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Crank Brothers designed this pump a few years ago. Long before they launched the Egg Beater pedal (and their latest pedal incarnation, the Quattro road pedal). This Power Pump was in fact one of their first products along with the Speed Lever (a special tyre lever that removed a tyre in a nanosecond). Like the Zefal HPX frame pump and the Silca track pump this is a design classic for inflation that hasn’t changed much since it’s first release. This one is nearly 7 years old now and I’d forgotten how good it was until I fixed (yet another) flat tyre this morning.
The clever bit is the dual piston switch in the base of the pump. This allows you to either dispatch a large volume of air or a small volume. So with a road tyre you start with position 1 and when the pumping becomes too difficult, switch to position 2. Once in this position the smaller volume of air is easier to dispatch and allows you to slowly reach the required pressure.
100 PSI is easily attained, albeit with a lot of pumps, the best thing is that they have a solid construction and a valve catch that actually works. Where most mini pumps fail is they pop off the valve and you loose all that valuable air in a frustrating moment. The Crank Bros. locking valve stays put, allowing you to concentrate your efforts on pumping. So the Power Pump is effortless and full inflation takes about a minute (once you have the hang of it). Actually just timed myself and it took me 2 minutes 50 seconds, it just seemed like a minute…
There is a version available with a pressure gauge should you feel it necessary to have a guide to work to, but the simplicity is the beauty of this pump and with replaceable parts being available and a lifetime warranty it’s pretty hard to beat for space saving inflation. It has a quality feel to it and, best of all, it fits easily into your jacket pocket.
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 The ‘turbo’ boost |
 packs a powerful punch |
 truly pocket sized |
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To look at the Crank Bros. range, including the new Quattro pedal, go here
