I've read too many reviews for mini air compressors and always end up being put off by the small number of negative reviews: "it failed after one use"; "it takes 30 minutes to inflate the tyre"; "it made me bald" etc (OK, maybe not the last one).
So anybody here who can suggest a compact, robust, reliable tyre inflator in the UK?
Cheers

This looks like an updated version of what I have carried on 2 bikes for the last 15 years. I use them only for tire repair and top off while on the road, so they are not overworked but they have never failed me.


Slime 40061 Power Sport Tire Inflator



Don't know if they are available in the UK.

....................shu

I don’t. Know if this is available directly from someone in the UK but there is the Cycle Pump in the States which should be shippable to the UK tough the VAT man may want a slice

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I've carried a product called a Stop-N-Go Tubeless Tire Repair Kit for many years. I am happy with it and would recommend it to others.

It does take a long time (20 minutes) to inflate the tire, but eventually it does inflate the tire. I don't consider that to be a significant problem because it is an emergency use only thing. I have used the pump perhaps once a year for the past 10 years, all but one time for just adding a bit of air to the tire (once only for re-inflating after a flat). So it is reliable.

It is prudent to keep the engine running when inflating a tire from flat, this so you do not deplete the battery.

One problem you need to be aware of is that the rubber plugs that come with the kit for fixing flats dry out and perish after about 5 years. This means you need to replace them. I replaced them with gummi worms and a tool to insert the gummi worms, rather than the proprietary plugs that came with the kit.

Michael

I got myself a one of these:


It's a Xiaomi Tire Inflator, though I think they are marketed under other names too. Cost me about 35 euros, right here in a shop, with a warranty and everything. It's a bit bulky, but the cinch bag that came with it is big enough to also fit the bits from a tubeless repair kit (reamer, installer, ropes, glue tube). I only briefly tested it, and while it's not as fast as a gas station pump, it's acceptable at pumping up my tires to about 2.2-2.5 bar. And it has an internal battery, so I can bring it over to the wheel without worrying about leads back to my bike battery. Charges with the same plug as my Cardo, doubles as a torch if needed. In general, I'm happy with the purchase so far - but admittedly I've not had to use it in anger yet.

I have been using the BestRest Cycle pump for over 15 years! and it is as good as new- a high quality product
There is another, cheaper ( but reliability unknown) here

Also have one of these. Excellent!

This is a cut n paste from my website of the tire inflation test I did.

Tire Inflation Test
I thought the best way to test this pocket-size tire inflator was to see how many times it could pump up a fully deflated tire. I used the front tire on my Honda CRF 250 Rally as the guinea pig. Honda states the tire should be inflated to a pressure of 22 PSI, so this is what I set the tire inflator at.

It took on average 2 min 40 secs to fully inflate the tire to 22PSI. After the 10th inflation, I called it quits! If you have to pump up your tire from fully deflated more than 10x per day, then you have bigger issues.

I would speculate that the tire inflator could have pumped up the tire another 2-3x before the battery finally ran out of juice. Impressive!

I also compared the tire inflator against the one I own from Moto Pumps. The Motor Pumps tire inflator is a lot louder as you can hear on my review video, but it’s about 1 min quicker in inflating the tire from fully flat. Also because it connects to the bike battery, you are not limited to how much you use it. You can run the bike while pumping up a tire if you think it will drain your battery.

I’ll be honest, I no way expected this small footprint portable tire pump to be able to inflate up my CRF front tire more than 10x. I was very impressed!

The pump is light, small, compact, easy to use, and on the surface looks well built.
I would have absolutely no problems carrying this with me if I was touring.

The price is around US$35 (£27) and that includes shipping from China.
If you are interested in getting one, take a look at the AliExpress page.

Can I add the Tomcat to your list of choices. Works every time across various bikes and tyre/ rims. It’s about 12cm long and 8cm wide. Quite compact. Not sure what the cost is but the net should have all the relevant info. Cheers Smoky126

I bought one from motopumps.com who claim to be the lightest and most compact on the market. I don't know if that claim is true, as they're all pretty compact, but I'm happy with how it works. I wouldn't do the same again today because of the cost of duty and shipping when buying outside the UK.

Just for giggles, can anyone here remember the air inflator that was a long hose with an air fitting on one end, and a spark plug thread on the other.

Unscrew a spark plug, start the car and it pumps the tire up.

Not much use on a dr650 I imagine

What were they called? A Schrader valve or something like that. Had one back in the 70's. As you say, not much use on a single but it worked well enough on multi cylinder engines with normal sized plugs - ie cars! Most of the Japanese bikes we all rode back then had smaller plugs that it wouldn't fit.

Biggest worry was that you'd be filling your tyre with petrol vapour rather than air. The manufacturers said no, everyone else said yes. I had no idea but I do remember making sure nobody was smoking nearby when we were checking tyre pressures!

I am not an expert, but here is my experience:
3500m above sea level, (North Pakistan) 2 pc compressor dead, at the same time, incl. the AnTyx shows. Maybe because the thin air?
Not funny.
I now carry, 3 pcs co2 cartridge, and the cheap one, Toyark links to.

I have the motopumps.com version, and am well impressed with it. Small and quick to inflate. I ALSO carry 2 of the LARGE 45gm CO2 cartridges in case the bead is broken and needs re-seating (on tubeless - on tube type the pump will do fine).

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I've had similar experiences with 12V compressors. They all died from overheating while trying to set the bead after a puncture repair. My weapon of choice now is a biker's dream foot pump. It's simple and works reliably. And with the high volume / high pressure toggle the effort required of doing it manually (pedially?) is limited.

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My KTM 790 has two small storage compartments, one each side. In one I carry Stop 'n' Go tubeless repair kit, in the other I carry the smallest electric pump I could find which is from Rocky Creek Designs.



Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016MA2KHC/horizonsunlimi0a

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