Few look past the shock pump that came with their bike. However, those who like to fiddle with pressures on the trail will likely seek something a little more compact.
The market provides a small handful of compact shock pump options, with Birzman one of the few to offer a fully featured pump in a paltry size – the Zacoo Macht. We recently tested the cute Zacoo Macht along with 10 other suspension shock pumps and the Birzman came out on top among the compact options.
The Birzman Zacoo Macht compared with a standard FOX shock pump (top)
Sitting at 240mm long, the shiny Zacoo Macht is similar in length to a standard Fox or RockShox shock pump. However, it’s the 84g weight that’s the real story, saving 124g over the common suspension brand pumps.
Made mostly of CNCed alloy, the pump offers a quality and solid feel in hand and has proven durable over the past few months of use.
At 1in / 25mm in diameter, the gauge reads to 300psi, but its diminutive size certainly requires a careful and close look. It’s generally thought that the best way to ensure gauge accuracy is just use the same pump every time. That said, this little gauge read close to accurate, clocking in at 155psi to an actual verified 160psi.
The bleed button is kept out of the way
Behind the gauge (that doubles as a handle) sits a countersunk bleed button. It’s easy to control the release and hard to accidentally push – something we can’t say the same for with the pumps that come stock with just about every brand of bike/suspension.
Also found on many other Birzman pumps is the ‘Air-Lock’ valve, this is designed to prevent unwanted air loss from leaving the Schrader valve while connecting/disconnecting. Most shock pumps on the market are designed to do this, but Birzman’s design is perhaps that little more refined and does as claimed.
In the name of simplicity, the high-pressure rubber hose doesn’t swivel and is kept short. This may result in fitment issues with some rear shocks where valve access is tight, although we’re yet to find such an example during our testing.
Pumping a rear shock to 160psi, the Zacoo Macht took a tiring 208 strokes, but got there without any difficulty or force. Compare this to the 116 strokes from a standard Fox/RockShox pump, and it’s certainly a pump best used to adjust suspension on the move, rather than inflating it from scratch.