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.

There are plenty of mini-pumps out there that give you such a workout getting your tire re-inflated that you are too pooped to pump or pedal when you’re done. The Crankbrothers Power Pump solves the volume-versus-pressure conundrum with a nifty dial on the bottom of the pump – just select High Volume to fill the tire until the pump starts to bog down, then switch to High Pressure to top up the rest of the way. Even a 26×2.5 tire was no sweat to inflate with this compact mini-pump.

In practice it just works. While 170 strokes in Hi-Volume mode and 70 strokes in Hi-Pressure mode sounds like a lot, the short and easy strokes go by very quickly and without strain. The total 240 strokes brought my WTB Weirwolf 26×2.5 tire up to 26psi – close enough to the 28psi I usually use. If you have big hands you may have a tough time finding a way to hold the pump head. At higher pressures I ended up looping a finger around a spoke to help keep everything aligned.

Where the Power Pump really saves you is when it is doing what mini-pumps do 98% of the time – riding around on your back. Weighing in at just 129 grams it is about 50 grams lighter than a spare tube. At 7″ long it fits easily in my pack or a jersey pocket, but this model does not include a mounting bracket. While this pump is rated to 115psi a quick top-up on my road bike was not an easy feat – I recommend off-road use only.

The Crankbrothers Power Pump is a decent pump for its size, and it’s well-constructed with a 6061-T6 alloy body and a durable composite head. It is small, lightweight and just right for trail-side repairs. The pump has a dual sided head; one for Presta, the other for Schrader valves, and both work equally well.

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Ok, so I don’t have anything official to back this up but I discovered what has to be one of the world’s smallest bike pumps. It from Blackburn and it’s called the Air Stik SL. As you can see the thing is tiny, about the size of a Swisher Sweets cigar but waaaay classier. The pump barrel design comes from a former Fox suspension engineer who found a way to get maximum air volume from such a tiny package.

Blackburn also has one of the largest handheld bike pumps we’ve seen called the Mammoth 2Stage. This thing is beefy and it’s in response to the ever increasing tire sizes on mountain bikes these days (2.35×29 mountain bike tires hold a ton of air!). The Mammoth also includes two pumping modes – high volume and high pressure – to make pumping easier. Start out on high volume and as the tire inflates switch to high pressure to get just the right amount of air. Rad!