Topeak JoeBlow Booster, Black

Product Information

I'm looking at replacing my 15ish year old JoeBlow Pro. The gauge has near worthless PSI markings and seems to be a little wanky at low pressures. On road bikes (90-110psi) it works great and will be kept for that use only. SMARTHEAD™ – same pump head is used for both Presta and Schrader. No, I’m not talking about flipping the valve over like other pumps, I’m talking about just pressing the SMARTHEAD™ onto any valve stem and the pump head will seal over it – either Presta or Schrader. Birzman have nailed the aesthetics of their Pump Up tubeless inflator. The sleek metal body, plastic end caps and flashy inflator head all look amazing. We are also fans of the long hose, which is neatly stored when not in use. In fact, there isn’t much to dislike about the Pump Up inflator, until you try to inflate a tire with it… The first time I put the Booster to task I was converting a review bike to tubeless. I was excited to see if the reservoir function could overcome one of the more troublesome tubeless combinations: Easton rims and Maxxis tires. I pressurized the Booster to 120 psi (8.5 BAR), twisted the dial to inflate and, bingo, the beads seated on the 2.3-inch High Roller first try. OK then, next was a Schwalbe 2.2-inch Nobby Nic. Same wheels, same pressure and the tire failed to inflate - twice. Disappointed, I redoubled my effort, pumping the Booster to its maximum 160 psi, after which, the tire seated into the rim and sadly, instantly lost pressure. It was then that I noticed the tire had a good sized slash in its sidewall - large enough for an inner tube to bubble out. A floor pump that can seat a slashed tubeless tire? That's a winner in my book.

There’s nothing particularly flashy about this tubeless inflator pump. It’s well-built, and even the plastic parts feel robust. The wide handle is comfortable to use, and the stroke is smooth and pretty well dampened. The large, easy-to-read gauge proved to be accurate in our tests, however, it does need a little while to settle before you can take a reading. The Presta + Schrader Smarthead is a great feature, allowing you to use the pump on both types of valves without having any faff. We also liked the twist-to-release lever, which matches the overall robust feel of the pump. The Topeak JoeBlow Booster performed averagely in our lab, recording a peak flow of 2.8 l/s in our test scenario and a one-shot pressure of 24 psi. While these numbers weren’t outstanding, we were impressed by the JoeBlow’s reliability, bomb-proof build and useful features. I went down to REI and got to try a lot of different pumps. They didn't have the JoeBlow Fat, but they did have a Topeak Dualie. As such there are two sizes to choose from, 0.6L and 1L, depending on how great you or your tyre’s thirst. Each bottle comes with two caps – a standard bottle top, for using with your favourite cold beverage, and a special thread-in inflator.

As one might expect, our floor pump tests involved a lot of inflating. We tested for quantifiable factors like inflation speed and gauge accuracy, measured weight and dimensions, and made user-based assessments of more subjective things like handle comfort and overall construction quality. We also asked friends and fellow bicycle enthusiasts to join our testing rounds to balance our experts' perspectives on the best features for all experience levels. We gave the Topeak Joe Blow Booster top marks when we first tested it two years ago but it has gone up in price since then. It’s essentially a standard JoeBlow floor pump with a secondary air chamber bolted on. There is a bezel on the gauge, which you turn to select either Charge or Inflate. It took 40strokes to boost the chamber to 160psi.

TO CHARGE – Turn the Bezel to the ‘1b’ position (see picture below) which puts the pump into ‘CHARGE’ mode. This mode stores the pressurized air into the large cylinder as you pump. It takes about 45’ish pumps on the handle to reach 160 psi of compressed air (see ‘2’ in picture below). COMPLETE THE PROCESS – When the tire is full, depress the gold air release button on the front of the pump then remove the pump valve from the valve stem by popping the lever. As a challenge, we tried it on a variety of large volume 2.8in and 3.0in tyres. Our 1L bottle, inflated to 140psi, seated the bead every time, although we still needed to top up the air to get the tyre to ping into place fully and bring it up to a useable pressure.

The Joe Blow Booster is equipped with a Kraton grip for a pleasant hold while pumping. The extra long pump hose ensures that every valve is easily accessible. Finally, inflating a tyre is very easy due to its stable base.

At the end of the day, I ended up keeping my current 15 year old Topeak Pro. It still works, but the gauge is off. At low pressure the gauge is reading almost 8psi low ... compaired to my first gen Topeak SmartGauge. Mountain Biking product shot in the studio 2. Bontrager Dual Charger floor pump Best budget floor pump for mountain bikes Solid build quality is essential for surviving the rigours of a home mechanic’s garage, boot and life. Weight is less of an issue here… In fact, a heavy base keeps the pump stable A dual head that works with both Presta and Schrader valves is important The testing process Unfortunately, we can’t recommend the Lifeline Airblast for use with MTB tires, and can only imagine it working with low-volume road tires. However, due to its poor overall construction and inaccurate gauge, we find it hard to recommend at all. With the Klic Floor + Burst Tank inflator, Crank Brothers have gone all-out to stand out from the crowd. The pump features elegant metal construction, a solid base and great attention to detail. An accurate gauge, well-dampened stroke and easy-to-use levers all bode well for this inflator pump. While the hidden hose, magnetic connectors and detachable Burst Tank do put this pump in a league of its own, they can also make for complications. It took us a few tries to fully sus-out the features, and make sure all the connections were securely in place. In our lab tests, the Crank Brothers Klic Floor + Burst Tank inflator scored reasonably well, with a 3.36 l/s flow rate and a one-shot pressure of 31 psi.

Customer Reviews

I'm looking at using the pump on our mountain bikes only. All our bikes are tubeless and run rather low pressures. I've had to only use the BAR measure on my current pump so please excuse the non-PSI numbers. This high-value pump works exceptionally well with high volume tires and features a universal nozzle The Milkit Booster is a simple gadget that can ease the pain of tubeless tyres 8. Milkit Booster Best multi-purpose tubeless tyre inflator… and water bottle