Schwalbe's Tubeless Solution

Special dual chamber tubeless floor pumps are becoming more common but this new product from Schwalbe takes a different approach. With a typical tubeless floor pump, the main barrel serves to fill a secondary air chamber which is inflated to 160psi (or there abouts). When released, this provides a sudden rush of air that helps to blast the tyre beads onto the rim shoulders.

The new Schwalbe Tyre Booster consists of a steel bottle and all the necessary attachments. It works by inflating the canister (up to 160psi) and then attaching the hose to your valve. Open the release valve and you get the sustained rush of air that you need to seat the tyre beads in a mess-free manner.  The connection on the Tyre Booster has a thread that allows you to mount it to a presta valve with the core removed. This allows for greater airflow when mounting problem tyre/rim combinations.

While it essentially fulfils the same role as a dual chamber tubeless floor pump, the split design does offer some benefits:

-           On its own, it’s more portable than a dual chamber tubeless floor pump; just inflate the canister and take it with you for an emergency trailhead fix-up. Of course the downside here is that you won’t be able to top up the Tyre Booster without a floor pump and carrying both negates the advantage.

-          At a pinch you could combine the Tyre Booster with a compact high pressure road pump to recharge the canister when you’re out and about – the pump just needs to be capable of inflating to well over 100psi.

-          The main advantage comes with the price. In Australia the Tyre Booster is expected to sell for $90-95. By comparison a good dual chamber tubeless floor pump is over $200 and most keen mountain bikers will already own a decent floor pump, so this product may save you a hundred dollars or more. Of course you can probably buy a cheap air compressor for the garage (around $150) but that won’t help when you’re out and about. The Tyre Booster will be handy for taking to events or on any MTB road trip.

Developed in collaboration with the British start-up Airshot, the Tyre Booster weighs 435 grams and should be available by the end of the year.

Distributor: BikeBox (03) 9555 5800 / www.bikebox.com.au