What a great little pump this Birzman Zacoo Tiny Tanker is. Birzman have been busy over the last couple of years making some really nice kit for your shed and the Tiny Tanker is one of their best offerings yet.
Tiny? Well, smaller than a normal floor pump. It measures 51cm high and the single foot means its footprint is very small; it's easy to tuck away in the garage or the boot of a car. The idea is that you get floor-pump performance with a bit more portability.
The Tiny Tanker is beautifully made. It's an all-alloy construction, which might mean you need to put your gloves on for early-morning inflation in the colder months, but it feels wonderfully solid to use. It's well thought out too, with the head of the hose locating into a slot in the handle to keep everything tidy.
Tech-wise, there's two standout features. The pump features an air-bleed valve which lets you adjust the pressure down a bit if you overshoot; that's a nice touch. The best thing about it, though, is the head. The Snap-It Presta head features a locking collar; you push the head on to the valve, snap the collar down and you're ready to go. It's a wonderfully simple system that creates a good seal almost every time. The only proviso is that it's a bit harder to attach to an empty tube than a screw-on head, but for checking and adjusting tyre pressures it's more or less ideal.
The Snap-It head is Presta only, so if you want to do your kids' bikes or the trailer then you just unscrew it and the remaining section is a screw-on Schraeder head which works just fine.
Inflating a 23mm tyre from flat to 100psi with the Tiny Tanker took 30 strokes. That's more than a full-size track pump but hardly an onerous task, and it's certainly not a struggle. The pump is rated to 220psi which I'd suggest is probably beyond the limit of its powers, but 120psi was no bother and that's as much air as I ever need to pump on a regular basis.
A pump like this, which is designed for full-workshop function but at a smaller size, is always going to be a compromise, but there's very few things about the Tiny Tanker that feel compromised. The only thing that was ever an annoyance was the length of the hose. You need to spin the wheel so the valve is at the bottom because the pump won't reach the top of the wheel. But that's picking holes really. It's a compact track pump that's better built, and performs better, than plenty of the full-size ones I've used. And for that it deserves to be on your shopping list.
Verdict
Great little compact track pump that's as good as most full-size ones.
road.cc test report
Make and model: Birzman Zacoo Tiny Tanker
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Zacoo Tiny Tanker is an aluminum alloy pump with a high polished premium finish. Its size, 51 x 6 x 19 cm, combined with the Snap-It valve offers very strong selling points. The Tiny Tanker is both Schrader and Presta compatible and can reach pressure of up to 220 psi. The Tiny Tanker also comes with outstanding design, the kind one came to expect from Birzman.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
10/10
Lovely. Feels like a proper quality unit.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
The short hose is the only niggle.
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
Nothing to suggest it won't last.
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
7/10
Reassuringly weighty and light enough to be portable is a balancing act...
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
7/10
The alloy handle isn't the best I've used, but it's fine.
Rate the product for value:
7/10
A high quality unit. Not cheap, but that doesn't mean it's poor value.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Hard to fault, most of the time.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Quality of construction, Snap-It head.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Short hose.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Yes.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.
Age: 40 Height: 190cm Weight: 102kg
I usually ride: whatever I'm testing... My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with SRAM Apex
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: commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track
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