Topeak Turbo Morph With Gauge pump

The Topeak Turbo Morph G is great for filling large-volume tyres, but there’s a bit too much that seems ill-thought-out or unnecessary to make it one I’d recommend.

This does what you really want – move a large volume of air – very well, and being Topeak it’s very ruggedly made from great materials. It also has some nice bits of design, such as in the way the handle, gauge, footpeg and hose stow so precisely and securely. Fiddle around with it and it’s very impressive.

Actually use it, however, and the niggles pile up. Why is the lever on the valve chuck so awkwardly short? Why do you have to take the chuck to pieces to swap between Schrader and Presta, and maybe need the instructions to figure it out too? And why is the smallest increment on this gauge 10psi? That’s not exactly great for setting tyre pressures – the main thing you might expect a high-volume, frame-mountable pump to be doing.

> How to choose the best bike tyre pressure – balancing speed, comfort and grip

While some people may find the 160psi maximum useful, I’d rather see a far lower limit and a less crowded, more finely marked dial – a 5psi resolution at minimum, if not 1psi. Especially as that dial is only 22mm across to start with.

My most pressing question, though, is why is it easy to severely pinch my knuckles between the handle and the thin locking ring on the pump body?! It’s painful, especially if the handle folds down on its hinge mid-shove and the gap gets smaller still. With only 24mm of finger-room between the handle and a narrow raised edge, I soon learned to keep my digits well away and use a far less natural two-handed grip instead.

The Turbo Morph G fits Presta and Schrader valves, but lacks the sort of chuck that accepts both without changes, or even the type with a single section that needs reversing. Here you must unscrew the cap, pull out the innards, pull the rubber part off the plastic bit, reverse both components, plug them back together, put the assembly back in and replace the cap. That’s not a fun thing to do with three small black bits on a roadside or trail, especially with cold and/or filthy fingers, in bad weather.

And there’s no bung for the chuck while it’s stored on your frame, leaving it open to water and dirt.

Performance

This took 100 strokes to take a 45mm tyre (on a 23mm ID rim) to 30psi, in around 1m 25s (note you have to stop pumping to read the gauge, as it’s too small to see while it’s wobbling). That’s certainly not in track pump territory – the last one I reviewed, the Truflo Supertrax, got to 45psi in barely a quarter of the strokes. But physics is physics, and the Turbo Morph G only has a 103cc chamber. So fair enough. Most mini-pumps have far smaller chambers, and this Topeak will smoke them. The Muc-Off AirMach Mini Pump is 32cc, for instance, which is pretty much par for the course.

To put it very roughly, the Turbo Morph G is around three times the volume and three times the weight of a typical mini-pump, and at 35cm it’s twice as long.

Curiously, our reviewer found that the 50cc version of this Topeak, the Mini Morph G, got a 50mm tyre to 34psi in 100 strokes. That makes the smaller Morph more efficient than the bigger one, which is odd.

Value

This is well-priced at £44.99, given its size, high-quality construction and the inclusion of a gauge. Whether it’s really delivering enough extra performance over more typical fare is perhaps down to personal preference; it has a gauge but not a great one, and track pump stylings aside, it’s really just a big, heavy mini-pump.

For comparison, Topeak’s own Gravel 2Stage Mini Pump has a 71cc chamber, and it’s less than half the weight (125g) and cheaper (£39.99).

The Muc-Off AirMach Mini Pump mentioned earlier is £30 and 98g, while the Zefal Gravel Mini Pump is £32 and 125g. None of these have gauges, but none of them will crush your fingers either, and they all have better connections and weather protection.

Check out more options in our guides to the best bike pumps and the best mini pumps.

Overall

This has the fantastic plastics and rugged build you may well expect from Topeak, plus some of the usual impressive design elements. In use and perhaps even in principle, though, it’s flawed. Most of those flaws are small and potentially forgivable – or at least ignorable – but for me, at least, the painful finger-trap layout is a deal-breaker.

Verdict

Big pump with a big spec, but doesn’t quite pull it all off – and can painfully trap knuckles while it’s at it

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