The JoeBlow Mountain is new and a welcome addition to the Topeak bike pump line-up. Finally, a pump that is made specifically for us fat tire riders! Now for those of you who don’t already have a floor pump and are thinking of getting yourself a set of tubeless wheels, you’re gonna want to read this.
The JoeBlow Mountain produces enough air volume and pressure to successfully push the beads of your tubeless tire out from the drop center and over the retention ridges in a tubeless wheelset. How does the JoeBlow Mountain do this? Just looking at this pump you can see that it’s beefy. In fact the air chamber diameter measures 44mm compared to 30mm for other pumps which means about twice the piston area. The upshot is you get an additional .35L to .76L of air per stroke. That’s a big difference when you’re trying to inflate those UST (tubeless) tires.
Not only do you get the over-sized barrel, you also get a twin head which is perfect for those who have both Presta and Schrader valves. This inflator head is very easy to use with a lock to prevent the head from slipping off your valve stem. The welcomed extra long hose allows you to get to your tires without the need to rotate the tire to position the valve stem. If you’re into precision and like to have a consistent feel to your tires, the 75 psi (max) gauge on the Joe Blow Mountain is very precise, allowing for repeatable results time and time again.
Since I’m only 5’9″ I found that the long stroke on this floor pump forced me to awkwardly raise my arms up to my chest to get a full stoke. Even though it feels a bit uncomfortable, it’s worth it for me to be able to get that much air into a UST tire to seat its beads. The large volume also means I was getting a tire full with 6 strokes or so – a welcome relief compared to other higher pressure models.
At $40 MSRP, the Topeak JoeBlow Mountain is well worth the money for a floor pump that can inflate your MTB tire nearly as quickly and efficiently as a pricey air compressor. With this level of quality I’m sure my JoeBlow Mountain will last for years to come.
Thanks to the folks at Topeak for providing the pump for review.
