Review: Prestacycle Prestaflator Digital Pump Pressure Gauge

Pimp your Pump

Until recently, there were three floor pumps in this rider’s garage.  One was the mountain biker’s special: a hulking high-volume special for seating tubeless tyres (and a frustrating thread-on chuck). The is second a skinnier model with a fancy digital gauge designed for road bikes. The third? An aging pump that had no specific use but that was trustworthy and quick and easy to use.

Why three? The tubeless seating speaks for it self – a purchase easily justified at the time.  The second was a gift, but the digital gauge was awfully nice when it came time to getting repeatable pressures. The third sat on the shelf – not presentable enough to gift, but no longer ‘special.’ However, as anyone who’s ever tried to keep a bike shop tidy knows, pumps are always in the way. And the clutter and trip hazard presented by a herd of pumps grows exponentially with the pump count.

Enter this Prestacycle digital gauge. Essentially a battery-powered 300psi gauge with 0.5psi resolution, the Digital Pressure Gauge is the same size (2in) and fitment (1/8in NPT) as those found in many bicycle pumps. It turns on automatically when it sees above-atmospheric pressure and even lights briefly. After consulting briefly with Prestacycle on compatibility, (credit card) digits were exchanged and the gauge was on its way.

Disassembling the Topeak Joe Blow was an exploratory process involving pliers and a leather mallet – but the reasonably mechanical should have little trouble removing the existing needle gauge.  With its protective rubber sleeve pulled off, the Prestaflator gauge is just the right diameter to sit within the Topeak’s housing- though it is thinner than the stock model.  With a headset spacer behind the gauge to make all of the holes align, everything buttoned up nicely.

Thanks to its reduced thickness, the Digital Pressure Gauge sits a little below flush, but otherwise looks at home. There may not be any tangible performance benefit, but being able to put a number to one’s tyre pressure does a good job of keeping nagging is my tyre too low? worries at bay.  For multi-discipline households, the ability to read fatbike-low and trackbike-high pressures equally well is an added benefit. Best of all, the two ‘other’ pumps have found homes with other members of the local riding club – and the potential for workshop injury has been dramatically reduced.

The Prestacycle Prestaflator Digital Pressure Gauge fits most pumps and air compressors with 2in/50mm gauges with a rear 1/8in NPT nipple – though a quick chat with the company before purchase isn’t a bad idea. In US, pricing is a very attractive $30 (£20) UK distributors nextdaytyres.co.uk are awaiting their first shipment, with UK pricing to be announced…

Review Info