Nothing wrong with ParkTool

I’ve been through a number of pumps in my quest to find something portable and light, but up to the task. The Topeak seemed to have it all: a foot stand, a gauge, and a hose connector. Unfortunately it was hit or miss with getting the pump head on the valve such that air would go into the tire and not just whoosh past the valve. Next was the Panaracer, which was a bit heavier and lacked a gauge, but screwed on tightly to the valve to ensure positive inflation. The downside was it had a habit of taking the valve core with it when it was time to unhook it. On one occasion this saw me swapping out an inner tube in order to get home.

Next up was a Lezyne pump that promised everything: a digital gauge, a hose fitting and a valve core tool built into the pump head. Like the Panaracer, this one screwed onto the valve core and could unseat the core on removal, but at least it had that tool. The gauge was a bit flaky and the small pump required a lot of extra effort, so that went into the parts bin and I got a ParkTool, the same as I had for Dionysus. (In fact I took the one from Dionysus and bought a new one that’s on Hornsby now.)

The ParkTool is simple and effective. The pump head works and doesn’t undo the valve core. The pump is large enough that it doesn’t take all day to inflate the tire, but small enough to attach via the bottle cage bolts next to the crank. The only shortcoming is the direct attachment (without a hose). As the tire pressure increases and the pump requires extra effort, it’s difficult not to transfer that force into the valve steam. And at that point the pump head starts to leak.

It’s starting to sound like I’ve gone through pumps like I have saddles in my quest for perfection. And yes, it’s roughly the same number.

Someone mentioned the Silca pumps recently (in the context of the fragile Click valves), and so I had a look through their line-up. The Tattico is highly rated, and not cheap. It’s pretty much the same size as the ParkTool (sorry, no weigh-off this time) but has a hose attachment. It looks like a somewhat smaller pumping volume, so it will take more strokes to fill the tire.

I saw mention of a Bluetooth model that will pair with a smartphone app to provide a tire pressure read-out, but this one doesn’t have that.

Kuroko was in the stand in the bicycle parking garage when I made the swap. I just titled the stand down as I would if I was removing the bike, but left it there while I did the work. As I’d guessed, a 4mm hex, two bolts, and I was done in a minute. The review will have to wait until I actually need to use the thing — and let’s hope it’s a good review.