A portable air inflator as an Editors鈥 Choice item?
Yes. This is for real. I love this tool.
Those already in the know about portable inflators might be like, 鈥淒uh, dude!鈥 This review is not for y鈥檃ll. It鈥檚 for everyone who鈥檚 thinking, 鈥淲TF is this guy talking about?鈥
Also, I am not an expert on portable air inflators鈥攖his is the first and only one I鈥檝e ever owned鈥攕o I won鈥檛 be doing any performance comparisons or anything like that. This is more of a public service announcement: if you are a rider of bikes, you need one of these gadgets.
I鈥檓 not sure why I didn鈥檛 glom onto the concept of the cordless inflator the first time I saw a fellow mechanic using one in the pits of an XC World Cup in 2007. Perhaps because back then, hardly any were available, and they actually were a bit of a joke. But cordless tool tech has come a very long way in recent years. They鈥檙e making everything cordless now. DeWalt has a forced-air propane heater on its cordless system, Milwaukee has a flippin鈥 drill press on theirs, and, not to be outdone, Makita has an 18-volt coffee machine.
Personally, I鈥檓 invested in the Makita LXT 18-volt system (next purchase, coffee machine!) so I went with the Makita inflator, model DMP180. The brand has added two more models since this one came out. One is a bigger, beefier version of this one, also on the 18-volt platform, and the other is on Makita鈥檚 new 40-volt XGT platform. But I鈥檓 perfectly happy with this one because it鈥檚 strong enough for all my bike and moto needs and small enough to bring anywhere.
Which is one of my biggest reasons for having this tool totally replace floor pumps. Seriously, if anyone needs a floor pump, hit me up. I have a shitload of them, and I will never touch one ever again.
But you鈥檒l have to show up at my house to pick it up, because floor pumps are a stupid pain in the ass to ship. They鈥檙e also a pain to travel with. And even to just have around. I feel like I鈥檓 constantly tripping over a floor pump in the shop or trying to find a good place to store it.
This little guy goes right in the top drawer of my toolbox next to my cordless drills. When I go for a ride, I just throw it in my ride bag and I鈥檓 all set. I can also throw it in my bike bag when I travel. You know, I think I鈥檒l actually get a second one just for my ride bag. Hang on a sec while I get onto Amazon鈥
So, yeah, floor pumps are no longer allowed in my shop. Except the Lezyne Shock Digital Drive floor pump. That thing rules鈥攂ut its days are numbered. As soon as Lezyne makes one of these inflators that can go to 300 psi, that pump is going right onto eBay.
This inflator goes up to 120 psi, which I do actually get close to because I use it to air up suspension forks. See? The Lezyne floor pump is already halfway out the door. And forget about traditional shock pumps. I mean, I still have one, but it鈥檚 basically relegated to my ride bag at this point.
I even use the inflator to top up my tires in the shop, where I have a really nice air compressor that might even be more accessible. The digital pressure gauge on the inflator is accurate and has a 0.5 psi resolution. It鈥檚 easier to read and more accurate than the gauge on my compressor inflator tool, so I prefer using the Makita for setting tire pressure.
It also has a feature where you can set the pressure, then hold down the trigger, and the inflator will stop pumping at that pressure. In reality, though, it doesn鈥檛 work that well, because presta valves suck. Especially when they鈥檙e clogged with sealant. If the inflator is too fast for the valve, pressure will build up in the hose and give a falsely high reading, which will cause the inflator to stop short of the desired pressure. flow much better and will allow you to use this feature. But I don鈥檛 really need it anyway鈥擨鈥檓 happy to pay attention for the seconds it takes to reach the pressure I want. Also, the tool doesn鈥檛 have a switch lock, so you can鈥檛 walk away from it anyway.
Other manufacturer鈥檚 inflators do have switch locks, but that鈥檚 not a feature I require for my general use. I have used it to top off car and truck tires, but that鈥檚 not my main use. This is also why I鈥檓 not really tempted to 鈥渦pgrade鈥 from the DMP180 to the bigger DMP181.
That model does, however, have a pressure release valve, which can come in handy. It also has three speed settings, so for presta valves, you could potentially put the Makita on the lowest speed and use the automatic stop feature. At the lowest speed, pressure might not build up in the line. But the DMP181 is bigger, making it slightly less portable.
Speaking of speed, I have had success installing tubeless tires with this tool, but that鈥檚 because most tires and rims fit together well enough these days that floor pumps also work on lots of setups. If this were 2007, there鈥檚 no way in hell it鈥檇 work.
And this brings me to my final point. An inflator like this definitely does not replace an air compressor. The compressor is an essential tool that gets used for much more than inflating things in my shop. And while the inflator can install a tubeless tire, I鈥檇 only use it for that purpose if I had to. Basically this tool is a digital floor pump. It has the same capabilities, except it鈥檚 more convenient in every single way. It鈥檚 even more convenient now that I鈥檝e replaced the generic head with a Specialized Smarthead鈥攖he one and only part on my floor pump that鈥檚 not useless to me at this point.
Now, who鈥檚 coming over to take all these floor pumps off my hands? I have a couple 鈥渞eally nice鈥 Silca ones.