TESTED: Bontrager Travel Charger

If you own a good track pump, you will be familiar with how easy it is to get the right tyre pressure each time, every time, before you hit the trails. A good track pump will even inflate tubeless tyres pretty easily – especially something like the Bontrager Flash Charger track pump that preloads a chamber before releasing pressure into the tyre.

But if you pack up for a holiday with your bike, a track pump might not always make the cut – especially as they don’t fit that well into a bike bag.

Bontrager have included a neat travel pump in their Charger line, and the Travel Charger shows the level of detail that Bontrager are known for.

It’s almost completely alloy in its construction, which keeps the weight down, and durability up compared to steel or plastic. The folding foot for stability snaps in place for storage, and the long hose loops over the folding handle and clips to the top of the foot to keep it all in one tidy package – that then slides into the included travel bag so it doesn’t scratch up your bike, or mess up things in your suitcase or the back of your car.

Quite often when you shrink a product it doesn’t work as well. Not the case with this pump. The pump head changes internally (and manually) between presta and schraeder, which in my experience means each works very well. It locks on tight and if it wears with age, new seals will go in easily. There’s a gauge on the head, but if you take your setup seriously a small digital gauge is far better.

The gauge is a great indicator – but if you’re adamant about getting your pressure right, get a digital gauge and use it at home and on the road.

It’s not as stable as a full sized track pump, but this only proved to be a problem when trying to force air into a valve that should have been retired months ago, as it is full of dried sealant. I even managed to get pressure to an acceptable level on my road bike – so it’s pretty versatile.

The Travel Cahrger isn’t as stable as a normal track pump – but beats any mini-pump hands down!

Hits:

• Well-designed and has the right features
• Travel bag is a great inclusion

Misses:

• $100 for another track pump

From: Trek Australia

RRP: $99.95