Gardena’s comfortable, ready-to-go backpack is our favourite hand-pumped sprayer. The Ghostbusters look and manual cranking requirement might put some folk off, but we’ve been using self-propelled sprayers to clean bikes in the middle of nowhere for decades before anyone invented car-powered options.
Fully padded straps make the 12-litre tank more comfortable to carry. It can be rigged left or right-handed too. It’s lighter and more compact than most similar designs and comes fully assembled with just the hose and nozzle to attach, which can save time.
In use, the metal side arm and pump head that crank up the pressure move a fair way so you get a decent amount of pressure with each pump. It properly shifts even chunky clay when it’s pumped to the max too, although less water flow than an electric cleaner makes it slower when it comes to overall cleaning performance.
You’ll need to pre-spray with a cleaner or get in with a rag/brush to get frame tubes properly clean. The all-metal nozzle gives a full range of spray types and the whole unit feels high quality and long lasting.
