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TECH NEWS

Could this pocket-sized electric pump consign mini pumps and CO2 cartridges to history?

This nifty pump weighs just 178g, inflates an inner tube to 120psi, and comes with a digital display

If you like the sound of a lightweight, pocket-sized electric pump that can automatically inflate an inner tube up to 120 psi, you need to check out the EausAir project on Kickstarter very quickly because it ends soon.

There are lots of little electric pumps out there these days, but the creators of EausAir Mini pump say this is “the world’s lightest and most portable 120psi visual inflator”.

2023 EausAir Mini Pump - 1

It weighs a claimed 178g and measures 51.8mm x 35.9mm x 75.8mm, so you can easily carry it in a jersey pocket. For comparison, the Topeak Pocket Rocket – the best manual mini pump out there – is 109g, so we’re not talking about a vast difference.

> Best cycling mini pumps 2023 — tiny tools to get your tyres topped up 

The Bosch EasyPump (£69) that we reviewed last year was quite a bit more at 420g, and much bulkier too. For even more context (hey, why not while we've got the scales out?) an Apple iPhone 13 comes in at 173g, so very similar.

2023 EausAir Mini Pump - 4

The EausAir Mini features an aluminium alloy body, works on Schrader, Presta and Dunlop valves, and has a digital display. Many inflators at this size and price lack a screen, leaving you to guess your tyre pressure or rely on a quick press of your thumb. Inflation stops automatically when your inner tube hits the pressure you’ve set.   

2023 EausAir Mini Pump - 3

The team behind EausAir reckons it has an airflow of 20L per minute and will inflate a 700 x 23 tyre – if anyone is still running 23s – to 100psi in about 28 seconds. The sensor accuracy is claimed to be within +/-1 psi. The built-in 600mAh battery charges in 39mins via USB-C and there's a battery-level indicator on the display.

You need to pledge at least $89 (around £73) to be in line to receive a EausAir Mini pump, and you need to do it before 12:57pm (UK time) on Monday, 30th October. As we always point out with crowdfunding, it’s not the same as buying through a retailer – rewards aren’t guaranteed. Delivery is planned for January 2024.

2023 EausAir Mini Pump - 5

What do you reckon? Is it time to ditch the annoying mini pump and/or avoid the faff of CO2 cartridges and go electric? Or does the potential for a flat battery put you off? We’re interested in hearing your thoughts.

Find out more here

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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54 comments

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Zjtm231 | 6 months ago
0 likes

Kickstarter - run. a. mile.

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marmotte27 replied to Zjtm231 | 6 months ago
0 likes

The Isola Press books on the Rough Stuff Society and Jobst Brandt were Kickstarter projects. (I'm not necessarily saying that this pump thing is a good idea...)

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AReadman | 6 months ago
1 like

Heavy, relatively expensive and Kickstarter.The cheap, made in China, Rockbros one weighs 97 grams. It does 100psi which should be enough.

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sykoor replied to AReadman | 6 months ago
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Rockbros and Cycplus (which I have purchased on Amazon) are both 100PSI and lightweight because they are made of plastic, while Eausair is all metal. Maybe the weight is here. It feels like an upgraded version of them. But if you are very strict about weight, then I think the first two are also good choices.

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wtjs | 6 months ago
2 likes

An obvious outbreak of hyping of products. These people should be removed.

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sykoor replied to wtjs | 6 months ago
0 likes

Obviously you have never used this product. I bought a similar product on Amazon with a lower configuration than this one. It is very convenient to use when riding. This is real time, there are few similar products on Amazon, I discovered it by accident, but it is really useful.

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LookAhead replied to sykoor | 6 months ago
4 likes

I can't tell if you're a bot or just a really bad and awkward writer who's being paid to pimp this product👍👍

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sykoor replied to LookAhead | 6 months ago
1 like

I don't quite accept your statement. It's an unfounded accusation. As a cycling enthusiast, I'm just interested in such products and participating in the discussion. And I am not recommending that you must buy it. I am just stating the fact that I have purchased similar products on Amazon and have used them well so far. As for whether you buy it or not, no one can force you. Everyone has the right to choose.

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Cugel replied to sykoor | 6 months ago
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sykoor wrote:

 As for whether you buy it or not, no one can force you. Everyone has the right to choose.

Wrong on both counts!

Well, some don't think that the effect of advert, fashion, peer pressure and so forth are "forcing" because the little homunculus said to live inside us all is somehow free of all such influences, and full of objective rationality, to enable "correct" chocies to be made. But that's just made-up-stuff. Adverts, fashion and peer pressure all work to cause we consumers to consume stuff that we have no need for in any practical sense. Why do you think such techniques exist?

As to the right to choose .... even if there was a rational homunculus able to do so, if you ain't got the dosh, you can't "choose" all sorts of things, such as a bicycle costing thousands and thousands or even food, in millions of cases within Blighty alone.

And then there's the things we should be able to choose but can't because some git has removed them. A swim in the sea or a river without getting torpedoed by a turd, for example, is very difficult for many unless they travel a hundred miles or more to somewhere free of badly run efluent facilities. Many will try to drive to such a place but this choice will be denied by a loon in a car crashing into them.

And so forth.

Or, to put it another way: WAKE UP*.  1

" Mind, we may wake from one mad cultural dream only to find ourselves in another. Then another, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. 'Tis the fate of all we poor human-things, infested with the memeplexes of cultural mind-fungi.

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sykoor replied to Cugel | 6 months ago
1 like

Um, how should I put it, I think everyone has their own understanding. I’m not averse to new tech products, and I even love these gadgets.
As for what you said about consumer advertising, isn’t Apple, the best mobile phone in the world, also full of advertisements? This does not affect people's love for it and the fact that Apple's advertising contains fraudulent and false propaganda, etc.
Also, if you think it does not have such technology and is not practical, then I can tell you that it is really too practical for me. I bought a similar model on Amazon in July this year, although it It's not as good as the Eausair, but I believe the customer reviews on Amazon have proven that it does work. I'm using it myself and it really helps me.
So, I think the discussion about consumerism and advertising can end here. Everyone's views are based on their own social practice and cognition, so I respect everyone's views. This does not mean that you are wrong, because everyone's exit is different.

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nortonp | 6 months ago
2 likes

FFS.... more "technology" that we don't need.

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Pot00000000 replied to nortonp | 6 months ago
2 likes

Try changing that "we" to you 🤣

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Cugel replied to Pot00000000 | 6 months ago
0 likes

Pot00000000 wrote:

Try changing that "we" to you 🤣

Nah - "we" is very reasonable. 

It would be an interesting exercise to list all of the cycling gubbins things with a marker: "not needed by anyone" vs "not needed by most" vs "needed by a few" vs "universally beneficial". Or summick.

Besides these silly-pumps, what else is universally not-needed by cyclists? I'll add: the handlebar data-collection gizmo (all types).

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chrisonabike replied to Cugel | 6 months ago
3 likes
Cugel wrote:

It would be an interesting exercise to list all of the cycling gubbins things with a marker: "not needed by anyone" vs "not needed by most" vs "needed by a few" vs "universally beneficial". Or summick.

A front wheel, by those with legs?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XD2eRIgBgI4

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billymansell | 6 months ago
0 likes

What I'd like to see is an electric pump in a mini pump design based around a 1500mAh 18650 cell.

There a a couple of electric mini pump models on Aliexpress but they're very basic and with limited capacity.

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sykoor replied to billymansell | 6 months ago
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In fact, I think the battery capacity is not a big problem, originally cycling needs to be light, but if such a large capacity battery instead of bulky and not conducive to carry. The purpose of this kind of MINI air pump is to deal with the unexpected situation of flat tire, emergency only. I bought one from Amazon that is only 300mAh, but it's enough for emergencies, I used it twice and felt it was just enough to be good.

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oadesign | 6 months ago
1 like

I've heard these small electric pumps get too hot to hold when in use. I'd be curious to know if that is a factor with this design as well.

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Me_ replied to oadesign | 6 months ago
1 like

I've had a mini fumpa since 2019. The manufacturer warns against using the new tubolito style tubes without an adaptor as the pump head might melt the plastic valve but the main body barely gets any hotter and is certainly nowhere near too hot to hold.

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Sredlums | 6 months ago
3 likes

Seems everybody forgets mini pumps, cartridges and now these electric pump thingies aren't the only options.

I don't use cartridges (I hate throwaway stuff, and I wouldn't feel secure no matter how many I would bring with me on a ride anyway).
Mini pumps are only good at being mini. They sucks at actually pumping up tires. I'm not an impatient guy, but I always feel like an idiot when I'm doing over one hundred 10cm strokes only to find that it still isn't enough.
These electric pumps are expensie, noisy, and - like with cartridges - I would not feel secure because of its limited capacity. And I don't want another thing to charge.

So what do I use?
Simple: a slightly larger pump. I have the Hybrid Bike Hand Pump from Decathlon.
It's super cheap but solid quality, and the bigger size and the hose makes all the difference in the actual pumping.
It fits in my frame bag easily, and when I don't carry that bag it's strapped on the down tube with two simple straps.

No charging, no endless pumping, no need to keep buying cartridges.
K.I.S.S. 

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sykoor replied to Sredlums | 6 months ago
0 likes

The manual pump is really troublesome to use and cumbersome to operate, which wastes time and energy. I bought a MINI air pump similar to this one on Amazon, but that one only has 300mAh, and this one seems to have higher configuration than the one on Amazon. I'm a little excited, but I have already bought one and the experience is quite good. It is not as bad as you said. This is a fact. I've seen the manual model from Dicatron in the supermarket, but I didn't like it very much.

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Sredlums replied to sykoor | 6 months ago
4 likes

Troublesome…?

No charging, no keeping an eye on the charge level, no worries about wether or not you have enough charge left if you get more flats, no questionable performance in colder temperatures…
You screw the hose on to the valve, and pump up the tire. That's it. Takes about a minute, two minutes tops.

If you call that cumbersome than, well, yeah… I'd advise to envite your bike shop mechanic with you on every ride.

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sykoor replied to Sredlums | 6 months ago
0 likes

At least I feel like most of the time when I ride I don't want to carry bulky stuff, it puts me off really, maybe everyone doesn't think or feel the same way. I still like the convenience of technology. Similar to how a lot of people like to carry a bulky DSLR camera when they go out on a trip, but I feel like using my phone to take pictures is enough for the main scenario functions as well.

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Sredlums replied to sykoor | 6 months ago
2 likes

I like the convenience of technology too, it's just that on the one hand I don't think these electric pumps are actually very convenient yet (for the reasons I stated), and on the other the simple pump I have is way more convenient then most (smaller) mini pumps. It's a little bigger, but it's very light and strapped to my bike or in my frame bag, so any never actually experience its 'bulkiness'.

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marmotte27 replied to Sredlums | 6 months ago
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Jules59 | 6 months ago
1 like

Are punctures such a frequent problem that its really worth investing in an expensive electrical pump of variable capability ? 
I last had a puncture riding the Way of the Roses in 2020. Since then Ive done LEJOG and Munich/Rome without punctures - maybe I was just lucky.

Also one advantage of moving to wider tyres is that they are easier to manually inflate with a hand pump.

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sykoor replied to Jules59 | 6 months ago
1 like

I bought a similar model on Amazon. The configuration is lower than this, but it is enough. I bought it in July. In September, my friend and I were riding in the mountains, and sharp branches directly punctured the tires. It's really terrible. Bad luck. Fortunately, the MINI air pump came in handy the first time I brought it on. Otherwise, encountering a flat tire outdoors would be a real headache.

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Oldfatgit replied to Jules59 | 6 months ago
2 likes

Don't know if the *puncture* is the problem, or where the tyre went flat *is*.

I ride through a couple of areas of Glasgow that are densely populated with pedestrian, have narrow pavements and a reasonably high Ned content.

A puncture in that area, I'd try to shove a CO2 cannister in there first to get me somewhere a touch safer to deal with the tube replacement.
In more suburban areas, I'd probably use CO2 or an electric pump as I just want to to get rolling again ..
I don't feel particularly safe dealing with punctures in urban areas; I'm a vulnerable solo target with easily stolen expensive kit, diverted attention and just want to get away quicky.
It's not changing the tube that takes time ... its the finding the cause of the puncture in the first place so it doesn't then do the same to the next tube.

I'm more likely to use the mini-pump out in the sticks where I'm not as likely to be in someone's way (or at potential risk from Neds)

A CO2 will inflate a road tyre in a few seconds (or less), an electric pump in around a minute (to 100psi according to the leaflet that came with mine), and a mini-pump takes significantly longer.

For me ... the technology is about personal safety as much as ease.

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ktache | 6 months ago
1 like

Dunlop eh, bit niche...

 

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Sredlums replied to ktache | 6 months ago
2 likes

You clearly don't live in The Netherlands  3

Although of course, the average person here on a typical Dutch bike is not really likely to buy this thing. Nobody caries a pump here either afterall.

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sykoor replied to ktache | 6 months ago
0 likes

 Schrader, Presta and Dunlop valves,the three-in-one inflatable nozzle basically solves the current mainstream inflator nozzles. I bought a similar one on Amazon, but this one seems to have better configurations.

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