Is This The World's Smallest Tire Pump?

This small pump is obviously good for more than moto tires, but if it works as claimed and the price is right (those are big ifs!), then it could be a big help to those building a new on-bike toolkit. Photo: Kickstarter

I’m sure a lot of you have been in the same position that I was, while scouting for a rally years ago: Stuck on the side of the road in the rain with a flat tire and no tools to fix the situation whatsoever. That was my own dumb fault, but at least my boss at that time was smart enough to have tire irons and a tube, and I’d been smart enough to lose my tire close to a gas station with a pump… and an overpass that kept the rain off us while we fixed the problem. That was the day I learned to spend more time thinking about my toolkit, and while many know-it-alls might sneer at such an honest confession, the reality is that these hard lessons are learned by almost all riders the same way.

But, if you aim to be self-sufficient, then there’s one problem with most tire pumps: They’re huge, and a pain in the neck to use. Some require a lot of pumping by hand or foot. Others are a bit shrunk-down, but still require you to remove the seat and plug into your battery. Lately, a new crop of battery-powered pumps has come on the market, but they’re still too big to fit into most OEM toolkits.

Enter the MINI Pump, a pocket-sized solution currently raising funds on Kickstarter. This small pump comes with compatibility with Scrhader, Dunlop and Presta valves. It’s supposed to be able to inflate a 17-inch motorcycle tire to 34 psi in 150 seconds, with a max pressure of 100 psi capable, which should be enough to set the bead on most bike tires.

It’s rechargeable, and one charge is supposed to inflate five motorcycle tires (although this number is apparently not a hard-and-fast rule). If you flatten the 350 mAh battery, it recharges in 25 minutes from a USB-C cable.

Same size as an Airpods case, pretty much! Photo: Kickstarter

The Kickstarter advert says it’s roughly the same size as an Airpods set, at 115 grams of weight and 70.5x41x28.5 mm case dimensions. In other words: Small enough to fit into your pocket, or a small toolkit on the bike!

The Kickstarter campaign quickly exceeded its fundraising goal, but let us note a few issues with it. First, I looked and looked and couldn’t find a price for the thing. Second, backing the campaign seems to give you no real reward once (or if) the product enters production. Third, this is most assuredly repackaged Chinese tech, and as such, will likely be on AliExpress, eBay or even Amazon for a much lower price in coming months, if it isn’t already.

Still, it is very cool to see what’s becoming possible thanks to advances in technology, and hopefully, we’ll all be able to carry much more practical toolkits in years to come thanks to improved gadgets like this.

See the campaign on Kickstarter here, but again, be very careful about giving them any money, because I’m not sure you’ll get anything in return.