Test: The French manufacturer Zéfal is a really old hand in the pump market - after all, the company can look back on more than 100 years of history. However, the Zéfal Air Profil FC01 is anything but old-fashioned: the modern mini pump offers a two-stage piston and an extendable hose. Unfortunately, she also allows herself one or two weaknesses.
[easy table th=“0″]Length,200 mm
Weight,110g
valves,Presta / car valve
maximum pressure,6 Bar
application,MTB
Pressure after 200 strokes (29×2.2),1.5 bar
[/easy table]The Zéfal Air Profil FC01 is visually pleasing - the combination of silver and black looks nice and yet stands out pleasantly from the competition. Unfortunately, this positive impression leaves us when we hold the pump in our hands for the first time: It is made almost entirely of plastic, even if the silver-colored handle suggests otherwise. In addition, the plastic used does not feel particularly valuable and the gaps are unusually large and uneven.
Behind the dust cap on the front of the pump is a pull-out tube that is used to inflate the tube or tire. This has clear advantages compared to conventional, rigid pump heads: You gain a lot of flexibility on the go and the valve is also relieved - the somewhat sensitive pins of the French valves in particular tend to bend when you want to get back on the trail quickly after a breakdown and something pumping more hectically than you should.
The "pump head" - which is almost too much of a good thing - consists of a small black piece of metal at the end of the pump hose. This can be used for both Sclaverand and car valves and is screwed onto the valve. This takes a little longer than a conventional clamp, but the head then sits securely and no air escapes. In order to switch between the valve types, the pump head is unscrewed and simply turned around - this can be done quite quickly if the worst comes to the worst.
Inside the Zefal is a 2-stage aluminum piston. Despite the small form factor (the pump is just under 20cm long), this design is intended to ensure a large pumping volume, so that mountain bike tires can also be pressurized without too much sweaty pumping orgies. We fill our test tire (29 inches, 2,2″) again with 200 pump strokes – after that we have almost exactly 1,5 bar in the tube. This is not an outstanding value, but it is still acceptable - especially given the size of the pump. We noticed the very low effort required. The piston is very smooth and slides without play.
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