Hand pump vs battery powered tire pump

[Naranja_CT5+]

I have a couple of foot pumps at home plus a 12v car inflator. I was thinking of the one I carry with me on the road. I saw deal at Amazon for $50 bucks for electric. But I don?t know their quality.

On the other hand I can probably get a more reliable hand pump with gauge for the same price.
One thing I have to keep in check are the accessories that I add to the bike. Electric pumps are heavier than hand pumps.

Opinions?

[JimInPT]

I've had this one for a couple of years and it seems very well made.  I've never actually needed it on the road, but bought it after I had to use my little toolkit emergency pump with a 2" stroke to help a lady pump up her fat-tire tube and that wore out my forearm and patience, so got this one.  Due to its rugged construction, it is a little heavy, but on an e-bike who cares?  I carry it, and other stuff, in a handlebar bag in the rear basket that I can flip out of the way:  https://www.radowners.com/index.php/topic,9800.msg24885.html

I just did a pre-season charging on it and it still seems to work perfectly.  One nice feature is that you can set the pressure you want for your particular bike and it'll shut off when it hits that, making it easy to use.  The display is illuminated as well; handy for night work.  You can also use its battery to recharge a cellphone with the included USB cable and it has a built-in LED flashlight function as well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZFQJQRV

[crorris]

There is another option - CO₂


This is what I carry.


https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/bike-accessories/bike-pumps-accessories/bike-pumps/bontrager-pro-flat-pack/p/21794/?colorCode=black


There's many others similar to this one on Amazon at a much lower cost. I believe there's a Pro Bike Tool one that has good reviews and is only about $17 for just the inflator and you just buy the cartridges separately. I bought this one at Trek because I wanted it right then and their store is less than a mile from my house. I used a mini hand pump before I got this.


I think if I was going to buy an electric one now, I would probably go with something like this because it's small/lightweight.


https://www.amazon.com/ROCKBROS-Electric-Portable-Inflator-Aluminium/dp/B0C77398NP/ref=sxin_17_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.1fb53c04-184b-4ac6-8b11-5a846553a04c%3Aamzn1.sym.1fb53c04-184b-4ac6-8b11-5a846553a04c&crid=2XMUBY4O5U0Q9&cv_ct_cx=mini+bike+tire+pump&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.j-L2T6Mx905P8C0D7CUSmIfid1VNdgc694kOAzj_2yQ4KgPAcUi82ln2xcNUtbhnV9K4G5W1okRYp1WLZA-Opg.I2HSZIjdCZVkRAEvBq2SH6EBjIjgvmYZ0z8hxplu6T4&dib_tag=se&keywords=mini+bike+tire+pump&pd_rd_i=B0C77398NP&pd_rd_r=2bd10e37-53f0-4286-aea5-c326363dbafa&pd_rd_w=LY5wx&pd_rd_wg=isOmU&pf_rd_p=1fb53c04-184b-4ac6-8b11-5a846553a04c&pf_rd_r=XWWZMH14N1RCQ4S0GTJ8&qid=1712926144&s=sporting-goods&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=Mini+bike+%2Csporting%2C118&sr=1-28-8e50c834-abaf-4c1d-a9b3-ecee2912e9bc-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1

[mrgold35]

I started with the Topeak Mountain Morph Bike Pump for my fat tire ebike with a tube.  It was a little bulky to store on ebike, took around 20 pumps for one PSI increase, and can be difficult to pump and seat the tire at the same time.

I later upgraded to Ryobi P737 and then later to the P747 to use at home for my ebikes and vehicles.  The battery powered pumps are faster and easier to use.  I like the option of using battery pumps with (e)bikes and vehicles at home or away.  I usually toss the P747 in the SUV hatch for any out of town road tire w/ or w/o ebikes.

I just purchased the USB rechargeable Fanttik X8 Ace Bike Pump 150PSI Fast Portable Tire Inflator, $50, Amazon.  It has enough power to do vehicles and ebike tires.  The small compact size works way better in my Topeak MTX rack bag compared to the Topeak hand pump.  I now toss this portable air pump in the hatch for road trips.

[Naranja_CT5+]

I have used the Ryobi before and I liked it, but perhaps for home use.
Thanks to both of you for the suggestions.

[Eric7]

I think for bicycles the electric pumps are OK.

I have never had a battery powered pump last when used on car tires. They usually burn out after 6 months if I am working them hard. Working them hard means, for example, pumping up 4 tires of an SUV if they are all low. I am not blaming them, they are made for a lower price point and use tiny, even by hand pump standards, pumps no bigger than maybe 1 square inch or 16 square centimeters. The small pump concentrates the heat.

Something to think about. Why are you using a pump on the road. If your tires are low to begin with, it should have been pumped up to begin with. If you have a leak, a pump can barely help. You need a patch.  So maybe one of those fix a flat things are better.  Are you really going to patch the rear tube on the side of the road? Remember all the work required to remove the rear tire. All the work to fix a flat without removing the rear tire. I use a lot of slime (or whatever alternative) and carry a credit card and plan to use a ride service, maybe hire an SUV, to go home or go to my car if I have a flat. I also carry a cell phone and I don't even carry a pump or a patch kit.  I plan to sit in a cafe, if one is available, and wait for help. But if I am riding in a remote area, I plan to carry a fix a flat type inflation/sealing device.

[John Rose]

I carry a small manual pump that mounts under my water bottle holder. I don't recall it being too much effort to pump up a 20" fat tire.
A CO2 cartridge seems to me the poorest choice, if you have a chronic leak. What do you do when it runs out?
At home I have an 120V AC-powered pump for the cars and the bikes:

And, since I can never trust the gauges built into pumps, an inline pressure gauge with a handy little bleed valve:

... All the work to fix a flat without removing the rear tire. ...

What? Completely deflate the tire, push the bead in along a short section, pull out the part of the tube with the hole (if you know where it is). Patch it, push it back in and re-inflate.

[Naranja_CT5+]

There is another option - CO₂

As a youngster we used a lot of CO₂ for airsoft pistols and I have learned to hate them for their single use purposes. But I do agree that they are a lifesaver when you are in the middle of nowhere and no airpump.

UPDATE:
Amazon had a sale, the X9 was the same price as the X8 Ace so I bought the X9. It took a couple of minutes to get used to but it seemed fine. It has a bit of weight which I like. There's ventilation on both top & bottom. My tires says 21 psi and when I pump it to 30. It seemed to take the same amount of time as any electric inflators but it's palm size. I just wished Fanttik would add a longer extension tube as an accessory.