Topeak Morph Mountain Pump
A bicycle pump is a key piece of equipment for your tour.
Buy a good one and flat tires will be a breeze to fix. A bad pump will turn what should be a five minute job into a half hour trial full of sweat and stress.
When we bought our first pump, we were so focused on buying the lightest and most compact gear that we looked for those features in a pump too. Big mistake.
While you don’t want a full-size floor model, the smallest pumps on the market are only good for allowing you to limp back home after a run to the supermarket. On tour, on the other hand, your tires need a high pressure to cope with the weight of the luggage and allow you to continue riding. Unless you’re Hulk Hogan, that’s impossible to achieve with the tiniest pumps.
We learned the hard way. Our first two pumps were too small to be useful and each flat meant five minutes of fixing the tube, followed by 25 minutes of gruelling work to pump the tire. We never got the pressure up to a satisfactory level and that left us hunting for a gas station or mechanic shop to finish the job.
After two years of touring, we finally got smart and picked up the Topeak Morph Mountain pump. It’s not the lightest out there at 250 grams and it’s hardly compact, measuring 12.7 inches from end to end. But you can still mount it on your frame and it makes reinflating your tires to as much as 120 psi a quick and easy job.
With our old pumps, we had to share the job of pumping up the tire with 50 strokes each and we’d both be worn out before the tire was reasonably firm. With the Morph Mountain pump, one of us can inflate a tube in seconds without breaking a sweat. Only the last few strokes can be a bit difficult as the pressure mounts in the tube. Otherwise, it’s incredibly easy.
We don’t even need to use the foot brace that comes with the pump to add stability. The extended hose that runs between the valve and the pump means you can vary your pumping position easily and the handle at the top of the pump also swivels out to give you plenty of options for finding a comfortable way of holding the pump.
The only word of caution we’d apply to this pump is that ours didn’t come with a cover to protect the valve attachment. If it’s mounted on your bike, the dirt and mud could easily get inside. Consider covering it with a bit of tape or plastic wrap.
All in all we couldn’t be more pleased with our Topeak Morph Mountain pump. We only wish we’d discovered it sooner!
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