The Gift of Air: Our Favorite Bike Pumps

What is the best bike pump?
I dunno.

But I can tell you from direct, first-hand experience, which pumps have worked best for us here at Rapid Transit. And, I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that we've tried them all. And we fill up a lot of tires.

So when I asked the mechanics what floor pump they would most whole-heartedly recommend, they all pointed to the pink one.

SERFAS WFP-200 ($42), and I believe the initials stand for Women's Floor Pump.

Let me clarify, that although we had several female mechanics on staff during the summer, the remaining mechanics who have nominated this pump as the best are all men. Why would they pick a pump that is not only pink, but also a little shorter, thus requiring a few more pumps to get the tires to desired pressure? Two reasons:

• easy to use
• it lasts.

There you go. In case you are unsure if a red-blooded male cyclist on your holiday list will be amused by a pink pump, we do offer a large selection of floor pumps in other colors:

Need a compact portable pump? There is really only one that is worth your money:

TOPEAK Road Morph ($45). This baby attaches conveniently and compactly to your bike, staying out of the way when you don't need it, but morphs into a mini-floor pump when you do. As with any floor pump, you use up-and-down action to fill up the tires, making the whole process faster, easier, more efficient, and less likely to produce scraped knuckles.

These pumps make great gifts all by themselves, but if you want to round it out with some stocking stuffers, here are a couple of ideas:

A patchkit and some brightly colored tire levers to facilitate tire removal (<$10).

Or, how about a stash of spare tubes for emergencies? (see coupon below).

And, here are some coupons you can use (click, print & redeem'em at Rapid Transit):