Portable compressors have been gaining popularity, partly due to new battery technology and mostly due to people preferring tech over huffing and puffing to fill their children’s inflatable toys on the verge of blacking out.
The Bosch EasyPump is not actually a compressor, per say, but more of a portable, electric pump. It has no tank and rather modest air output of 10 l/min (average male human lungs is about 6 liters), but at the same time it’s capable of surprisingly high pressure of 10 bar / 150 psi. Thus it can also theoretically be used to fill suspension forks.
The EasyPump costs around 70€ in Europe.
In the box
The pump comes in a typical green Bosch cardboard box and includes a soft carrying pouch, USB-C charging cable (no charger), instructions and 3 fill adapters, which can be stored inside the handle:
- Presta
- Tapered head for inflatable toys
- Needle for basket balls, etc.
The hose is 24 cm in length and fitted with a Schrader threaded attachment.
The display can be set to display bars or psi and is easy to ready white letters on a dark background. Pressure adjustment is available in 0,05 bar / 1 psi increments from 0,2 - 10 bars. The pump will automatically shut off once the set pressure is reached.
The battery is a 3.6V 3Ah affair capable of filling 2-3 car tires from empty on a single charge. Charging is via. A USB-C port and depending on your charger it can be charged from empty to full in around 2 hours.
Function
So now that you have a portable pump that promises to fill bike tires in the blink of an eye and also work on suspension forks, it’s time for a test! You go to your bike, fiddle with the included presta adapter until your tire is empty and finally manage to screw it on. Set the pressure, press the button and be greeted with a buzz from the pump expecting your tire to fill in a few seconds. A few more seconds pass and then a minute. The pump is SLOW! Filling a bike tire will take around 1-2 minutes. There is no way this could be used to seat tires: The air output is not sufficient.
And then the adapters: the ball and inflatable toy inserts are fine, but the Presta valve adapter is absolutely useless! The Schrader end on the hose is also not lossless, so filling suspension forks is theoretically possible, but difficult despite the accurate pressure gauge as you loose a lot of air unthreading the hose from the valve.
The solution for the useless Presta adapter is to use a Topeak Pressure Rite angle adapter threaded to the pump’s own Presta adapter. The Topeak adapter is really nice and easy to use, highly recommended!
The verdict
The EasyPump is definitely not a replacement for a compressor and not as quick as a floor pump, but it’s easy to take with you and definitely beats passing out trying to blow air into an inflatable pool. Budget in another 15€ for a good Presta adapter and don’t throw away your shock pump and the EasyPump can easily replace a floor pump when you’re on the go with your bike.
Build quality: 4/5 - No complaints
Adapters: 1.5/5 - Presta is useless and the Schrader head less than ideal
Function: 3/5 - Should be faster, like MUCH faster!
Overall: 3/5 - A few shortcomings, but easy to use
Comments
Post a Comment