Lezyne makes high quality, well built bike accessories, and mostly from metal. Metal tends to be more durable, and the heavier, solid weight in your hands makes you think high quality.
Lezyne’s products are aimed a bit more at the higher end, so their entry-level pumps are more in the middle price range of the whole market. We take a close look at the Classic Floor Drive and Steel Floor Drive, with their machined steel barrel, varnished wood handle and cast aluminum base. See our thoughts after the break…
At first impression, the Lezyne Floor Drive pumps feel like something that is going to last. Made with a cast base, steel tubes and wooden handle, there is a feeling of solidity that is not present in other pumps of the same price. At $59.99 for the Steel Floor Drive and $69.99 for the Classic Floor Drive, these are not inexpensive pumps, but they are reasonable. Compared to what other brands offer for a similar price, the Lezyne pumps have features, but primarily, they have metal.
And wood too. There is nothing wrong with plastic, and the pump used as a baseline for comparison has a plastic handle, cost over $100, and is 10 years old with no problems. However, it’s about feel, and these pumps have a feel that is easily punching above their weight class.
The Classic Floor Drive comes with the ABS (Air Bleed System) Flip Thread Chuck as standard. This simple mechanism simply unscrews from the end of the hose, and flips either way to change between Schrader and Presta valves. It also has an air bleed button on it, however we found the button to only let the air out of the hose, and not the tire – the idea being that releasing pressure from the hose makes removal from the valve stem easier and less likely to unthread a valve core with it.
What we really liked about the ABS chuck though, was the neat little home that is snapped into, keeping the hose managed and tight when not in use.
On the Steel Floor Drive, our test unit came with a their own take on the standard dual valve head (right), but it can also come with the ABS Flip Thread Chuck for the same price. Your choice.
The primary difference between our two test units is the size of the gauge, the valve chuck, and $10. Since the Steel Floor Drive can be purchased with either chuck for the same price, the extra $10 is essentially a choice for how large of a gauge you want. This large gauge does make an enormous difference when trying to read it from standing straight up, no squinting to try to read the dial.
We performed initial tests on the pumps, using a control of a Clement XPlor MSO 700×40 tire mounted to a Velo Orange RAID rim. We also used a separate Accu-Gauge at each step to check the pressure.
- Steel Floor Drive – 17 pumps to 30psi on pump’s gauge, measuring 27psi on Accu-Gauge
- Steel Floor Drive – 33 pumps to 60psi on pump’s gauge, measuring 55psi on Accu-Gauge
- Steel Floor Drive – 51 pumps to 90psi on pump’s gauge, measuring 77psi on Accu-Gauge
- Classic Floor Drive – 18 pumps to 30psi on pump’s gauge, measuring 27psi on Accu-Gauge
- Classic Floor Drive – 33 pumps to 60psi on pump’s gauge, measuring 57psi on Accu-Gauge
- Classic Floor Drive – 50 pumps to 90psi on pump’s gauge, measuring 85psi on Accu-Gauge
The use of the Accu-Gauge is to act as a constant between the different pumps, but not as the guarantee of accuracy. What it did show us is that since both pumps share the same pump barrel and mechanism, and had similar results, there is decent quality and accuracy even with the less expensive model’s gauge.
When evaluating a floor pump, we find that a good amount of the decision should be on the head design. The ABS Flip Thread Chuck is easy to use, feels nice in your hands, and even has an additional angled push-on head for hard to reach valves. All of this creates a polarity with the Dual Valve that is standard on the Steel Floor Drive, leaving us unimpressed with this normal, unremarkable head.
The Lezyne Floor Drive pumps are both seriously impressive for the money. With only a $10 gap between them, if you are already looking at the price point of these pumps, we would recommend the Classic Floor Drive. Its large, easy to read gauge is just too good to pass up. Here’s their promo video for it:
Our first impressions are good. We’ll put them through a season of use and report back on long term durability.
