Quicker Pro mini pump

Mini pumps vary in their performance as much as anything in cycling, and it seems that for all the progress in cycling equipment there's still plenty of awful pumps out there. Not that the Quicker Pro is one of them: it's an excellent emergency pump that'll get your tyres track-pump-hard at the roadside without making your arms fall off.

My first reaction when anyone tells me that they've made a mini pump that'll go up to 160psi is a kind of knowing scepticism: I've seen numbers like that printed on the packaging of mini pumps many times, but I can count on the fingers of one hand the pumps that have backed up the talk with action. So, enter the Quicker Pro. It'll pump up to 154psi! Will it now.

The pump itself is quite compact, normally another telltale sign that high pressures will be out of reach. But the Quicker Pro has a couple of tricks up its sleeve. Firstly it's telescopic, meaning that the barrel is effectively much longer than the pump first appears. Secondly it has a dual action – it pushes air on both parts of the stroke.

It actually moves more air when it's being pulled than pushed, which feels a bit weird to begin with but you soon forgive that when you realise that it's going to pump your tyres up nice and hard in no time at all. Really. 110 strokes (about a minute's worth of graft) had a completely flat 700x24c Conti pumped up to a nice firm 100psi, and while I'm not sure that the stated 154psi is within reach, I've no doubt that 120psi is, which is all you could ever want from a mini pump. There's a gauge in the central section of the plunger with helpful pressures like 87psi and 116psi marked (I know that's 6 bar and 8 bar, but why write them in psi?) so you can tell when to stop; except you can't, because it doesn't really work that well. But the pinch test never fails.

Any downsides? Well, the fact that you're doing more pulling than pushing means you have to be careful to hold the head of the pump to stop it ripping the valve off the tube. That's more a matter of learning a new technique than anything else though. The rubber mount, though versatile (currently the Quicker Pro is mounted on the back of my seatpost) isn't the sturdiest thing ever, and I've added a Velcro strap to make sure it's still there when I need it. It's not the sturdiest mini pump I've ever used and it makes some odd noises when you're using it, like there's a family of field mice trapped inside. Also it's possible to trap the fold of skin between your thumb and forefinger between the handle and the body, if you're not careful. I am now.

In general though I'm very fond of the Quicker Pro. It'll fit in a jersey pocket, and is almost as good as a frame pump in most situations. That's not something often said of a mini pump round here, so Quickex must be doing something right...

Verdict

A mini pump that's almost the match of a frame pump