Hello! I’ve finally snapped and decided, after a weekend of faffing with tubeless setups, that I need an air compressor in my garage. My Topeak booster just isn’t doing it for me, particularly for a disc wheel where the aperture is small and I need to use a crack pipe.
What do I need to make this work and does anyone have any recommendations - UK available kit preferred!
I recently bought a this, https://www.sgs-engineering.com/sgs-stealth-6l-oil-free-air-compressor-0.9hp-3.6cmf
Out of stock currently but Machine Mart do a Clarke version.
For Road or gravel tubeless it’s great. Will inflate 2 road tyres on one charge. The great thing is it basically half the decibels of a standard compressor so it running in a garage or shed is no issue at all. Small enough that I’ve got it on top of some racking. Seated MTB tyres with it too no problem.
The trick is to make the hosing as short as possible. If you can have the compressor where you are going to use it then perfect. Nice small coil hose. Don’t buy a big standard hose of 20m and have it coiled as the tank will need to refill all the time.
If you are going to store the compressor away from where you are going to use it then a 10L might be better. Oil free and silent compressors are a game changer.
At the “old place”, Dave Rome wrote a comprehensive article on what features to look for: https://velo.outsideonline.com/2021/07/a-guide-to-air-compressors-for-bicycles/
Get one that is relatively quiet. I really regret getting the pancake-style air compressor. I wear my AirPods Pro when it’s running.
This, 100%. The quiet ones are so nice. You don’t brace yourself when you start it up. I have a small California Air. Similar ones are sold under different brand names in different countries. Completely worth the money.