Truflo Digitrack track pump

Truflo's Digitrack Track Pump is very well manufactured and does the business of getting air into your tyres in a fast and solid manner. You'll have to decide whether it's worth the extra price to have a digital display, though.

Ergonomics is something Truflo has concentrated on with its track pump. This shows with things like the slightly upwards swoop of the handles and the extra couple of inches (over competitors) of barrel length, which means you can stand a little more upright when pumping up your tyres. It all helps if you suffer from lower back pain.

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It's a sturdy item to use as well, certainly having some weight without being overly heavy. The housing for the LCD protrudes out quite far, so when it's paired with the outer feet you get a solid three-pronged base to push against. And it needs to be as the Truflo is rated to 240psi/16.5 bar – not that we tested it that far, though I did manage to get 180psi into a pair of tubs without too much hassle.

The head is a beautiful piece of machined alloy with a thumb clamp to hold it on the valve. It takes a fair bit of pressure to use but does guarantee a leak-free fit – you just have to be careful that you don't bend the valve when tightening it.

Both Presta and Schrader valves are catered for thanks to a switchable head, which only takes a couple of seconds to swap over.

The LCD screen is colour and backlit so it's easy to see in most lights, in fact pretty much everything except direct sunlight. By tapping the buttons you can set the pressure limit you want to reach in psi, bar or kg/cm3, and the numbers flash red when you reach that figure. All pretty snazzy, but for this type of money I'd like to see, or hear even, an audible warning.

On the screen there's also a battery indicator to show how much life you've got left in the two CR2032 coin style batteries. I've had the Truflo two months now, using it five or six times a week, and the battery indicator has yet to drop.

Performance-wise, the Truflo reached 100psi/6.9 bar in 22 strokes; that's nothing exactly out of the ordinary compared to its competitors, but certainly quick enough.

> Check out our guide to the best track pumps here

The big question then, what about value?

Truflo says the Digitrack has the quality of its mechanical Airess pump with the added bonus of an LCD screen. The Airess is £59.99, so does having digital numbers instead of a needle and gauge warrant an extra £40? Not for me, I have to say.

And that's my overall conclusion really: the Digitrack is a really good pump in the way it works and feels, but I can't really see why it needs to be so expensive. Okay, you can be a little more precise with the digital display, but to my mind it's not a deal clincher.

Verdict

Brilliantly performing high-pressure track pump, but the LCD screen pushes the price too high