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Xtreme Airik mini pump

3
£17.90

VERDICT:

3
10
If you want something tiny that'll blow up your tyres, get a CO2 inflator
Weight: 
66g
Contact: 
www.rosebikes.co.uk

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A pump that fits in the palm of your hand? Capable of 130psi? Excuse my cynicism but we've been here before, on many occasions, and the outcome is more often that not the same: pump doesn't deliver. That's the case here, sadly.

The nicely-constructed Airik has a smooth barrel and is genuinely tiny, at just 12cm long. It's Presta only and the first problem is that it screws onto the second, wider thread on the valve: fine if you have a second thread, a major problem if you don't. The pump simply didn't function at all on 8 out of the 10 presta wheels in the office.

Assuming you've got the right inner tube then the pump screws on nice and snug and it's time to start pumping. You can forget about cramming 130psi into your tyres though. That might be possible on the blackboard or with some kind of beefy robot arm in the lab, but by the side of the road, in the rain, 90 miles in? I limited myself to 250 strokes which is more than you'd be prepared to throw at the problem on a ride, and the result was a just-about-get-you-home 65psi. We carried on for a bit and managed to squeak 80psi before our arm muscles gave out and there was a small crater in my palm from the end of the pump.

Verdict

Not much to recommend this one I'm afraid. If it was any good then it would be great that it's so small, but that's the reason it isn't any good. Hey ho. If you want something tiny that'll blow up your tyres, get a CO2 inflator.

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Xtreme Airik mini pump

Size tested: Black

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
2/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
7/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
9/10
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
 
4/10
Rate the product for value:
 
3/10

Did you enjoy using the product? No

Would you consider buying the product? No

Would you recommend the product to a friend? No

Overall rating: 3/10

About the tester

Age: 37  Height: 190cm  Weight: 96kg

I usually ride: whatever I\\\'m testing...  My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with Ultegra 6700

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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1 comments

Avatar
handlebarcam | 13 years ago
0 likes

I get it, it is called the Airik because it pumps air and is the size of a lipstik. Pity it sounds like in actuality it is a load of shiss.

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