to not have a cartridge or pump of your own. But if you're on your second or third flat of the ride? Way different story.

Wildwood 

I've blown more than 1 new tube with CO2, so I use a cheap small pump for the first 10psi. It's also a backup if ever needed. Getting the tube/tubular to 10+psi allows for full inflation pressure (for me) with 28&30mm tires.

cycledogg

The folks I ride with don't consider those who carry a pump, "chumps". Nor do they mind waiting for someone to air up a tire using one.

noodle soup

Nothing wrong with carrying a pump, but holding up a group ride to use one is rude.

TimothyH

It is rude only if the group decides it is.

I understand that not all group rides are the same. There are groups where it is frowned upon and groups where it is perfectly fine. There are also groups where riders are left for dead. I've been on all three types.

Everyone is free to choose how they react.


-Tim-

noodle soup

We don't leave riders for dead, but we hate to get held up by someone screwing around with a pump(when it's unnecessary).