Sprenzy Shopping Blog

Twice after a flat and a tube change, I wasn’t able to re-inflate my road bike tire to a decent pressure using CO2 cartridges. On one occasion, I caused another pinch flat changing out the tube and ran out of CO2 cylinders. Thankfully, a passing cyclist gave me a spare cartridge.

After this incident, I purchased a CrankBrothers Power Pump Pro as a fall back option. The Power Pump Pro (PPP) is the smallest bike pump with a gauge and it can handle presta or schrader valves. It also has a high volume/high pressure switch to save your arm muscles at higher pressures. Weighing in at 120 grams, the PPP is lightweight.

On paper the Power Pump Pro looks pretty good. In practice, the PPP’s performance is very poor. If you are looking to get a good arm workout, then the pump is great. I have never been able to get more than 55 psi using the PPP. This tire pressure is adequate to get you rolling but I would want to get more pressure as quickly as possible.

Today, I received a new mini pump, the Topeak Micro Rocket CB. Admittedly, I am a complete weight weenie and the carbon fiber Micro Rocket is a svelte 55 grams. It’s also very sleek in appearance and won a red dot product design award last winter. The Micro Rocket only accepts presta valves and max pressure capacity is supposedly 160 psi. I would be happy with half of that pressure.

This afternoon, I had a mini pump throwdown between the PPP and the Micro Rocket CB. After 300 pumps using the Power Pump Pro, I was only able to get 25 psi in my tire. At 150 pumps, it starts getting very difficult and requires a lot of force to use the PPP. Switching to high pressure mode makes pumping easier but there’s barely any air flow.

Using the Topeak Micro Rocket CB, 300 pumps produced 60 psi. The effort required to use the Micro Rocket wasn’t significantly different from pump 1 through 300. After 500 pumps, I was able to obtain 75 psi. It’s a nice arm workout between pumps 400 - 500, but much easier than using the PPP. At 600 pumps, I got 85 psi but it was very difficult to use the Micro Rocket so I stopped. Total time for 600 pumps was less than 10 minutes.

Compared to CO2 cartridges, it’s time consuming to use the Micro Rocket. But at only 55 grams, I am definitely carrying the Micro Rocket CB on every bike ride I take. The Micro Rocket pump also comes with a water bottle side mount bracket. The picture on the right shows the side mount bracket attached to my 2005 Orbea Orca. The carbon fiber finish of the Micro Rocket matches my bike perfectly.

As you can see, the Micro Rocket CB is slightly longer (length = 16 cm/ 6.3 in) than my water bottle cage. The mounting bracket contacts the frame at the bottle mounts and doesn’t touch the carbon seat tube. The Micro Rocket fits very snugly in the mounting bracket and is secured further by a rubber gasket. 

The mount for the Micro Rocket CB is a simple and an excellent way to secure the pump to a bike. I used to carry the PPP underneath my saddle bag, which caused the bag to vibrate over rough road and make an annoying rattle noise.

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the Topeak Micro Rocket CB. For the weight obsessed, it’s extremely light and able to produce an adequate amount of tire pressure. From an aesthetic standpoint, the Micro Rocket CB is simple, clean and attractive. At $32, it’s relatively inexpensive. You can get a stainless steel version, Topeak Micro Rocket AL, for only $19. That’s if you can deal with the extra 10 grams of weight! There are also mountain bike versions, Mt. Rockets, that fit both presta and schrader valves.

As far as the mini pump throwdown, it was no contest. The PPP has officially been retired and replaced by the Micro Rocket CB.

Did you know that Emancipation Day is Monday, April 16th and also a holiday in Washington D.C.? Therefore, this year’s tax deadline is Tuesday, April 17th. Just because we have an extra two days to file our taxes doesn’t mean we should procrastinate even more. To help you get the tax ball rolling, Toptenreviews.com reviewed 10 online tax software programs. The top rated products are…

1. TurboTax Deluxe - “The service is easy to use and can quickly advise you on your future investments and tax strategies. For those that are eyeing the next tax year, TurboTax can put you on the path to optimizing your 2007 return and retirement options. TurboTax improves every year and once again is the best do-it-yourself tax preparation product on the market.”

2. TaxCut Premium - “Overall, TaxCut is an excellent tax product at a low price; TaxCut Premium + State is just $39.95.  The user interface is very simple and easy to understand and the help menu is very useful in finding the answers to all tax questions.”

3. TaxACT - “The TaxACT 2006 Ultimate Bundle is an exceptional tax service deal. Although we did not review their other products, they also offer other reasonably priced online services; TaxACT is definitely worth looking into.”

Toptenreviews.com has an excellent comparison chart of the ten reviewed tax programs. It’s definitely worth checking out if you need help determining which tax software to use.

TurboTax has always been my choice and is very easy and intuitive to use. Since I only have experience using TurboTax, I have no basis for comparison with the other tax software. Regardless of which tax software you choose, file your taxes early and enjoy Emancipation Day if you’re fortunate enough to have the day off.