Its amazing how advancements in technology come in leaps and bounds as well as the speed of tech commercialization. Heck it doesn't take long for new gadgets or tools to become obsolete. Things get done faster and relatively easier. One of my all-time favorite piece of tech, which most of us take for granted is TV remote. A wonderful piece of device... but hey, voice command is caching up!
When it comes to bicycle, the one thing I hate the most is pumping the tire, even more so for road bikes because of the high pressure. Too soft it will slow you down, too hard it might blow your tube. Fixing a flat during rides is even worse especially when you ride with a bunch of serious cyclists.
Chores have become simplified thanks to technology. From mini portable pumps that don't work well at times, some riders now prefer to carry compressed CO2 cartridges to inflate tires after repairs. Wundebar! No pumping is involved and its fast. The downside is you need to get the right size cartridge for your tire size. Smaller ones will fill a single road tire while the larger ones can fill two tires. Tiny cartridges are most likely not refillable (always read the warning and product instruction), the seal is a one-time only seal so you'll need to buy more.
Then came the portable electric tire inflators. A rechargeable-handheld-battery powered device that lets you accurately check and inflate your tires with the press of a button. Subarashī!. So I bought one, the Xiaomi Electric Air Pump MJCQB02QJ. I wonder how they came out with that impossible to remember name. They probably picked up the alphabets and numbers one at a time from a lucky draw bowl.
Notwithstanding the truly differentiated product name, it's actually and damn good product. Seriously, it's relatively low price, accurate digital gauge and easy to use. It took me about 1 minute and 35 seconds to inflate a 700×25 mm tire to 95 psi and a fully charged device can go up to 10 or more full inflations. It works with both Schrader and Presta valves, has a pressure cut-off feature and can go up to 150 psi. A sustainable solution of no more pumping for me. I hope they will improve the design a little bit in the future to fit the bottle cage. It's a little noisy and would probably freak out the cats. The 2000mAh lithium battery might take 3-4 hours to fully charged. Overall... a good buy.
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