A belated tribute to the iconic Zefal HPX: a bike pump that actually worked, gone but not forgotten

It’s a rare thing in these days of constant, endless streaming sewer news and the sad announcement of a famous someone’s death going round the world five times before teatime, that this obituary slipped me by – and, dare I say, it went as unnoticed by you as a shard of flint gently slipping through a Continental GP4000, but Zefal have ceased production of their iconic HPX bike pump.

It happened a couple of years ago, yet I only found out recently. A passing away surrounded only by family and close friends then…

This has been a silent and tragic death of a quiet hero to some within the cycling world of a pump that actually worked. Every time, puncture after puncture, year after year. It will be missed. 

I must have bought my first Zefal HPX way back in the day, when pump choice was severely limited. Mini-pumps weren’t even a thing, the person that invented battery inflators hadn’t even been born yet (probably), and the most common pump was a cheap plastic job that would struggle to get a tyre up to pressure, and often had a habit of folding in half at a critical point.

These were the days of 21mm road tyres that punctured for fun, and needed to be grunted up to 100+PSI with the associated arm strain, necessary resting halfway through, and unwelcome and worrying strain on the wheezing integrity of a pump made out of cheap flimsy materials.

Limping home on a mostly-but-not-quite-inflated-enough tyre was a common occurrence. If you wanted something more sturdy there was always Zefal’s neon painted MTB metal pump option, but that would be challenging on many levels, even by the colourful standards of the day.

At the time I was young(ish) pup working in a bike shop, absorbing all the knowledge and lore from being around those who had been doing This Sort Of Thing for a while. Upon their recommended insistence and giddy with my staff discount, I bought my first Zefal HPX frame fit pump. It’s one that would stay on my bike well until the next century, and for the foreseeable. 

The HPX was the discerning pump of choice, because it had simple but efficient features that just made it work, and work well.

First off, it was made of metal. Its alloy body, handle, shaft and important working bits meant it was a bit heavier and sturdier than a plastic pump, but that ensured it wouldn’t flex or fold, and you could put your whole body into thwapping air through it and it would still be stiff, even during the vinegar strokes.

There wasn’t a multi-head pump head, you had to swap the internal gubbins around to inflate either Presta or Schrader valves – but you’d be using the former, obvs. Should you ever wear the internals out, it was a two-minute job to replace them. 

That pump head would stranglehold onto a valve with a robust metal thumb lever, assuring both leak free and business-like pumpage, and no valve head bending or ripping. The scalloped inserts in the base of the body snugged the pump against a round tube. The indent in the top of the handle hugged the underside of a top tube, and there was a divot inside that specifically there for a pump peg. Anyone remember pump pegs? All perfect little details.

But the HPX’s secret magic trick was its locking handle. A twist of a knurled knob at the top of the handle swapped the pump from its sprung frame-fitting capabilities and locked out that spring so the handle butted hard against the pump body, guaranteeing no wasted stroke effort and a remarkable ease of inflation.

Every time someone borrowed the HPX, I would have to quietly and benevolently reach over and twist that little knob handle for them, always to a realisation that the pump had got even better. And borrow it often they did, or I would graciously hand it to them asking if they wanted use of a proper pump while they frantically, noisily and glacially tried to reinflate their tyre with whatever micro chichi pump they had in their cramping palms.

The HPX also really enjoyed its time as my assistant during my time as a bike guide, when punters would look on incredulous as I could have the old tube out, tyre checked, new tube in and up to pressure with a speedy deftness that would make any F1 pit-crew proud. 

The size and weight of the HPX never really bothered me. I’ve been in this game long enough to wearily want stuff on my bike that simply works. I’ll happily let others magpie towards all the light and small and shiny, especially when it comes to mini-pumps. If I have a flat tyre, I want all that over and done with as soon as possible, especially for the large portion of the year where it’s cold and grey and punctures are more likely, and conversely hanging about isn’t particularly enjoyable. Has the bulk of my HPX pump slowed me down on the climbs? Maybe just a little bit. Have I regained that time not wasting minutes gasping a tyre back up to pressure in the permadrizzle? It helps me to think that I have.  

My collection of HPX pumps in the shed is a reflection of my bicycle history. The big one was for the time when road frames were rangey and had horizontal top-tubes, down to the smallest one that could handily fit behind the seat tube of my mountain bike. But they now feel like an ungainly throwback to a different age, which is why the HPX quietly disappeared, although the reasons for its eventual deposal from its throne are for a multitude of reasons, a steady succession of stabs in the back.

The first blow (pardon the pun) is that tyres have got better. Lots better. Not so long ago a puncture per ride was not uncommon, expected even, and two was generally accepted as bearable, but meant you’d probably turn for home. That ride I had eight was definitely an outlier, but I’d still be out there if I didn’t have my trusty HPX with me.

The thing is… I can’t remember the last time I had a flat on my road bike. Ah, that’s me cursed then. This means that the need for a proper pump is no way as essential as it was for ride survival. Despite my justified hatred of them, mini-pumps have got a lot better too, so their shortcomings can be tolerated for their less-than-frequent use.

Running concurrent with this is that thanks to people slowly coming round to the fact that bigger tyres are both faster and more comfortable. Those larger volumes need lower pressures in them, so getting them up to speed requires less bicep-busting toil, and a fast-acting high pressure pump just isn’t needed any more. Sigh…

The final shot from the depository is that a significant majority of today’s road bikes won’t accommodate a frame pump. In contrast to the HPX’s heyday when most frames were made of straight tubes, with actual angled joints and sharp internal corners where a pump can sit snug and aesthetically pleasing in parallel to the frame, current funny tube shapes, swoopy designs and curved corners make a frame pump look like an acrow prop keeping your bike from collapsing. It also can’t have helped that if you bought one, it was yours for life. It didn’t fall apart, spares were available, and it just kept working, rain or shine, most gratefully in the rain. For every flat tyre, every time, for years and years and years, the ZPX soldiered on.

As you can see from the photos in this article, I have every HPX I’ve ever owned, just in different sizes for different bikes, generally getting smaller as frames became more compact over the years. Longevity isn’t really a sustainable and profitable business model. I’ll also anecdotally add that no one knew about them, and what a benefit they were to swift puncture management. Most every time I offered mine up to hurry along a kerbside delay, there would be quizzical looks and then general amazement at such an old-fashioned, efficient tool. 

There isn’t much in the way of pretenders to the HPX frame-fit throne. SKS will still do you a plastic pump, with all the will it/won’t it jeopardy it entails. The Topeak Road Master Blaster has a lot of features copied from the HPX like an aluminium barrel, a thumb lock lever on the pump head and spring lock on the handle, all for a similar price that the HPX was. But it is Silca who are the dauphin, with their top quality, reassuringly expensive retro vibe Imperio Ultimate that will set you back £100. Luckily Zefal can still sell you their Doodad strap, which I used to use on my HPX if I knew I was going anywhere cobbled or bianched that might want to bounce my pump off the bike. 

There are smaller pumps. There are pumps that can hide in your pocket, there are prettier pumps, there are fancier pumps, there are shinier pumps, there are pumps that will show you how many PSI you’ve struggled to reach, there are pumps that will pop a tubeless tyre on, there are mini track pumps, there are electronic pumps that will do all the work for you (while their battery lasts). None of them will ever work as well as a Zefal HPX.

Thank you for your service.