Earlier this year, we broke the news about White Crow’s in-hub tire pump system that lets you ride with the pump on your bike, using the rolling motion to compress air on demand. The concept lets you inflate and deflate your tires as you wish, adjusting pressure to the conditions at hand in a matter of minutes with no need to stop riding…
At Interbike, they had a display bike and spec sheets on hand, but said they couldn’t talk to media because patents weren’t final or investor dealings or something. So, the short of it is that they’re still in business and still working to bring it to market, it’s just not quite there yet.
UOMI
Pocket sized pumps are nothing new, but a rechargeable battery powered compressor that fits in your pocket? That is new, and Uomi’s Smart Air Pump lets you set the desired pressure, hit go, and let it fill your tires for you. It takes a while -it claimed 3.5 minutes to get a road bike tire back up 90psi, and 5 minutes to take a mountain bike tire to 55psi- but you can use that time to grab a snack, stretch, whatever. Weight is 400g, and you can pre-order it now for ¥480 (about $71 as of Nov. 8, 2016)
BIMP AIR
Bimp Air’s system gives you multiple ways to fill their compressed air canister, then use it to inflate tires, seat tubeless tires and/or set up your suspension. On the left is the fork attachment that uses your rolling wheel to turn the compressor and fill the tank in about six minutes of riding at 15km/h. Or, use the plug-in compressor to fill them. Presumably there’s some way of using your standard floor pump to fill it up, too, though good luck finding one that’ll hold the canisters 20bar (290psi!!!) max.
Retail is €299 for the bike-charging kit and canister and €399 for the electric compressor with 12v car plug.
BIKERS DREAM
The Bikers Dream foot pump aims to reduce the number of strokes required to fill your tires by about 2/3, and save your arms from fatigue. You simply set it on the ground, step on the foot plate with one foot and use your other leg to pump up the tires. It’s available with digital or analog gauges and has an adapter to fit air suspension forks and shocks, too. It’ll easily pump up to 8bar (116psi). No word on price.
