A means of inflating your tyres is a 'must have' item on every ride. Some go for those little air cartridges, some go for the full size pump, and others choose the dinky stumpy pumps. Which ever you prefer you need to be sure you have a quality item that works when you need it. My long standing Blackburn recently gave up the ghost and I chose the German made SKS AVACS Cyber stumpy type to replace it.
Immediately you pick it up you get that sturdy, well made German engineering feel. The body, piston and handle are plastic, with plenty of section thickness, which provides the robustness to give you the confidence to put some effort into inflating a tyre if needed. The head consists of a plastic shell covering a metal valve connection assembly and alloy lever.
The pump to valve connection mechanism is suitable for both 'Prestel' and 'Schrader' type valve heads without the need to take it apart and turn the rubber around. This is achieved using a two-stage lever. Moving it from 0 - 45 degrees connects to the 'Schrader' and 45 - 90 degrees fits the 'Prestel'. This will be a bonus for those of you with two bikes with differing valve types or if your mate forgets his pump - make sure his head is screwed on next time you go out with him!
The whole thing is nicely finished with two soft rubber sleeves on the body of the pump. One provides a cap that fits into the valve mouth and keeps crap out. The other provides a stop for the handle and not only keeps trail dirt out but ensures the pump handle will stay in place no matter what angle you get the bike when riding.
The main reason I bought this pump was that the box showed it could be mounted transversely on the bike. Many full-sus frames leave few options for pump mounting and the few positions available can be a little bit too exposed to the 'family jewels' for comfort - if you get my drift! I wanted to be able to locate the pump across the bike and on the underside of the stem. This would remove it from the danger area and also keep it that bit further away from the mud zone. The blurb on the box showed that this could be done and after having a good look at the pump I didn't bother to look at the mounting assembly.
When I got the bracket out of the box I nearly took the whole thing back for a refund. Why, having designed and produced a sturdy little pump did SKS want to put it together with what looks like a cheap and nasty mounting kit? I didn't take it back (I didn't want to cancel a planned ride) and at the moment (after 3 - 4 rides) I am reasonably OK with the fact that I didn't.
The four-pronged mounting bracket fits onto almost any tube using two strips of elastic/rubber material. Holes along the length of the strips cater for differing thicknesses of tubing, so mounting on the underside of the stem is no problem. The pump can then be clipped into the bracket either parallel or at right angles to the chosen tube. Whilst the pump is held firmly in place by the bracket a separate cross shaped piece of elastic/rubber is provided that clips onto the bracket and provides a secondary securing method for the pump.
The whole assembly does seem secure (at the moment) and the secondary securing elastic would appear to be a bit belt and braces, and you certainly cannot complain about the number of mounting position options that are available to you with this system. However, how durable the plastic/rubber mounting strips and four-pronged bracket will prove to be is open to question for me!
Using the pump is as good as pumping up a tyre with a small volume pump can get. Connection to the valve is positive with no sign of leaks at any pressure currently. The handle is comfortable in the hand and I've had no problems reaching 60 psi.
The pump I like, the mounting position options I like (a lot), the mounting brackets, well I have my doubts on its durability which is a great shame. But you never know - I might be wrong, - I hope so. It should be £14.00 or less at your local bike shop if you think you want to give it a go!
Last Updated 07-02-2001
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