Flextail Tiny Bike Pump review

Flextail is known best for its compact pumps and portable compressors for inflating airbeds.

The Tiny Bike Pump is its first attempt at a portable compressor for bicycle tyres and, overall, it’s rather good for such a compact device.

It's an effective eco-friendly alternative to CO2 inflators and a useful solution to get you home after a puncture, although the price of £81 / $99 is high.

Flextail Tiny Bike Pump details

Aside from having perhaps the most autological name of any product available right now, the Tiny Bike Pump is a smart idea.

It contains a 350mAh battery and a mini compressor with a 40-watt power output.

The pump is a super-compact 70x45x30mm, weighing in at only 110g.

Flextail claims the Tiny Bike Pump can achieve 100psi / 6.9 BAR of pressure, and holds enough energy to inflate a 25mm-wide 700c road tyre to 80psi / 5.5 BAR in 1.5 minutes.

It’s claimed to be able to do this twice before it requires recharging. It takes 25 minutes to charge via its onboard USB-C port.

The pump comes with both Schrader and Presta valve adaptors, plus ball (needle) adaptor, lanyard, USB-C charging cable and a Velcro strap to attach it to your bike.

A silicone insulating case is also provided because the pump can get hot when working hard.

Flextail says that with the pump turned on you can use the included Velcro strap to attach it to your bike and use the illuminated switch as a makeshift rear light.

It might get you out of a fix, but don’t expect the level of illumination you get from the best bike lights.

Flextail offers a year’s warranty on the Tiny Pump and claims the battery is good for more than 200 full tyre inflations before any significant drop in battery performance.

Flextail Tiny Bike Pump performance

In use, the Flextail is simplicity itself.

The LED button glows green when fully charged, and when you need to inflate a tyre you hold the button until it beeps and glows red. Push the head onto your valve, then press the button again to engage the pump.

I’ve tried the pump on a pair of 45c gravel tyres, inflating both to around 55psi / 3.8 BAR in just shy of a minute each (timed at 56 and 58 seconds).

The pump doesn’t have a pressure gauge, though, so out on the road you’re going to be using thumb-pressing pressure judgement.

For a 700x28c tubeless road tyre, it got up to 75psi / 5.2 BAR in 70 seconds. In all, I estimate the pump holds around five minutes of air supply per fully charged battery.

Of course, the Tiny Bike Pump is an energy and time saver over a traditional bike pump, but it costs significantly more than your average mini-pump.

Where the Flextail arguably makes more sense is in replacing a CO2 inflator. Granted, it’s not quite as quick as a CO2 inflator, but it's much quicker than a pocket-sized mini-pump.

One could argue stronger environmental credentials for the Flextail pump too.

A good CO2 inflator will cost around £20, and with each disposable C02 cartridge coming in at around £1.50 for a 16g serving (enough for a single-shot inflation of a gravel tyre), or a bit more for a 25g cartridge, you could soon rack up the price of the Tiny Pump.

The Tiny Bike pump doesn’t have many rivals, but a key one is Australian brand Fumpa’s mini compressors.

The smallest, the nanoFumpa, costs £89, weighs 100g and will inflate one to two tyres to a maximum of 110psi / 7.6 BAR, charging in around 40 minutes.

The £109 miniFumpa is claimed to be able to put out 120psi / 8.3 BAR and get a 700x23c tyre to 100psi / 6.9 BAR in 45 seconds, with two tyre inflations from a single charge.

The largest £129 model (379g) will inflate around six tyres from its larger battery and the built-in digital gauge is a boon. It’s not exactly pocket-sized, though.

Flextail Tiny Bike Pump bottom line

The Flextail Tiny Bike Pump is a great time (and effort) saver, and long-term, it’s more eco-friendly than using CO2 inflators.

It has enough flow to inflate a tubeless tyre and enough power reserves to get you back on the road after multiple punctures (depending on tyre size).

Is it worth the high initial outlay? That depends on how you feel about trying to inflate a large-volume tyre with a mini-pump.

For me, the Flextail has become one of my ride essentials and consigned my C02 inflators to history, although I still keep a hand pump in case of emergency.