Big Beardy Bicycle mechanic review of Topeak Joe Blow Sport 2 Stage Floor Track Pump
Photo by Erik Mclean: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bicycle-with-a-flat-tire-8718526/
Topeak Joe Blow Sport 2 Stage Floor Track Pump Review
Professional quality 160psi bicycle floor track pump with a low pressure high volume and high pressure low volume setting. Fits the common valve types Presta, Schrader and Dunlop. With so many other pumps in the range, does the Topeak Joe Blow Sport 2 Stage floor track pump represent good value for money?
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalise a purchase.
Good Bits
- Sturdy
- Stable
- Excellent build quality
- Easy read gauge
- valve head easy on and off
Bad Bits
- Pressure gauge not as accurate at higher pressures
- No air bleed valve
Full Review
Topeak have been producing some great professional quality bicycle accessories since 1991 when they brought to market their survival toolbox. The Topeak Joe Blow Sport 2 stage floor pump is a latecomer to the Topeak pump party being released in 2020 but still feels like a quality item straight out of the box.
Joe Blow Sport 2 - Specifications At A Glance
- 740 x 266 x 180mm
- 2.5kg
- 715cc per stroke up to 30psi
- 258cc per stroke up to 160psi
- 3 inch diameter gauge
- Fits Presta, Dunlop and Schrader valves
The Joe Blow Sport 2 stage pump is a sizeable 740mm high with a 266 x 180mm hardened steel base plate for you to stand on and secure the pump in place while using it. The pump is fairly heavy when compared to other more budget brands weighing in at 2.5kg.
The barrel is painted yellow made from steel with plastic fittings on top and bottom. The pump has a unique two stage pressure delivery mechanism starting with the high volume low pressure delivery where 715cc of air is delivered in one stroke up to 30psi. Shift the lever for pressure selection located at the top of the pump and it will reduce the volume per stroke to 258cc so you can easily reach 160psi with minimal effort.
Getting 160psi into your tyres is made much more comfortable on your hands with an oversized ergonomically shaped handle and dual density polymers
The large 3 inch diameter pressure gauge is mid mounted on the barrel making it easier to read the numbers being closer to your eyes and the numbers more spaced out. The gauge displays both imperial Psi and metric Bar number markings. The pressure values up to 30 Psi (2 Bar) are in yellow then white thereafter corresponding to the colour markings on the stage 1 and stage 2, low/high pressure switch.There is also an indicator marker built into the gauge that you can set to the desired pressure so you know when to stop pumping.
The hose is fairly long and can swivel 360 degrees, it has a hammer type (TwinHead DX5) valve connector at the end with Presta and Dunlop fittings on one side and Schrader on the other. The connector is a push fit type with a side mounted lever to activate the grip onto the valve.
What Do Other Reviewers Think?
After checking through a good number of other reviewers comments on various sites it’s the general consensus that this is a great pump and is inline with Topeak’s excellent build quality of products.
People liked how easy it was to connect the pump onto the valve and how it was able to maintain no air leaks up to its stated pressure rating. They also felt that the pumps weight helps to keep it stabilised when it use and that it gave a sturdy feel to it. The handle was another source of praise with the well shaped and comfortable soft grip.
Some people found that they were able to use the high volume low pressure setting to get tubeless tyres to seat properly without using a charge tank.
It is not without issue however, there are some comments that may make you pause to think about your purchase.
One of the biggest issues I read was that the gauge was fairly accurate up to 30psi with the low pressure high volume inflation but the accuracy fell once the pressure rose above this with measurements of 5 to 10 psi lower than the gauge reading.
Another issue was the lack of an air bleed valve to depressurise and deflate a tyre quickly, while this may not be a deal breaker since most pumps at this price point are lacking a bleed valve.
Final Thoughts
This floor track pump has the classic Topeak quality of build you come to expect with the brand, its heavy and well made so should represent a good investment for your home workshop.
The low/high pressure delivery system is s great help especially for those high pressure road tyres and filling airshot canisters for tubeless tyres. Of course, when transitioning to high pressure low volume mode its going to take you longer to pump, but with much less effort. Me being quite the burly bloke and only having one high pressure tyre bike, I don’t find an immediate need to have a pump that can switch to high pressures, I feel its just more parts of the pump that can fail later on in its life. I can see the benefits though if you have a garage full of high pressure tyres on bikes that all need pumping up.
The accuracy of the pressure gauge does suffer once you reach the higher pressures, for me personally i’m not as fussed about the accuracy but I can understand those who want their bikes in optimal tune would find it frustrating to have to check their tyre pressures with a separate gauge every time.
Overall, although the quality of the pump is excellent, I feel this is an expensive pump for what it is and that perhaps the value for money is not quite there, personally, I would much rather pay less money for the Joe Blow 3 pump without the dual pressure delivery capability. Or perhaps look at the Crankbrothers Gem for less money but just as good in quality.