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First Look: Lezyne’s Classic & Steel Floor Drive Pumps Are Budget-Minded and Built To Last

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Lezyne-Floor-Drive-Pumps-2

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…

Lezyne-Floor-Drive-Pair

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.

Lezyne-Classic-Drive-Handle

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.

Lezyne-Valve-Connector Lezyne-changeable-chuck

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.

Lezyne-Classic-Floor-Drive-Chuck

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.

lezyne-floor-pump-dual-chuck-heads

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.

Lezyne-Classic-Floor-Drive Lezyne-Steel-Drive-gauge

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.

Lezyne-Floor-Drive-chuck-angle-adjuster

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.

Lezyne.com

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16 Comments
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Suffolker
Suffolker
9 years ago

I have owned one of the Lezyne Classic Floor drive pumps for a year or two, and it performs flawlessly.

The Presta screw-on fitting, with air release to make it easier to remove, is a lot better than the various makes of pumps with thumblock-type connectors. It’s a bit unnerving on first use to find the Lezyne connector submerging the Presta valve, but it works well. I don’t get that dreadful feeling of being able to bend the Presta valve by accident, that other connectors give me.

I also use the pump on Schraeder-valved tyres, where it performs equally well. It is on these valves that the air release will vent air from the tyre and not just the hose.

The build quality is first-class for a pump at this price.

My only gripe is that, unlike my old Park floor pump, the Lezyne gauge doesn’t have a “tell-tale” rotating bezel with a red line to position against the desired tyre pressure, so that you can easily tell when the gauge needle reaches it. On the other hand, perhaps I just need some better spectacles.

Steven
Steven
9 years ago

They are nice pumps, good looking, easy to use, but mine only lasted 2 years. LBS helped me fix it though with some o-rings.

Randall
Randall
9 years ago

Put it out in the garage around freezing temps and see how it works.

Larry
Larry
9 years ago

Randall

Can you be a little more specific. I’m in the market for a pump and was looking at these. I’ve read about the o-ring issue and understand how to fix that.

Sean P
Sean P
9 years ago

@steven, mine lasted a year. Took it into the LBS where I bought it. Bad seal just like yours. The LBS fixed it and I watched the process. Now I’ve been having to fix it every 2-3 months. @larry: It’s a pain to fix, and for the price of the pump I expected better. Especially when my wife’s wrench force pump is flawless (at 1/3 the price) and the two pumps have been sitting in the same garage with the same freezing temps.

David
David
9 years ago

I am a big fan of Lezyne’s mini pumps for tucking into a jersey pocket, and their tools are awesome.

Sadly, the Alloy Drive pump gauge is unbelievably unreliable. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, regardless of what I’m inflating or to what pressure. Sigh.

groghunter
groghunter
9 years ago

FWIW, keeping the hose tight has been the main source of failure in most pumps I’ve had problems with. Hose tends to crack at the outside of the bend you’re forcing it to hold. took to storing the hose loosely on my specialized pump, haven’t had a problem since. That’s not a option with these, though.

as far having to mess with the internals, considering I’ve had to crack my pump open once in 10 years, I would find it hard to recommend a pump that was having seal problems anywhere near a year.

Mike
Mike
9 years ago

i just had this pump break on me after 3 years. the plastic collar that connects the presta valve to the rubber hose cracked. Pretty bummed about it. Will not buy it again.

Larry
Larry
9 years ago

@Sean P, thanks for the feed back. I guess I will keep looking.

ez
ez
9 years ago

I echo the others issues… I have an alloy drive that lasted for two years, then needed to be rebuilt constantly. The ugly, but functional Specialized higher end pump I bought to replace it is much more reliable.

groghunter
groghunter
9 years ago

@Larry Specialized may be uncool(or not, depending on your taste) but they make some bulletproof pumps, & back them up with a lifetime warranty. That hose I complained about cracking? they replaced it for free… 8 years after I bought the pump.

Clancy
Clancy
9 years ago

Really wanted to like the floor pumps, but we had six in our shop – four have gone belly up. Hand pumps are good, but I’d never buy one of their floor pumps.

Mike
Mike
9 years ago

Just to follow up, I called Lezyne and they are sending me the parts I need to fix it.

thesteve4761
thesteve4761
9 years ago

I loved my Lezyne pump. Until I realized it’s guage was WAY off relative to 4-5 other inflation devices and gauges I own. Bummer.

independent
independent
9 years ago

2.5 years, flawless. Only complaint is small dial size.

VeeredOff
VeeredOff
9 years ago

Have the Alloy. Totally satisfied, no problems. I think they’ve addressed a lot of past QC issues.

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