Cyclingnews Awards: Three bike pumps that won't let you down

Unlike slightly more nuanced categories like clothing, it's a little easier to hone in on what the best bike pumps are through some scientific testing. All of the options were tested to see what pressure they could achieve in a set number of strokes, along with a real-world maximum pressure, which was always far lower than the stated maximum; effectively the pressure at which I was likely to give up and decide that's enough to ride on. 

Punctures, even with the best tubeless tyres, are a fact of life for all cyclists, but there is more to a pump than just what pressure it can achieve, or we'd all be carrying track pumps around with us. The form factor is important, as is the way the pump head mates with the valve. I always prefer a hose between the pump and the valve to avoid any risk of damage, but it's not standard.

Regardless of which one you choose, you'll need to carry one on every ride. The best CO2 inflators are great and fast, but are single use so I tend to carry both anyway. Fortunately, in mini pump terms anyway, the best of the bunch is also the cheapest of the lot for both road and gravel focussed options. 

The winners

Best overall & Best value

This was a real no-brainer. The Lifeline mini pumps, both the road version designed for lower volume and higher pressures, and the MTB (or gravel) version for larger but lower pressure tyres achieved a higher pressure than the rest for a given number of strokes, and a higher achievable pressure too, thanks to a triple segmented telescopic design. The head locks on very securely and is buffered by the hose connection to avoid any valve damage. 

No, it's not the lightest or smallest, but if those are your key metrics then perhaps you can just risk a single-shot CO2 inflator system. I'd take security and repeatability any day, and given both the options are also the cheapest in their respective categories it's clear to me these are the standout products from the test. 

Best floor pump

I have previously sworn by my Lezyne Steel Floor Drive track pump for years, but now that I primarily run tubeless, the screw-on valve connection is honestly a little tedious, and it has a habit of unscrewing the valve core after inflation, which undoes all your hard work. 

Instead, enter the Joeblow Sport III from Topeak, which I found to have the smoothest action, most stable base, and (if you're mad enough to try and set up tubeless without a booster of some kind - see below if confused) able to supply more air more quickly than any of the others I've tried. 

It's not got the build quality of a Lezyne track pump, and so I suspect longevity may not be so good, and it isn't reparable, but in terms of use as a product, it's superior and cheaper, and thanks to the quick clip on head it's a lot better for tubeless setups when you're more regularly pumping and deflating.

Honourable mention

Tubeless setup is, and there's no getting around it, more of a faff than slapping an inner tube in. Life is substantially easier with a compressor, but nobody realistically is going to buy one of those for home use. Reservoir track pumps exist, with a chargeable air tank that can be dumped into the tyre all at once, but buying a dedicated track pump seems daft if you already have a perfectly fine track pump.

That's where the Tubibooster X comes in. It's beautifully simple in that it's literally just a metal air tank with a valve on the top to attach a floor pump to, and an exit hose to attach to your tyre. Pump it up with your floor pump to around 120psi and it'll seat just about anything. The best thing though is that once the valve is open, you can leave the floor pump attached and simply pump through it to reach the desired tyre pressure.

It might seem a bit expensive for what is a metal air tank, but it's become totally invaluable in my garage, and I use it for every single tubeless setup.