The Zefal Gravel Mini pump is 180mm long and only 115g in weight. It offers a short flexible hose with a reversible multi-valve anodised head to prevent valve bending and an extendable shaft to maximise its performance. Being short, it requires extra work to reach the desired pressure but the action is smooth and it’s reasonably comfortable to pump. It has a rubber cap to prevent dirt ingress and it comes with the ubiquitous frame mount for £34. While the best mountain bike pump market is flooded with quality options, how does the Zefal Gravel Mini pump fare?
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Zefal Gravel Mini Pump – Technical details
The Gravel Mini Pump is designed for tyres from 35-47mm in width and has a maximum pressure rating of 80 psi – which is rock solid for Gravel riding. The pump is neatly designed in machined anodised black aluminium to provide a smart textured grip. The valve head is anodised in red and screws onto the extendable hose connector and is clearly labelled in contrast white for Presta and Schraeder valves as well as little pictures of both valves so that you can quickly tell which end is which.
The valve head is connected to a 95mm long hose and the pump body extends 125mm when in use via a telescoping shaft design. The two black halves of the pump click together via a magnetic system hidden internally and pump is supplied with a bottle boss frame mount and soft rubberised strap.
The pump head and hose retract easily into the body and the valve head is protected by a plastic and rubber cap. The bottom of the pump has a smooth plastic round-edged cap for comfort.
The pump weighs in at 115g and costs £34. Spare valve heads and internal washers are available as are extra bike mounts.
Zefal Gravel Mini Pump – Performance
This is a smooth little pump to use which is just as well as you are going to become firm friends using it to get to your desired pressure, especially if you are one of those gravel riders putting more than 35psi into your tyres.
The machined outer aluminium body of the Gravel Mini reminds me of a Thomson seatpost and feels just as good in the hands.
A screw-on valve head always comes with a little bit of drama as to whether your valve core comes out when the head is removed, so avoid the issue upfront and tighten it beforehand with your valve core tool or valve cap. With that done the head attaches easily to the presta valve and the short but flexible 95mm hose helps you get more comfortable when pumping and reduces the stress on the valve and should help to avoid breaking the valve or the valve core when pumping fast.
Using the same test as used previous mini pumps I have tested, I deflated a 45mm Schwalbe tyre on an Enve AG25 rim by removing the valve core and then re-installing it, pumping 100 strokes and measuring the pressure with an SKS AirChecker. I repeated this procedure three times in total to get the average score.
The results for the Gravel Mini are some of the lowest for the pumps I have tested with 100 strokes providing just 13psi in the tyre. Just ahead of the Topeak Gravel 2Stage (running on HP, not HV mind) Clearly, that is not going to get you home but at least it was a very easy frictionless 100 strokes. Two hundred strokes was hardly any more difficult and got me to pretty much double the pressure at 25.7psi and that’s quite rideable. Still not awesome, but, as with most gravel tyres, I’m only aiming for 30psi in the rear and a little less in the front so 230 strokes or thereabouts for 30psi will be pretty easy. It’s quite capable of more though and it reseated a leaky tubeless tire mid-ride to about 40psi complete with multi ‘pops’ as the tyre ‘snapped’ into the rim and saved a horrible cold walk home.
The plastic base is comfortable enough in the palm which is just as well with the need for so many strokes to get to the desired pressure. Certainly less painful than some pumps I’ve used
The magnetic closure is pretty weak just doing enough to prevent accidental opening. Most of the time a small pump like this will be housed in a handlebar bag, frame bag or rear pocket or even the ever-growing craze for internal frame stowage box or cargo hatch so it’s a big issue. The little pump appears to have stayed together well and remained clean during testing. Zefal does recommend lubricating the shaft with oil if it starts to dry out.
Only one small issue occurred when doing the pressure testing repeat pumping and that was that the plastic ring on the inner shaft came undone. It’s simple to do up and no repeat issues have occurred, so maybe it was not quite tight enough from the factory, but worth keeping an eye on as it’s so easy to tighten.
Zefal Gravel Mini pump – Verdict
The Zefal Gravel Mini Pump is nicely finished with its magnetic closure, retractable hose with a replaceable twin valve head and smooth action. It weighs 10g more than Zefal’s claim at 115g and comes with a decent rubber valve head cap and a rubber strapped frame mount.
Contenders in the best mountain bike space come from all prices and sizes from Silca at the top end with its hugely expensive £90 Gravelero Pump complete with a daft little rubber cap to seal its beautiful twin valve head and the best performance from the longest pump tested to date in the same test.
Blackburn’s Core Mini pump is almost as good as the Silca for less than half the price at £40 and with a better rubber cap and cool Valve core tool but only one valve head – Presta.
Topeak’s Gravel 2Stage running in HV mode more than competes for a mini pump at £37 but it does clamp directly on the valve so you need to be careful and you will require a lot more effort from half the stroke count to get to 26psi.
The Zefal Gravel Mini is a good if somewhat underpowered little pump that makes up for its lack of pressure performance with a very smooth stroke. It’s a very nicely finished twin-valve head pump costing £34 and spare parts are available. A good option for those looking for a short pump.
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Product purpose:
Build extra:
Product construction
Product construction extra:
Nice body to hold and pump which is good.
Neat good looking valve head
Product performance
Product performance extra:
Just as well the action is so good meaning that the extra strokes didn’t feel like hard work.
Product durability
Product durability extra:
Valve is protected but capwhich fits well.
Looks good now
Product weight
Product weight extra:
Product comfort
Product comfort extra:
product value
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Product value extra:
It is pretty much on the money pricewise so neither cheap nor expensive
Overall performance:
Double the amount of strokes to get to 26-27psi
Product likes:
valve head
smooth action
