Mini-pump

The Portland Design Works (PDW) big silver pump is a beautifully executed example of the ton-up pressure midi size pump that has largely superseded the humble frame-fit.

Lezyne herald the Micro Floor Drive as “Floor pump power brought to an on-the-bike package”, with a bold claim like this, it has a lot to live up to.

There are two variants of the Micro Floor Drive, the HV and the HP, both available with or without an inbuilt pressure gauge.

The HV is the high volume model; it has a wider barrel to enable more air to be moved per stroke, but reaches a lower ultimate pressure, suited to mountain bike tyres.

Mini pumps vary in their performance as much as anything in cycling, and it seems that for all the progress in cycling equipment there's still plenty of awful pumps out there. Not that the Quicker Pro is one of them: it's an excellent emergency pump that'll get your tyres track-pump-hard at the roadside without making your arms fall off.

Topeak's Road Master Blaster is a well-thought-out frame pump that's a reliable companion for longer excursions. Well built and capable of high pressures, it's a great touring or Audax pump.

Now, this is a lovely thing. Eschewing the plastic favoured by most mini-pump manufacturers Lezyne have made the Alloy Drive, as the name suggests, entirely out of CNC-machined aluminium. Just playing with it in your hands you can feel and see the quality and thought that has gone into it; the bods at Lezyne seem to have taken the trouble to design a mini-pump from the ground up rather than copycat other designs and slap a different sticker on.

Bontrager's Air Support Road is another lightweight mini pump genuinely capable of delivering 100 PSI in 150 strokes and five minutes and would be my choice for those that want something that works well and looks good.

The extensive use of alloy gives a reassuringly solid feel and the intricately machined T handle offers surprisingly good grip - even at the higher pressures and being double action improves efficiency managing 100PSI in a 700X23 and 85 inside a 26X1.5 in one hundred and fifty and two hundred and twenty strokes respectively.