Customer Reviews

Topeak Road Morph G Bike Pump with Gauge

5 star:		(115)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

The key feature of this pump is that the pump head is connected to the main pump by a short section of rubber tubing. This lets you put the end of the pump on the ground after locking the head onto the tube valve. Then, you can use your body weight to do the pumping as with a floor pump, which is nice if you've got skimpy arms like me and need road tire pressure (100+ psi). A short, plastic foot swings down so you can use your foot to keep the bottom end of the pump from slipping as you pump. I'm a bit worried that this foot or its hinge will break, so I try to be careful not to stress it when I'm pumping on pavement, but it's held up fine after over a dozen uses. Finally, while the gauge doesn't seem to be super precise, it's definitely good enough to be confident that you've got the right amount of pressure 'til you get home to your floor pump. As a year-round, carless commuter, I'm happy I found this reliable, well-designed pump and have recommended it enthusiastically to other cycle-commuters.

I have found this pump very useful and portable. Attaches to the bike frame with the supplied flexible mounting. I like that you can screw on the mounting, if your bike frame has that capability - or you can "soft" mount it using the supplied other mounting hardware. They even gave a little instruction booklet for the mounting.

Also nice is the fold out foot rest and extension tube, which make for an easy pumping action. And of course, the handy little pressure gauge.

The only reason why I gave this 4 stars, not 5, is there was no manual for newbies like me to refer to. So here's an attempt at a how-to.

First - remove the usually black, plastic cover from your tire valve - so you should be looking at a metallic, threaded valve assembly.

Next, figure out if you have a presta (narrower) or schrader (wider) valve on your tires. To figure out which you have, google for images.

Then - adjust the pump head (or tip) to match your tire valve. My Topeak shipped with the pump head set for presta valve. I quickly discovered my tire valves were schrader, and not compatible with the pump. After some googling and head-scratching, I finally figured it out. You have to take apart the pump head assembly and put it back together the same way as given in the picture on the packaging. DOH. Gently unscrew and take off the little metal cap on top of the pump head (tip). Then gently pull out the black rubber piece inside, and the metal nozzle. For the Schrader valve, make sure the larger opening of this black piece is facing outward. The small opening of the rubber piece should be facing inwards, and should fit over the narrow end of the nozzle/metal piece. Having flipped the assembly, push it all back into the pump head, then screw the cap back on - and presto ;) you have a Schrader compatible pump head.

Next, loosen the cap on the pump head part-way, let it sit on the tire's metal valve. Press down a little bit so that the valve goes into the tube a little bit. Then, counter-intuitively, screw the cap back up into the head assembly.

Now push the black lever at the back of the pump head so that it snaps into place at a 90 degree angle to the plane of valve.

This procedure gets you a tight join/seal between the tire valve and pump head. You are ready to pump!

To disengage, I found it easier to first unscrew the cap on the pump head till it came off the pump head and dropped onto the valve. This way there was less leakage when I unlocked the lever, and pulled off the rubber piece from the tire valve. I am sure there are better ways - but this should get you started :) Also, for more expert bikers, please comment on this little how-to with improvements so we can benefit. Thanks!

I considered tossing out my floor pump once I started using this frame pump. The best things: a pressure gauge on the valve and a little flap that you can step on to keep the pump steady. You need this pump if you're into changing tires.

I own a Specialized Allez full-Ultegra road bike and a Trek 6000 full-Deore Mountain bike and i use this for both.

Pumping up my road tires (130 psi) was surprisingly easy compared to other pumps (and I've had many), but it is still 130 psi and you will have to put some body weight into it. I tried using the fold out foot pedal, but it rotates 180 degrees and is therefore pretty useless when your exerting so much pressure on the pump. But i found that kneeling down, holding the pump upright against the floor and just pumping downwards worked remarkably well. There really is no need for the foot pedal. The hose that attaches to your tire valve is extendable, so you have plenty of room to work. Pumping up my MTB tires was cake. The gauge is absolutely essential, once you have it you wonder how you lived without it.

The bracket mounts very easily onto the bike and the pump clips into place on the bracket and there is an extra strap around the pump for added security. If you have multiple bikes I highly recommend getting a few more brackets and just switching the pump around between bikes.

This is probably the best frame pump on the market, considering its small, has a gauge, works for both schraeder and presta, and has an extendable hose. The price is also awesome. It works really well and i HIGHLY recommend it.

This pump is light, compact, and easy to mount. It looks great on my silver Gary Fisher.

The documentation is sparse, so if you're not comfortable with gadgets, you may want to look elsewhere. There's nothing that explains how one should attach the pump to the tire valve except for a vague diagram.

I agree with the previous reviewer that the guage appears to measure in units of 10psi. It "hops" forward or backward in 10psi increments rather than moving 1psi at a time. Not a huge deal to me. But that cost it a star.

Pumping is easy and efficient.

I've been riding for five years. I ride approximately a hundred-twenty miles a week. I bought a frame pump at first. It didn't have a hose and I would break the valve stem out. This "Topeak Road Morph" pump is my second. I have one on each of my bikes. I love the built-in gauge. The gauge is very accurate, as I checked it against a regular gauge. The only draw back to the pump is that the twist lock handle rattled. I got some teflon tape and went around the locking groove and no more rattle. I have been using this pump for about a year now, and I use it exclusively to keep the air up to a hundred-twenty psi in my tires. I would recommend this pump to others.

I've had this product for 5 months now, and after using it on a weekly basis, I feel I can give an informed review.

As far as looks and feel, the pump feels fairly light in my hand but solid and well-built at the same time. The machined barrel is very smooth with no rough spots. I think the metal barrel is made from aluminum. The pump is fairly sleek looking when mounted on my bike, so no complaints there.

The really cool feature of this pump is that several portions of the pump are movable (morph-able), making it more convenient for emergency pumping on-the-go. The handle, which is held in place by turning the handle until it clicks into the barrel, snaps outwards (pivots) 90 degrees, allowing the user to use his/her body weight to pump when the pump is held against the floor. This is advantageous because it allows more force to be generated, less arm strength be used, and less energy be expended by the user when pumping tires. The foot pedal, as I call it, snaps outward (pivots) 90 degrees from the base, allowing the user to hold the pump in place using his/her foot while pumping. After unhooking the head of the hose from the hook, the head can actually be pulled out, exposing about ~3 inches more of rubber hose, allowing the user better reach the valves on the tires. The pump head adapters can also fit both shrader and presta valves by flipping the two rubber/plastic adapters.

To pump your tires, fit the head over the valve, pull the lever out to lock it in place (so it forms a "T" shape), and commence pumping. When I pump my road bike tires (Continental Gatorskins 28x700C) up to 100 psi, it takes a considerable amount of effort, but much less than other hand pumps that I've used. When I reach about 80 psi, I really have to use my body weight as leverage to pump it up to 100 psi(about 25 pumps more). Additionally, the pressure gauge works pretty well. After pumping, the base of the aluminum will get fairly warm, thanks to the gas relation, Gay-Lussac's Law. It doesn't get hot by any means, but it will get pretty warm. It should be noted that the pump only pumps air when you compress the pump, i.e. the pump does not pump air when you pull and push -- only when you push. My previous "Topeak Mini G MasterBlaster Bike Pump with Gauge" pumped both ways, but it required more effort to use.

As far as mounting goes, you can either secure the bracket to your bike using large zip ties (provided) while putting the included rubber pieces between the bracket and bike frame to prevent movement, or you can secure it to your bike using the included screws. At first I tried using the zip ties, but after tightening the ties and trimming the plastic down, the sharp corners of the trimmed zip ties were scratching my legs/clothing so I switched to the screws (replaced my water bottle cage with the mounting bracket).

There is a little bit of play (wiggles around) when the hose head is snugly underneath the hook. Sometimes I fear that the hose will pop out and accidentally get caught in my chain (It's mounted to my down tube.), but it hasn't happened -- yet. When mounting to your bike, I would snap the pump into the mounting bracket and pull the velcro over *both* the barrel and the rubber hose to hold both in place.

What I really like about this pump is that this pump is pretty much like a miniature floor pump. The rubber hose ensures flexibility while pumping so the user does not accidentally tear a hole around the tire's valve from too much strain; this is very important and is a common problem with mini pumps without hoses. I also like the gauge, which is pretty accurate, at least when I use my "Planet Bike 1002-3 ALX Floor Pump with Love Handle" to check the pressure anyway. What I don't like is how the foot pedal takes a considerable amount of effort to open (unsnap). Don't use your nail, for you might accidentally injure yourself when prying it open. Use the tips of your thumb and middle finger, and squeeze along the sides until it comes apart; this is the best method for me, at least.

Overall, this is a terrific pump for when you don't have access to a full-sized floor pump. It certainly feels solid and is much better than the other mini pumps out there that don't have flexible hoses, but it's not meant to replace a floor pump by any means! It only takes me about 5 pumps to reach 100 psi from 80 psi using my dedicated floor pump and nearly 5 times as many pumps to do the same using this pump.

Bought this pump here on Amazon last month. Tight fit on the down tube of my Felt Z-80 (54) and have to mount the pump upside down. Bought it based on reviews here and it will surely test you if you try to use this as a cheap replacement for a floor pump (recently purchased the Super Pista for that purpose). Trying to go over 120 with the Road Morph G will be a chore, but if you have that flat on the road and need to get home, this pump is more than up to the task. Nice features include the small size, foot pedal to help you securely pump and the gauge. I gave it a four rating because I disagree that this unit will replace your floor pump. I need 130-145 psi with my Vittoria Zaffiros and the Topeak would either give out or give me a hernia!

I just got the pump in today and quickly tested it out by deflating my front wheel tire on my bike. The took the pump out of the package and started pumping up the tire. With little effort, I was able to get to 120psi. I couldn't believe it, so I checked it with my regular floor pump. Sure enough, it was right. The pump works great and although it is bigger than a mini pump, it is still slick enough to put on my ti-road bike. Since I do a lot of ultracycling, I need to have a pump that is dependable and I think I just found it.

A fellow cyclist stopped with me when I had a flat tire during a bike club ride. After I put in a new tube and started to pump it up with my mini-frame pump, he suggested that I try his pump. I was amazed that I could pump a road bike tire to 110 psi with so little effort. It takes some pumping, but at least you can get there. I knew right then that I had to have a Topeak Road Morph. I feel much more secure on the road knowing that I can pump a tire to where it needs to be rather than just enough to get home. This is one of the best investments that I have ever made in bicycle equipment.