Lezyne ABS Pressure Drive
Introduction
The LEZYNE ABS Pressure Drive mini-pump ticks all the boxes of what makes a bicycle pump a great pump. Read the article in the Guides section if you want information on bicycle pumps in general.
I hated inflating my tires. I hated it so much that I rode my bike often with severly under-infladed tires. Maybe it has something to do with it that I used a €3 pump from the local anything-store? It was a large plastic handpump, with no hose, screw connection or any of those ‘luxuries’.
When I upgraded my bicycle from my (t)rusty old mail-bike to a fixed gear built up from a ‘71 Raleigh I thought a better pump would be nice. After all, I didn’t only invest a lot of money in parts, I even converted my house in a complete spray-booth with ventilation, compressed-air-cooler and everything. There was room for some accessories… Still, €30 for a pump felt like absurd! <leander, stop being a cheap-skate and buy the damn thing!> I can now say this Lezyne pump is worth every bit of that money. It made inflating tires less annoying, maybe even ‘fun’ at times.
Specifications
The LEZYNE ABS Pressure Drive is a medium volume hand-pump/mini-pump. It’s housing is made out of aluminium. There’s no plastic to be found here. This pump is tough as nails.
The connection between the pump and the tire’s valve is where this pump really shines. Instead of a direct connection, it uses a short hose, which, for compact transport and to protect against the sun’s UV rays, is hidden inside the maintenance body. It has a presta on one end and shrader on the other, so if you ride your road bike to work and go mountain biking in the weekends, you can use the same pump. On this hose there is a small button, a release valve. This is a well thought out feature: when a tire gets inflated to a high pressure, which is normal for road bikes, it becomes more difficult to unscrew a pump from the valve. In valves with a removable core this can often lead to unscrewing the core instead of the pump. The release-button simply opens a way in the hose for the pressure to escape, guaranteeing easy removal of the pump.
The pump’s medium volume makes it a nice all-rounder. It can handle 8 bar of pressure, which is enough for most ~23mm road tires, but also has enough volume that inflating a mtb tire won’t take all day. For my current bicycle (the Triban 100) it’s about perfect as it’s a gravel bike with 32mm tires pressured at a maximum of 6 bar.
It comes with a simple bracket to mount it next to the bottle-cage. The bracket is plastic though, so be gentle when tightening the screws.
Strengths
- A sturdy aluminium construction.
- Connection to the valve by a hose, enabling you to use the pump in efficient or strong positions.
- Pressure- release- valve in the hose makes unscrewing it from high- pressure tires easy.
- Hose is safely housed inside the pump’s body.
- Useful frame bracket is included.
- Easy to take the pump apart for maintenance like lubing the piston’s seal.
Weaknesses
- The o-rings that seal the hose to the pump are exposed to sunlight, even with the hose tucked away. Them being made of rubber means you will have to replace them every now and then. (include some spares in your patch-kit)
Conclusion
Using this pump is actually nice. I might be repeating myself here, but when a pump is comfortable and works well enough that inflating tires doesn’t feel like punishment anymore, then this is a good reason.
The connecting hose is screwed into the housing and can be taken out and mounted using either side of the hose. One side gives it a presta connection for road bikes, the other a shrader connection for mtbs. Combine this pump with some quality tire patches and glue and your bike becomes unstoppable.
And last but not least: If you see another cyclist in trouble, don’t be an ass and offer to help!
