Airshot tubeless inflator – great product

Just thought I’d share my experiences of one of these new blue canister things from Mayhem this weekend. Changing tubeless tyres at a race has always been a bit of a faff/worry – either it doesn’t go up with a track pump, or you have to rely on a home-made bottle bong hidden under a blanket. Or worse, CO2 cartridges which knacker the sealant.

I swapped tyres after one lap, as did a team mate, and on all 4 occasions on Light Bikes and Reynolds rims the blue Airshot did its thing and the tyre popped on the bead. Charge to 140psi, open the valve and “pop” straight on.

Excellent little gadget.

GB

Good to know – i recently invested in a Bontrager charger and it too is an excellent bit of kit.

I’ve not used one but it’s neat, and not that much more expensive than building your own out of a fire extinguisher. I like.

(my homemade one has some pluses and minuses. Plus, it’s a full size extinguisher so it contains enough air to inflate a zeppelin. Minus, it takes a reaaallly long time to fill it. I think they got the balance a bit better!)

Seconded. Bought one couple of weeks ago, cheaper than a compressor and it just works. Happy to pay the (reasonable imo) price for a great bit of innovation.

I’m also going to put a word in for Rulla Bearings’ valves (the seller is on here), chooice of colours, work great, good price. (under £10 pair with a schrader converter too)

Looked at their website, looks like a neat little solution but does it have any sort of gauge so you can set tyres pressure?

Is this the thing that there was a bust up over on here a while back? About to go tubeless so suddenly interested.

Looked at their website, looks like a neat little solution but does it have any sort of gauge so you can set tyres pressure?

If your track pump has a gauge on it you can leave the airshot valve open and the pressure reading will show on the track pump

Love mine, swopped to summer tyres at the weekend. Wheels are Sram Rail 50’s which previously needed a compressor. No gauge, pump it to 150 ish bit of latex brushed around the tyre bead/rim to help them slip on and let her rip. Adjust the pressure to suit and Bob’s yer uncle.

Buy from Hargroves for free delivery though 😉

Is this the thing that there was a bust up over on here a while back?

Yep, someone alleged that it had blown their tyre up (as in exploded, not inflated!). All got a bit handbags from the designer.

Does look like a good bit of kit, like Mashie I got a Flash Charger which is also excellent.

the beauty of the flash charger is that once seated you can carry on pumping or deflating to the desired pressure. Can you do that with the airshot?

Can you do that with the airshot?

Yes

mashiehood – Member

Good to know – i recently invested in a Bontrager charger and it too is an excellent bit of kit.

Another Flash Charger owner here. Was dithering between the two products for ages, but the fact that the Bontrager is all-in-one is what eventually won me over

Is it really worth 40 quid over my coke bottle special though ?

Yes.

ENDURO is all about the illusion of money. Buy expensive bike, buy full face helmet, buy insurance and then bodge a coke bottle? Puh-lease…

Can you do that with the airshot?

Yes[/quote]

How? Genuinely interested, as it was a factor for me too. Surely once it’s let all the air out then you have to swap to a pump?

See BoardinBobs post up there ^^^

Same method I use with the ghetto inflator.

Pump remains connected to the Airshot. before during and after bead seating. That’s the beauty of it over the Flash charger, as you’d likely already have a decent track pump.

It also comes with a nifty attachment to inflate through the presta with the core removed should you need it (I did for a CM 2.4 onto a narrow old WTB Speeddisk rim)

Pump remains connected to the Airshot. before during and after bead seating. That’s the beauty of it over the Flash charger, as you’d likely already have a decent track pump.See BoardinBobs post up there ^^^

Ah, very good, missed BB’s first post. That is clever. I assumed you charged it, then attached to tyre for inflation.

Only needed to use mine twice but it’s worked perfectly!

So with the airshot at 60 quid and the flash charger at 84 quid at Triton Cycles which would be the better option?

I’m hoping it’s the Airshot, I’ve just ordered one.

Depends if you’ve already got a decent track pump imo.

I’d buy the Flash Charger again, as it’s useful to have another track pump IMO, and because it’s colossal volume it’s very little effort to pump with.

But… I got the Flash Charger trade, so they were virtually the same price.

dirtyrider – Member

So with the airshot at 60 quid and the flash charger at 84 quid at Triton Cycles which would be the better option?

I needed a new pump, so Flash Charger for me. Airshot will work just as well, but it’s an extra ‘thing’ to have to take with you for races/holidays/whatever. But then the Airshot is cheaper.

Think it’s a personal decision really

I’ll probably buy a flash charger soon enough, as my JoeBlow is getting on a bit. Are there no other manufacturers releasing something similar to the Bonty pump though?.

I’ve got a flash charger. It’s great.

apart from the lever on the inflator head that belts me on the thumb every time I release it from the valve. it’s like a mouse trap.

I got one of the first Airshot when they were released and I’ve done 6 sets of tyre and it’s just really easy to use. i did consider the flash charger but I’ve already got 2 decent trackpumps and my LBS couldn’t give me a shipping date for the flash charger.

Either makes tubeless super easy. I’m sure the homemade ones are OK too but I like nice kit and also as I’m now 50 I’m a wuss around garage/workshop safety!

tbh when I pull the handle on the Flash Charger I still want to run out of the garage 😳

Just ordered an Airshot from Hargroves and there was a 10% code on the website so £54!

Got my Airshot for £45. LBS FTW

thats a lot of homemade coke bottle inflators!

totally takes the fun out of the heath robinson ‘will it blow up in my face’ approach too

£45 I’d buy one right now. £60 I’m not sure.

Leyzene track pump works 95% of the time, 8p coke bottle the other 5%

where can you buya bottle of coke for 8p?

I managed to blow my old track pump using my coke-bottle accumulator (couldn’t seat the tyre, repeated pumping up to 100PSi or so melted the fitting and the pump blew up)
Decided since I needed a new pump aswell I bought the Bonty Charger from Triton. Its brilliant.

So with the airshot at 60 quid and the flash charger at 84 quid at Triton Cycles which would be the better option?

Or this for £79.99. Bonkers isn’t it, what you get for your money?

http://www.screwfix.com/p/impax-im201-24l-24ltr-compressor-230v/27926

That compressor’s a bit less convenient for travelling with

Rolla Cola is always 8p – everybody knows that 🙂

Does the kind man who said he got his for £45 care to share where?

From his comment I’m guessing LBS loyalty discount…

Ok chaps, so at long last I’m getting around to trying to go tubeless.

I bought the Stans kit with the normal rim strip which has a bleeding presto valve. Don’t like the things, but hey ho.

So I’ve got as far as putting the sealant in and now need to launch he Airshot at it, my Joeblow track pump definitely isn’t up to it.

However, I don’t have a valve core removal tool which the Airshot must connect into? Ie I need to remove the valve core before I can use it. Do I just yank out the middle with a pair of pliers?? Don’t want to try and end up ruining the rim strip, help is appreciated!!