Road Mini Pump

[BikeTyson]

I spent tons of time researching this last year. The BBB doubleshot is new to me but looks like an interesting mini pump performance, use ergonomics, and weight (83g posted above) in a stored micro size and therefore sounds interesting if you can accept the weight.

After researching and trying tons if you are trying to optimize weight, size, and performance first you have to think about what bike you are using the pump with.
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If you need high PSI you need a mini pump or larger if not using CO2 unless you are fine inflating to like 60psi and riding home thinking of how awesome your ride could have been until you got an arm workout and had to head home instead on a limp tire. The mini pumps are generally over 80g. The best one I've tested in weight to performance is the lezyne carbon road drive HP but that one blurs the line between mini and micro size and the best performing ones are generally above 100g. I think the wider ones are better than the long ones for similar volume per stroke (man that sounds wrong) as well as easier storage.
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Micro pump are inherently design compromises, on top of the mini design compromises, and tons of them are trash (I'm looking at you Topeak micro Rocket "carbon" which is actually metal with a removable carbon vanity sleve and is around 60g). With a micro pump you need to accept lower presure and will be pumping longer due to lower chamber volume which is just physics. Also while a directly connected mini pump is generally ergonomically fine it becomes a real pain at the micro size.
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The best micro pump I've found is the iPump micro which has tons of good usability features for such a small pump. Its designer has more than a few screws loose and attacks his customers online but the product is very good if you accept the inherent compromises of a micro pump. The handle is quite nice for pumping with such a small pump and helps get to medium pressures so I'd avoid the lighter version. Micro designs where you have to pump with the head attached to the valve are also quite challenging ergonomically (barbieri nana)
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I wish the crazy guy at iPump just made a version with a really wide chamber which added like 8g then micro pumps could compete in performance with mini pumps.

At the end of the day you have to wonder why there are so many mini and micro pump designs and there are a never ending string of new ones being released? Could it be that they are all design compromises??? No that couldn't be.

Dont even get me started on the trash jersey electronic pumps.

Does the iPump have a hose? I was looking at that one and the hose is a must have for me. I tried the Barbieri Nana and hated that you had to hold the pump on the valve stem. So much harder to use.

[OtterSpace]

Does the iPump have a hose? I was looking at that one and the hose is a must have for me. I tried the Barbieri Nana and hated that you had to hold the pump on the valve stem. So much harder to use.

Yes it has a hose that according the designer is made from the strongest material known to man McDonald's straws and is literally indestructible

Here is a pic from the marketing material:

Screenshot 2024-03-11 080932.png (124.66 KiB) Viewed 344 times

The hose works well is narrower than any other pumps and if it ever kinks the whole pump and your ride would be toast. It seems fairly good but I've only owned the pump for around half a year.

Another complaint people have is that the hose is threaded and can unscrew valve cores. I've never ran into an issue but just an FYI.

The marketing material says it can get to 120PSI but like all mini pumps anything past 60 will be difficult.

The whole classic thread on this pump is worth a reading if just for a laugh but should be required reading for anyone considering buying an iPump. With tires now running lower pressure the iPump makes more sense than it did then but before purchasing everyone should know just how nuts the iPump guy is, see how he treats his customers, and decide if you want to support such a person.

[OtterSpace]

Depends on what pressure you consider sufficient to enjoy the rest of the ride. When you are somewhat old-school in tire taste and not very light, the wider ones will reach the point where you can't finish the stroke before reaching the pressure target.

That's the problem with multi-telescopic pumps: when the outer cylinder is narrow enough for high pressure, the inner cylinder is very low volume. And because physics dictate that the inner cylinder requires less force at a given pressure, it engages at the beginning of the stroke, leaving you to suffer through the high-pressure end of the stroke on the wider outer cylinder.

That's the problem BBB is trying to solve with the both the Samurai and the Doubleshot: The Samurai can lock the outer cylinder, allowing to convert it into a short but pressure-capable narrow pump at the high end of the inflation, and the Doubleshot avoids the problem entirely by making both cylinders exactly the same diameter, at the cost of higher storage volume.

If a company invented some clever mechanism to make the wider cylinder in a multi-telescopic pump engage before the narrow cylinder engages, so that every sub-stroke of the narrow cylinder starts with the generous air volume of the wider cylinder already compressed into the remaining volume, that company would be the undisputed king of minipumps forever (well, until the patent runs out)

Thanks for the info its a bit early in the morning for me so it will take awhile to process but this looks well thought out.

I keep a variety of road bikes with between 22mm to 42mm WAM most of which use Berd wheels that absorb road buzz well so I tend to ride higher pressures than calculators recommend.

[naavt]

I like it due to the size. Straight in a jersey pocket for me.
What is it like to use? Pumps ok?

I don't have the experience of a Topeak Rocket to compare, but I can tell that it pumps easily and is straighforward. On paper is much more efficient than a Topeak, with 35cc per stroke.

[warthog101]

I like it due to the size. Straight in a jersey pocket for me.
What is it like to use? Pumps ok?

I don't have the experience of a Topeak Rocket to compare, but I can tell that it pumps easily and is straighforward. On paper is much more efficient than a Topeak, with 35cc per stroke.

Thanks