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Topeak TubiHead Upgrade Kit

8
£31.99

VERDICT:

8
10
The only way to keep the air inside your tyre after inflating a coreless Presta valve
Works very well
Solid build
Can fit non-Topeak pumps
Cheaper than a whole new pump
Hose could be longer
Weight: 
164g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The Topeak TubiHead Upgrade Kit is an upgrade for pretty much any pump using a 10mm hose. It cleverly removes the valve core, allows maximum airflow for inflation, then lets you reinstall the valve core without losing pressure. Pretty nifty if you have a tricky tubeless setup.

It's an age-old truism that air flows faster when nothing's in the way, or at least it would be if anyone thought it was worth pointing out in the first place. Your Presta valve's brass centre takes up pretty much all of the actual valve, hampering the properly rapid airflow you need during tubeless setup.

If you're really lucky your tyres may seat without removing the core, but for most people it needs outing. That means when you've seated the tyre sans valve core, you then need to pull the pump head off and get the core threaded in fully before all the air falls out again. This might not be an issue if your rim design and tyre bead co-operate to hold the bead in place, allowing a leisurely addition of core whilst the tyre is flat before reinflation.

But from time to time you strike a tubeless combo where as soon as the air escapes, the tyre bead moves away from the rim wall and all bets are off. That's the problem the Topeak TubiHead Upgrade Kit was made to solve. That, and having to re-inflate a tyre you just inflated, of course. Marginal gains, less work, etc.

This upgrade kit comprises a head, hose and a fitting to thread onto various (but not all) Topeak floorpumps – both chambered and standard. It's worth noting you'll really be wanting a charger-chamber pump for tubeless work, though.

2022 Topeak TubiHead Upgrade Kit - boxed.jpg

The 108cm rubber hose is 10mm in diameter and is very similar to other pumps, which makes this kit of interest to more than just Topeak pump owners.

The Blackburn Chamber Tubeless Floor Pump connector is a different size to that of the Topeak, for example, but I had no issues swapping the head between hoses (via careful use of some lockjaw pliers and a cloth to protect the connector). As the internal and external hose diameters are the same, the fit on the Blackburn hose was just as tight and I can't see any issues with this mod.

Just blow

This Topeak works like any other Presta pump head – you just put it on and pump away – and there's a brass Schrader valve adapter which threads into a little keeper on the hose when not in use. For the party trick of unthreading a valve core you need at least 16mm of valve body visible, not including any locknuts. If you don't have 16mm free, Topeak suggests using one of its valve extenders. Of course to get the benefit of not having to lose all the air you'd have to leave the extender in place once seated.

2022 Topeak TubiHead Upgrade Kit - 3.jpg

The feel and fit of the head is premium. The body is clear to allow you to see what's going on inside, and the ends are machined metal. There's also a spring-loaded pressure release valve for easy head removal once inflated. This isn't a gimmick – with mucho psi inside there's a lot of pressure against the seal, which makes it harder to release and slide off the threaded sides of the valve body.

Twist of the knob

To use you first unthread the Presta locknut, then slide the head over the valve until it bottoms out. That puts the 'valve core knob' in contact with the core. A short twist aligns the indented sides of the core with the knob, so then you can unthread the core. There's a rubber ring that holds the core captive, letting it be drawn back clear of the valve body – you're then free to release the stored air into the tyre, hopefully seating in one go. You can always follow up with more air if needed.

Once you're happy, you then push the knob in and thread it back up, lightly finger-tight. You really don't need much effort here, and it's a very good idea to only ever do cores up finger-tight so you can remove them in the wild if needed.

> 10 best track pumps for 2022 – choose the easy way to pump your tyres up

With the core back in place you can add more air if needed, then equalise the pressure and remove the head, locking the core again. To assist removal straight out from the valve body there's a tab on the front of the head – you don't want to be removing it at an angle, lest you stress or fracture the alloy valve body.

No spare rubber

In practice it all works swimmingly. Every core I tried unthreaded and reinstalled just fine, and the thick rubber seal the valve body inserts into looks like it will last ages. There's no mention on Topeak's website that the rubber (or any other part) is available as a spare, however. The Topeak 2-year warranty isn't bad though.

Overall

The TubiHead Upgrade Kit is a well-executed solution to a fairly common problem. Tubeless rim and tyre designs are improving to the point that, with correct taping, a newly seated tyre often stays thus, but if yours don't – and your pump has a 10mm hose – the TubiHead should be high on your shopping list.

Verdict

The only way to keep the air inside your tyre after inflating a coreless Presta valve

road.cc test report

Make and model: Topeak TubiHead Upgrade Kit

Size tested: One Size

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?

It's for people who need to keep all the air inside their tubeless tyre after inflating it with no valve core in place.

Topeak says: "Premium solution for inflating tubeless tires. TubiHead's transparent body allows you to see the Presta valve core being removed, and after inflation, reinstalled with no loss of pressure. With the valve core removed, larger air volume is rapidly delivered by a standard floor pump to quickly seat and inflate tubeless tires or other large volume tires."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

HEAD Presta head with built-in hose pressure release button,

Fits Schrader valve (with included adapter)

MATERIAL Aluminum / Engineering grade polymer head, Rubber hose

ADDED FEATURE Transparent design

SIZE 8.2 x 5.9 x 2.6 cm / 3.2' x 2.3' x 1' (Head)

110 cm / 43.3' (hose length)

WEIGHT 68 g / 2.40 oz (Head)

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

Metal knobs and a quality finish. Nice.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

Yep, works well.

Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

Thick, strong materials. Should last ages.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10

Large knurled knobs and a removal tab make for comfy use.

Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Can't fault it.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Ability to fit other pumps.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Only that the 108cm hose could be longer, to allow use on bikes in workstands or tyres on benches.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Nothing else like this exists, that I know of. As a replacement pump head/hose alone, it's not overly expensive.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes-ish

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

It's a very good solution. Hard to see how it could be improved upon, except with a longer hose.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 47  Height: 183cm  Weight: 77kg

I usually ride: Sonder Camino Gravelaxe  My best bike is: Nah bro that's it

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, general fitness riding, mtb, G-R-A-V-E-L

Living in the Highlands, Mike is constantly finding innovative and usually cold/wet ways to accelerate the degradation of cycling kit. At his happiest in a warm workshop holding an anodised tool of high repute, Mike's been taking bikes apart and (mostly) putting them back together for forty years. With a day job in global IT (he's not completely sure what that means either) and having run a boutique cycle service business on the side for a decade, bikes are his escape into the practical and life-changing for his customers.

Add new comment

7 comments

Avatar
Xenophon2 | 2 years ago
1 like

I got myself a set of reserve Fillmore valves that simply do away with the valve core.  Didn't really expect them to live up to the hype but so far I'm pleasantly surprised.  Prior to that I carried a couple of spare presta cores after once removing my pump after laborioiusly inflating a tubeless tire that had lost too much pressure only to see the core stuck to the pump head.  That is, during the second before it released and *plink* fell down a drain.  25 miles from home, pouring rain.  Good thing I was carrying a spare inner tube.

Avatar
Miller | 2 years ago
4 likes

"it's a very good idea to only ever do cores up finger-tight so you can remove them in the wild if needed" - unless your on-bike pump is a Lezyne in which case do the valve core up tight or removal of the Lezyne hose will take the core with it. No need to ask me how I know.

Avatar
Sriracha replied to Miller | 2 years ago
0 likes

I've never entered the world of pain which is tubeless, but I have wondered whether a judicious wrap of PTFE tape around the valve core threads would give enough resistance to prevent it unscrewing unwanted.

Avatar
IanMSpencer replied to Sriracha | 2 years ago
0 likes

The trouble with Lezyne is that they attach my screwing onto the valve core and the two threads, one that attaches to the valve pipe and the thread that attaches to the pump are very similar so the friction is about the same. So it is 50/50 whether unscrewing the pump will unscrew from the valve core or the core will unscrew from the valve pipe.

I have their excellent track pump and also use their mini-pumps for roadside repairs (it's actually a couple of years since I've used it having gone tubeless 5 years ago). The advantage is that normally you get a good attachment and you don't risk bending the valve top which is delicate - most clip on pumps don't attach firmly enough to protect that without careful pumping technique (especially when you have to work hard to get pressure in a panic with 10 other riders glaring and timing you!). So swings and roundabouts.

The problem with my on-bike pumps is that they can pick up dirt and grime, even with the rubber cap, so are more prone to gripping the valve core.

I still prefer the system though. Whether PTFE would help or hinder, I'm not sure, as I thought the main point was you could get a better seal with less torque.

Avatar
Sriracha replied to IanMSpencer | 2 years ago
0 likes

PTFE tape, for all it's friction-free prowess, adds a little stiction, a bit like nylok but not as aggressive. So just maybe it would make the pipe (valve stem) grip the core more than the pump attachment does. Or maybe try light thread-lock. Like I said, I'm not equipped to try it out.

Is there any reason (other than that they made it that way) that a pump could not screw on to the main stem of the valve, instead of onto the core? Am I missing something? I guess the attachment would have to be that much longer to swallow the entire valve core and reach the valve stem. But I keep seeing this about (only Lezyne?) pumps unscrewing the valve core, so it's clearly an issue.

Avatar
IanMSpencer replied to Sriracha | 2 years ago
1 like

I suspect that not all valves have an external thread and I'm not sure they are a standard thread size, especially on non-removable cored inner tubes. So I guess Lezyne had to go with the core thread.

I did wonder about the stiction and had considered thread lock but my usage of such is so rare now that I suspect it would end up being like my super-glue usage, a very expensive single application.

I'll give the PTFE a test run.

Avatar
thax1 replied to Miller | 2 years ago
1 like

There is that little button to press on the Lezyne hose to relieve the pressure before unscrewing. Not sure if it actually helps matters or is just psychological, but I don't think I've had a core unscrew when I've remembered the little button press first...

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