When I first began putting this pump through its paces, I wasn’t quite certain that it should be included in the “kit” of tools that I keep tucked away in the far corner of my garage. Why? I had made it through many years with nothing more than a $10 Planet Bike pump that I had bought in the late 1990s, and it had served me well enough to get by without any other tools or equipment. However, over the course of the last few months, I’ve learned to appreciate the value of a floor pump. I’ve used it to inflate the soccer ball that my child uses, to add air to a vehicle tyre that was leaking air, and most significantly, to keep a closer check on the air pressure in the tyres of my bike.

The Axiom Propel-Air DLX floor pump is not the least expensive pump available, but it is also not anywhere close to the most expensive pump available, and it offers a reasonable amount of value for the money that is asked for it.

The good.

The pump has a suggested retail price of around $35 CAD, and for your money, you get a respectable package that ought to satisfy the “inflation demands” of the vast majority of mountain cyclists.

There are a lot of things to like about the Propel-Air floor pump, the most important of which is that the pump won’t fall apart under normal use — I used this thing a number of times per week for over six months and there were no real’mechanicals’ that hindered performance during that time period. There are a lot of things to like about the Propel-Air floor pump, the most important of which is that the pump won’t fall apart under normal use.

I had no trouble inflating the majority of mountain bike tyres to a pressure of roughly 60 psi and attaching the pump head to either Presta or Schraeder-equipped tubes (the Axiom AdaptAir head enables you to connect to both valve types without making any changes). By glancing at the gauge that was positioned on the very top of the pump barrel, it was simple for me to determine when the pressure was getting near to where I wanted it to be.

The bad.

There aren’t too many things in this world that are perfect and the Axiom Propel-Air DLX Gauge doesn’t buck the trend. Overall, the pump is well constructed, but it does suffer from a minor case of the ‘wobblies’, something I attribute to the shape of the pump’s feet / base, which didn’t want to stay put under my own feet — it’s not a big deal but I did notice the pump swaying a bit on occasion.

Also, the clasp that holds on to the pump’s hose broke a couple of months ago, so I no longer have the ability to affix the hose neatly to the barrel for storage.

And while I appreciated the location and readability of the air pressure gauge, I found that the PSI readings were ‘inflated’ by about 5 psi. I got around this by over-inflating my tires and then using another, more accurate gauge to dial in the air pressure to my target level.

Summary.

There are plenty of floor pumps out there that work well and, depending on your budget, you can surely find something that works well for you. For all of you gearheads out there, something chi-chi like the Pedro Super Prestige Pump might be more up your alley than the workmanlike Axiom Propel-Air DLX floor pump, but I really doubt you gain a whole lot of performance for the extra $30.

The Axiom pump did the job for all of my bike-related tasks and, while it isn’t perfect (or made entirely out of carbon fibre), it’s a solid choice for someone looking for a pump that works well and should stand the test of time.