Topeak JoeBlow Pro Digital

The Topeak JoeBlow Pro Digital is a quality pump with a very long hose and an accurate digital gauge. The SmartHead automatically and tightly fits both Presta and Schrader valves, and the base is sturdy. Disappointingly going past 130psi gets hard fast, so you need to treat the claimed 200psi sticker max with a little scepticism.

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The Topeak JoeBlow range has a well-deserved reputation for decades-long life and quality. I rather liked the Sport Digital version a few years back, and at £75 it's a decent pump for the money. The Pro version gets a better head and a longer hose, and is rated to 200psi, compared with the Sport's 140psi.

I often work on bikes in workstands, so the length of the hose is a critical factor for me. The Pro Digital's hose is a whopping 1.4m in length, and it's mounted at the top under the digital gauge. This means the Joeblow Pro Digital's reach is around six feet off the ground – more than enough to reach a wheel on a bike in a workstand, and possibly on bikes hanging in a garage rack or on a car bike rack.

At the end of the hose is Topeak's SmartHead DX3, which automatically adjusts to both Schrader and Presta valves, and locks on with the lever. The head doesn't need much stem to grab onto – I make it about 14-15mm of combined valve core thread and valve body.

The hose tidies away by looping around a hook at the base, back up to a clip on the side of the gauge, then over the handle and down to a final clip.

These clips hold the hose very firmly, to the extent you can hold the pump sideways by the hose. Certainly if you're slinging the pump in and out of vehicles or sheds it will all stay together nicely.

You get a pack of adaptors for pumping up inflatable toys, balls and for converting Presta or Dunlop valves to Schrader. Given the SmartHead can do either Presta or Schrader, I'm not sure why the former adaptor is included.

The gauge is clear to read and wakes itself up after a few strokes, or you can press the button to wake it. You cycle through bar, psi or kg/cm2 by pressing the button.

While you're pumping the reading does jump all over the place, so you do need to pause for a few seconds to allow it to settle. After a period of use you work out how to average the jumping numbers, allowing you to roughly zoom in on your target pressure without pausing too often. The gauge has a battery level indicator, and when the two CR2032 cells need changing there's a provided 1.5mm hex key to undo the gauge.

The release button on the head is capable of fine-tuning individual the pressure if you're careful and practised. Removing the head at 100psi will release a little air, so if needed you can compensate by going over by a few psi.

Pumping a 23mm 700c tyre to 100psi took me 20 strokes, and the digitally measured pressure after removing the head over a number of inflations was 98psi. It took 27 strokes to get to 130psi, with a notable increase in effort required at the bottom of the stroke. Going past 130psi things got a lot harder, until at 155psi I really didn't want to do much more.

So yes, theoretically the JoeBlow Pro Digital may be capable for going to 200psi – but I wouldn't want to be the person doing it! Compared to pumps with other wider, broader designs, I found the handle uncomfortable when I was pressing down at pressures over 130psi.

At £125 the JoeBlow Pro Digital is definitely 'expensive' – although you can spend a lot more. But for big-brand pumps, this is an upper-echelon price. You're paying for the accuracy of a digital gauge, the long hose and a high-quality lever-lock head – plus Topeak's reputation.

Personally I feel going past 130psi these days is pretty much restricted to track bikes, as even pro road riders and time trialists have got on board the wider-tyre, lower-pressure, provable-performance bus. So the fact the gauge can measure to 200psi shouldn't be considered a performance advantage outside the most esoteric niche.

Value

Yes, £125 is an awful lot of money for a pump – even a digital one. The competition here is Lezyne's Digital Floor Drive range, with digital pumps starting at around £60, going up to £110 for the Alloy Digital Drive that has a 220psi maximum pressure and a long 130cm hose – though that's mounted at the base of the pump.

Compared to the Silca Superpista Digital Floor Pump the JoeBlow Digital Pro looks an absolute bargain – especially considering in the five years since the Silca review it's jumped form £275 to £390. But then the Silca Superpista Digital, with its world-leading metal chuck and no-expense-spared design is on a different planet to most other pumps.

Conclusion

The key questions to ask yourself are: do you regularly need to pump tyres of bikes racked significantly above floor level? And then: do you need the accuracy of a digital gauge?

If the answer to both is yes, I'd say the JoeBlow Pro Digital is well worth looking at and you will be happy with the excellent head and bleed button. If you don't need those two features, you might want to consider more cost-effective options.

Verdict

A good digital pump with a great smart head and long hose, slightly let down by excessive pressure claims