Hi, nice video! Got the same pump but it is now not working. Red LEDs blink for a few seconds and turned green. Press the button but it won't power up. Do you have any idea what could be the issue?
Thanks for watching EM and sorry to hear your Cube is having issues. The only time I've seen red LEDs is if the battery is really low or about to die. If you charge it fully and you press the button one time, a green LED should appear. If you fully charged the pump - which should take about 20 minutes, and that LED didn't turn green, then my best guess is that the battery is bad or worn out. Hope this helps.
I have one of a competing brand. It makes about the same noise. It's great for airline travel where CO2 cartridges are theoretically prohibited. I had to lower tire pressure to get my 28mm tire past the brakes on my old Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, so I could pack it in its suitcase, and then pump it up again upon putting it back together. Those are small tires and it goes pretty fast, but I use it on larger tires for my touring bikes, too. I also carry a mini pump as backup, but for airline travel I now take the tiniest mini pump I have.
@@johngorentz6409 thanks so much for watching and sharing your experience with these sweet tiny pumps. I still love mine too. I have a BF Pocket Rocket too (best travel bike ever!). Thanks again John! 🙏
Nice pun in video thumbnail Jim🤣. It was great seeing your "out of the box" experience, but I wonder about its dependability. For example, Santa Cruz ~65 deg temps are ideal for Li-ion battery capacity, but what happens if somebody in Minnesota goes out for a ride on a clear/crisp winter's day in the teens? It would be fun to hear how well it works for you right out of the freezer. And then on top of that is the question of how it will perform a few years from now as those batteries age, particularly if you keep them topped off. I like the idea of something like this that's so compact, convenient, and reasonably light, but I'm getting fed up with non-serviceable gadgets that you have to throw away after a few years. A perfect example of this is a 3yr old Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM in otherwise perfect shape that I had to throw away simply because lost capacity of its non-replaceable battery...
Thanks a lot for watching and the thoughtful comment, Chuck, appreciate your points. I’m sorry to hear about your Wahoo. My Garmin Neo trainer died too - after about 15K. Thankfully they replaced it under warranty. But I agree with you that dependability is important for bike stuff - especially stuff you really need to work. I think if you lived where it’s freezing that you’d be well versed in keeping your electronics protected. When I lived in Vermont we would plug our cars in so they’d start when it was 17 below, which wasn’t uncommon. With this pump I think you’d want to carry it close to your body to keep it from freezing. But that’s just an idea; I haven’t tried it. And I have no idea yet how long it will last. Cycplus say 200 uses but I’m not sure what constitutes a use. Might be running it until it needs charging or filling 2 tires? In any case it seems like it should last a few years at that. Thanks again Chuck!
Great review, Jim. I like it and certainly would give it a go. I'm only on low MTB pressures so probably be a breeze for those, and very light to carry. It looks like a little 2 stroke engine inside, lol. As you said, it might be improved in it's capability once these new things get into the market. I'm sure we will see more manufacturers grabbing a slice of the market! Keep an eye on this technology!
Thanks Graham, glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for commenting. It does look like a little engine- I hadn’t thought of that. There are lots of these type inflators that are a larger size. The tiny ones are something new and I think they’re pretty interesting in how they do all the work for you. I hope we see more designs and technology as this category grows. Thanks again🙏
Hi Jim Thanks so much for your informative videos. I am in process of building my first bike. And also building my own wheels. My question is Can I use a v brake rims for a disk brake use Thanks
You’re very welcome- thank you for watching! Yes you can use rim brake rims with disc brakes. The hubs must be disc compatible but disc- or rim-brake rims will work. Rim-brake rims have a braking track that won’t be needed anymore. Have fun building your bike!!
Great video Jim, I like that these devices can be an alternative to co2 cartridges but I wonder how long they’ll last since small electronics and batteries really don’t stand the test of time. I’ve got a bontrager hand pump with co2 capability but find the hand pump is better suited to small volume road tyres and I tend to avoid using co2 unless I’m desperate. I’ve also got a Stomp Pump foot pump, it’s made in USA, is a metal construction, it’s small and lightweight and it sits in my bag and will likely never fail. You pump with your foot and leg muscles so you’ll never run out of battery (90 PSI limit and best on wider tyres). The downside is it’s price as $108 USD on their website. I’ve also had to regrease it internally once to help it pump (though I’ve had it for almost four years and it’s run perfectly otherwise). Will send you a thanks on PayPal and hope you can review the stomp pump one day (or would be great to see three and four cross lacing videos).
Thanks so much for supporting the channel, indoor - greatly appreciated! And thanks for the thoughtful comment too. These pumps are hard working devices with motors and batteries so they will definitely wear out more quickly than basic hand pumps and CO2 inflators too - because those basic pumps pretty much last forever if you do some minor maintenance once in a great while to keep them working like new. In my mind I see these new electric pumps as mainly for convenience. Now that I've used the Cycplus as a portable tiny pocket pump I decided to buy a Ryobi inflator for home use - here it is without its battery and charger: amzn.to/3uSF7z5 . I already have a regular air compressor in my shop and lots of high quality floor pumps. But the thing is, it's easier and faster to use the Ryobi inflator (most companies that make power tools offer inflators like this). The Ryobi even has a built in gauge. You could definitely argue that a CO2 pump and a good hand pump will inflate a flat tire more quickly than the Cycplus and more quietly too while both of those are less expensive also. Plus, you'll never have to worry about charging those pumps either. But just for ease of use the electric inflators are gaining in popularity both for bicycle and automobile use too. I have heard of the Stomp pump but never had a chance to try one. It sounds very nice from your description. Appreciate you sharing your review! If the company sees this and sends me one I'll be happy to check it out. On lacing wheels, I actually show the 3-cross lacing pattern in my comprehensive wheel building video here: ruclips.net/video/XUqul03hbZ8/видео.html For 4-cross lacing the only difference is that you need to use longer spokes and when you put in the second set of spokes you cross 4 spokes instead of 3 spokes as you lace the wheel. The method I show for spoke lacing is very simple and easy to understand. I've taught it for years. It's based on putting in 1 spoke at a time and one set of spokes at a time. As long as you follow that method lacing is very uncomplicated and you can't go wrong unless you're distracted and forget what you're doing. But even if that happens, since you're only working with 1 spoke at a time it's very easy to just go back one step/one spoke and fix any mistakes. Okay? Hope this helps. Thanks again for the support and great comment!!
@@JimLangley1 Thanks for the reply! I can see the electric pumps replacing co2, maybe they just need to build them so that the battery is more easily replaced. That way they could live a longer service life. I didn't know your video was 3-cross lacing! My first wheels built were based on your video but I thought it was 2-cross. Knowing this I'll just follow your video again. I bought spokes for 32h and 36h rims but found the spokes were too long. My plan is to use 3-cross for the 32h rim and 4-cross for the 36h rim. I'll let you know how I go with 4-cross and hopefully have a couple rims built up with some free time over the holiday period 😀
@@indoorkangaroo3431 have fun building those wheels! 3-cross on a 32 spoke wheel gives almost the same spoke angle as 4 cross on a 36 spoke wheel. So it's almost the same. That's one of the reasons 32 spoke wheels hold up so well.
@@bjornelfsberg3518at home you don't have to use those. 12v pump, it's faster too. There's only only very limited choice for 12v + battery though. Those chinese batteries go out of service quickly as well
Thanks for watching and commenting Graydon, appreciate it. CO2 inflators and shop compressors are super fast and these new tiny electric pocket pumps are the complete opposite - v e r y s l o w 🤣But, I have been having fun with this little dynamo inflating people's tires (I carry it in my pocket). They get a kick out of watching it do its thing and are happy to not have to start pumping. Thanks for all the great comments and have a great New Year's!🎉
Thanks for the review. Not impressed! 2 inflations (if it can even really do that) isn't enough because things can go wrong sometimes. Nor is 80psi. I don't just want to limp home I want to finish my ride on the normal pressure I run at (100psi on the road bike). I don't get punctures often so would probably find it was flat when I needed to use it. I dont see this replacing a quality minipump.
Thanks for watching and the feedback Ben. I understand how you could be unimpressed and that's fine. But to explain my perspective, this is a whole new category of miniature pumps, that's why I'm so impressed. I took it apart and it's very well thought out and built. I expected plastic and it's all metal and appears well made. I've only had it for a few weeks but I've tested it quite a bit. It can definitely do two tires. In the video I show it inflating 3. And while they give a 200 second run time limit on a tire, I let it run on a tire even longer and it kept pumping. I'm not saying it's perfect - just that I think it's impressive that someone can think outside the box and come up with something like this. But you are probably right that if you forget to charge it that the batteries might go flat after a long time, that's a great point. Thanks!
@@JimLangley1 It just needs better batteries. Could probably make one that would use an existing e-bike battery. But even that can go flat. A pump is for emergencies. It needs to rely on as few external things as possible!
@@benc8386 The batteries in the pump work fine Ben, no problem at all in all my tests and they recharge even faster than they said. In certain vehicles like RVs they often use two 6V batteries instead of a single 12V battery because this increases the durability. I think that's why they used 2 batteries in this pump instead of one. Also, I think a larger battery might get hotter than 2 smaller ones. So I think Cycplus did their homework. I'm sure there could be ways to tie it into an e-bike's charging system. But I think we're going to see some e-bikes start coming with built-in pumps. It should be easy to integrate them into the bike so that there's no need to carry a separate pump. I didn't search to see if this feature already exists on e-bikes but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Thanks again.
@@michaelviglianco6121 I didn't mention it because with most tubeless tire issues out riding you would just be adding air to the tire since the sealant or the plug you put in would seal the tire. But if you had to remove a tire and put a tube in for example, the Cube will inflate the tire to the recommended pressures so long as you wait long enough and if it's a good tire that should seat it. If it doesn't seat it, riding on it might get it to seat on its own. You could let the Cube run as long as you want or at least until the battery runs out if you want to add more air. There are some tires that will refuse to seat with any pump. But good quality tires will usually seat and you can do things like wet the beads (soap them if you have it) to make them a little slippery or carry those grippy garden gloves so you can pull the bead out where the tire didn't seat. But, it's not a pump's fault if a tire doesn't seat, it's the fault of how it was installed or just that it is not a very easy to work with tire. Hope this helps and thanks for watching!
@@JimLangley1 I was thinking about its benefits for tubeless touring specifically. For periodic top up and any situation that might require seating a tire in a less than ideal location.
It's a great idea. For Paris Roubaix this year they were testing a hub inflation system that let them change pressure while riding. That would definitely be a nice feature. And those systems didn't use a compressor, just mechanical. If you didn't see it, here's a story from when it showed up: www.bikeradar.com/news/paris-roubaix-tyre-pressure-control-systems Thanks for the great comment, appreciate it!
Hi, nice video! Got the same pump but it is now not working. Red LEDs blink for a few seconds and turned green. Press the button but it won't power up. Do you have any idea what could be the issue?
Thanks for watching EM and sorry to hear your Cube is having issues. The only time I've seen red LEDs is if the battery is really low or about to die. If you charge it fully and you press the button one time, a green LED should appear. If you fully charged the pump - which should take about 20 minutes, and that LED didn't turn green, then my best guess is that the battery is bad or worn out. Hope this helps.
I have one of a competing brand. It makes about the same noise. It's great for airline travel where CO2 cartridges are theoretically prohibited. I had to lower tire pressure to get my 28mm tire past the brakes on my old Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, so I could pack it in its suitcase, and then pump it up again upon putting it back together. Those are small tires and it goes pretty fast, but I use it on larger tires for my touring bikes, too. I also carry a mini pump as backup, but for airline travel I now take the tiniest mini pump I have.
@@johngorentz6409 thanks so much for watching and sharing your experience with these sweet tiny pumps. I still love mine too. I have a BF Pocket Rocket too (best travel bike ever!). Thanks again John! 🙏
Nice pun in video thumbnail Jim🤣. It was great seeing your "out of the box" experience, but I wonder about its dependability. For example, Santa Cruz ~65 deg temps are ideal for Li-ion battery capacity, but what happens if somebody in Minnesota goes out for a ride on a clear/crisp winter's day in the teens? It would be fun to hear how well it works for you right out of the freezer. And then on top of that is the question of how it will perform a few years from now as those batteries age, particularly if you keep them topped off.
I like the idea of something like this that's so compact, convenient, and reasonably light, but I'm getting fed up with non-serviceable gadgets that you have to throw away after a few years. A perfect example of this is a 3yr old Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM in otherwise perfect shape that I had to throw away simply because lost capacity of its non-replaceable battery...
Thanks a lot for watching and the thoughtful comment, Chuck, appreciate your points. I’m sorry to hear about your Wahoo. My Garmin Neo trainer died too - after about 15K. Thankfully they replaced it under warranty. But I agree with you that dependability is important for bike stuff - especially stuff you really need to work.
I think if you lived where it’s freezing that you’d be well versed in keeping your electronics protected. When I lived in Vermont we would plug our cars in so they’d start when it was 17 below, which wasn’t uncommon. With this pump I think you’d want to carry it close to your body to keep it from freezing. But that’s just an idea; I haven’t tried it.
And I have no idea yet how long it will last. Cycplus say 200 uses but I’m not sure what constitutes a use. Might be running it until it needs charging or filling 2 tires? In any case it seems like it should last a few years at that. Thanks again Chuck!
Great review, Jim.
I like it and certainly would give it a go. I'm only on low MTB pressures so probably be a breeze for those, and very light to carry.
It looks like a little 2 stroke engine inside, lol. As you said, it might be improved in it's capability once these new things get into the market. I'm sure we will see more manufacturers grabbing a slice of the market! Keep an eye on this technology!
Thanks Graham, glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for commenting. It does look like a little engine- I hadn’t thought of that. There are lots of these type inflators that are a larger size. The tiny ones are something new and I think they’re pretty interesting in how they do all the work for you. I hope we see more designs and technology as this category grows. Thanks again🙏
Hi Jim
Thanks so much for your informative videos.
I am in process of building my first bike.
And also building my own wheels.
My question is
Can I use a v brake rims for a disk brake use
Thanks
You’re very welcome- thank you for watching! Yes you can use rim brake rims with disc brakes. The hubs must be disc compatible but disc- or rim-brake rims will work. Rim-brake rims have a braking track that won’t be needed anymore. Have fun building your bike!!
Great video Jim, I like that these devices can be an alternative to co2 cartridges but I wonder how long they’ll last since small electronics and batteries really don’t stand the test of time.
I’ve got a bontrager hand pump with co2 capability but find the hand pump is better suited to small volume road tyres and I tend to avoid using co2 unless I’m desperate.
I’ve also got a Stomp Pump foot pump, it’s made in USA, is a metal construction, it’s small and lightweight and it sits in my bag and will likely never fail. You pump with your foot and leg muscles so you’ll never run out of battery (90 PSI limit and best on wider tyres). The downside is it’s price as $108 USD on their website. I’ve also had to regrease it internally once to help it pump (though I’ve had it for almost four years and it’s run perfectly otherwise).
Will send you a thanks on PayPal and hope you can review the stomp pump one day (or would be great to see three and four cross lacing videos).
Thanks so much for supporting the channel, indoor - greatly appreciated! And thanks for the thoughtful comment too. These pumps are hard working devices with motors and batteries so they will definitely wear out more quickly than basic hand pumps and CO2 inflators too - because those basic pumps pretty much last forever if you do some minor maintenance once in a great while to keep them working like new.
In my mind I see these new electric pumps as mainly for convenience. Now that I've used the Cycplus as a portable tiny pocket pump I decided to buy a Ryobi inflator for home use - here it is without its battery and charger: amzn.to/3uSF7z5 . I already have a regular air compressor in my shop and lots of high quality floor pumps. But the thing is, it's easier and faster to use the Ryobi inflator (most companies that make power tools offer inflators like this). The Ryobi even has a built in gauge.
You could definitely argue that a CO2 pump and a good hand pump will inflate a flat tire more quickly than the Cycplus and more quietly too while both of those are less expensive also. Plus, you'll never have to worry about charging those pumps either. But just for ease of use the electric inflators are gaining in popularity both for bicycle and automobile use too. I have heard of the Stomp pump but never had a chance to try one. It sounds very nice from your description. Appreciate you sharing your review! If the company sees this and sends me one I'll be happy to check it out.
On lacing wheels, I actually show the 3-cross lacing pattern in my comprehensive wheel building video here: ruclips.net/video/XUqul03hbZ8/видео.html For 4-cross lacing the only difference is that you need to use longer spokes and when you put in the second set of spokes you cross 4 spokes instead of 3 spokes as you lace the wheel. The method I show for spoke lacing is very simple and easy to understand. I've taught it for years. It's based on putting in 1 spoke at a time and one set of spokes at a time. As long as you follow that method lacing is very uncomplicated and you can't go wrong unless you're distracted and forget what you're doing. But even if that happens, since you're only working with 1 spoke at a time it's very easy to just go back one step/one spoke and fix any mistakes. Okay? Hope this helps. Thanks again for the support and great comment!!
@@JimLangley1 Thanks for the reply! I can see the electric pumps replacing co2, maybe they just need to build them so that the battery is more easily replaced. That way they could live a longer service life.
I didn't know your video was 3-cross lacing! My first wheels built were based on your video but I thought it was 2-cross. Knowing this I'll just follow your video again. I bought spokes for 32h and 36h rims but found the spokes were too long. My plan is to use 3-cross for the 32h rim and 4-cross for the 36h rim.
I'll let you know how I go with 4-cross and hopefully have a couple rims built up with some free time over the holiday period 😀
@@indoorkangaroo3431 have fun building those wheels! 3-cross on a 32 spoke wheel gives almost the same spoke angle as 4 cross on a 36 spoke wheel. So it's almost the same. That's one of the reasons 32 spoke wheels hold up so well.
When the battery is at least 5 times the current size ill buy one. 🎉
Thanks for watching and the comment Bjorn. Cycplus makes pumps with larger batteries already if you want one: amzn.to/46PJDMz
@@JimLangley1
I have one of those. A little too cumbersome to carry with me on my rides but at home its a very nice tool! :)
@@bjornelfsberg3518 you might want to try the Cube. It has 2 batteries (2 can sometimes be better than 1 larger battery) and is pretty powerful.
@@bjornelfsberg3518at home you don't have to use those. 12v pump, it's faster too. There's only only very limited choice for 12v + battery though. Those chinese batteries go out of service quickly as well
Interesting……but I am a weight wheeny…..so I will stick with a CO2 cartridge or use my very large shop compressor when at home.
Thanks for watching and commenting Graydon, appreciate it. CO2 inflators and shop compressors are super fast and these new tiny electric pocket pumps are the complete opposite - v e r y s l o w 🤣But, I have been having fun with this little dynamo inflating people's tires (I carry it in my pocket). They get a kick out of watching it do its thing and are happy to not have to start pumping. Thanks for all the great comments and have a great New Year's!🎉
Thanks for the review. Not impressed! 2 inflations (if it can even really do that) isn't enough because things can go wrong sometimes. Nor is 80psi. I don't just want to limp home I want to finish my ride on the normal pressure I run at (100psi on the road bike). I don't get punctures often so would probably find it was flat when I needed to use it. I dont see this replacing a quality minipump.
Thanks for watching and the feedback Ben. I understand how you could be unimpressed and that's fine. But to explain my perspective, this is a whole new category of miniature pumps, that's why I'm so impressed. I took it apart and it's very well thought out and built. I expected plastic and it's all metal and appears well made. I've only had it for a few weeks but I've tested it quite a bit. It can definitely do two tires. In the video I show it inflating 3. And while they give a 200 second run time limit on a tire, I let it run on a tire even longer and it kept pumping. I'm not saying it's perfect - just that I think it's impressive that someone can think outside the box and come up with something like this. But you are probably right that if you forget to charge it that the batteries might go flat after a long time, that's a great point. Thanks!
@@JimLangley1 It just needs better batteries. Could probably make one that would use an existing e-bike battery. But even that can go flat. A pump is for emergencies. It needs to rely on as few external things as possible!
@@benc8386 The batteries in the pump work fine Ben, no problem at all in all my tests and they recharge even faster than they said. In certain vehicles like RVs they often use two 6V batteries instead of a single 12V battery because this increases the durability. I think that's why they used 2 batteries in this pump instead of one. Also, I think a larger battery might get hotter than 2 smaller ones. So I think Cycplus did their homework. I'm sure there could be ways to tie it into an e-bike's charging system. But I think we're going to see some e-bikes start coming with built-in pumps. It should be easy to integrate them into the bike so that there's no need to carry a separate pump. I didn't search to see if this feature already exists on e-bikes but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. Thanks again.
Thank you for the review. Batteries so tiny inside
Thanks a lot for watching and commenting, appreciate it. Yes the batteries are tiny. I am surprised how well they power the pump.
@@JimLangley1not for very long 😂 durability wise
@@eXTreemator you could be right, but so far it's working great and showing no signs of tiring out 🤣I think it'll last at least a year but we'll see.
I assume it can't seat a tubeless tire.
Why would you assume that Michael?
Looks great Jim. Pops in a top tube bag. Saves CO2 cannisters so I'm happy. 🌏👌
@@JimLangley1 only because it seems to good to be true and you didn't mention it
@@michaelviglianco6121 I didn't mention it because with most tubeless tire issues out riding you would just be adding air to the tire since the sealant or the plug you put in would seal the tire. But if you had to remove a tire and put a tube in for example, the Cube will inflate the tire to the recommended pressures so long as you wait long enough and if it's a good tire that should seat it. If it doesn't seat it, riding on it might get it to seat on its own. You could let the Cube run as long as you want or at least until the battery runs out if you want to add more air. There are some tires that will refuse to seat with any pump. But good quality tires will usually seat and you can do things like wet the beads (soap them if you have it) to make them a little slippery or carry those grippy garden gloves so you can pull the bead out where the tire didn't seat. But, it's not a pump's fault if a tire doesn't seat, it's the fault of how it was installed or just that it is not a very easy to work with tire. Hope this helps and thanks for watching!
@@JimLangley1 I was thinking about its benefits for tubeless touring specifically. For periodic top up and any situation that might require seating a tire in a less than ideal location.
amazing how lazy cyclist become...small light mini pump can pump more than 1000tires without charging..😂
Sure
In the woods with 180 bpm heart rate and the mosquito eating away on you, id use this toy any day.
What is really needed is inflator hubs. Especially for mtb. More useful than electric shifting at least for sure...
It's a great idea. For Paris Roubaix this year they were testing a hub inflation system that let them change pressure while riding. That would definitely be a nice feature. And those systems didn't use a compressor, just mechanical. If you didn't see it, here's a story from when it showed up: www.bikeradar.com/news/paris-roubaix-tyre-pressure-control-systems Thanks for the great comment, appreciate it!