Lezyne Alloy Drive pump £18.99
Founded by Micki Kozuscheck, who originally started Truvativ and then sold it to SRAM, Lezyne is a new accessories company with a clear emphasis on stylish and functionally designed products.
While there’s no shortage of pumps on the market, the Alloy Drive was a surprising departure from the misery that can sometimes ensue when attempting to re-inflate tyres with a small pump. Part of the problem usually comes from the necessity to hold the pump’s head onto the valve, ensuring no air leakage, all the while pumping furiously.
Lezyne, quite creatively, have plumped for a traditional old-school thread-on hose connection in place of the usual press-on design. The hose is screwed onto the valve and pumping can then take place without worrying about air loss caused by the pump moving about during the pumping process. Another benefit is the complete removal of potential valve damage; the Alloy Drive doesn’t direct any force onto the vulnerable component as other pumps can tend to do. Getting a tyre back up to a decent pressure takes barely any time at all.
With its tyre inflation credentials receiving a solid thumbs up, the design and construction of the actual pump itself are worthy of note. The hose lives inside the body of the pump when not in use. Cleverly, it’s reversible - one ends fits Shraeder valves, the other Presta, with the Schraeder end threading into the handle for storage and either end fitting the pump for inflation. The body of the pump is beautifully CNC machined from aluminium and anodised so it’ll still look good years later.
RCUK tested the short version, weighing 112g. A medium-length option is available weighing 128g.
