Fabric Stratosphere Sport floor pump review £32.00
Smooth and sturdy, but inaccurate gauge and lack of puff limit usefulness
Liam Mercer
|
Oct 21 2020 |
Pumps and CO2 inflators
Overall
Quality
Performance
Value
What's good?
- Nice build quality
- Auto-select head works impressively well
- Feels good to use
What's not?
- Gauge isn't accurate
- Will struggle to seat tubeless tyres
Buy if...
You have an independent tyre gauge at the ready
The Stratosphere Sport is Fabric's budget pump. While cheap, it’s sleek and a pleasure to use. However, the gauge isn’t very accurate and you’ll struggle to seat tubeless tyres with it.
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The Stratosphere Sport features a steel body, a heavy-duty nylon handle and a similarly-constructed plastic base. The hose is very long, the head auto-selects between Presta and Schrader valves, and the base features a gauge.
The dial is a rather plain-looking unit using a simple white background and black numbers, but it’s easy to read and stands out well. It's not accurate – comparisons with other pumps show it overreads by roughly 5psi – but it is at least consistent.
The nylon handle takes a similar approach, being very much function over form. It causes no problems with grip or comfort, but neither does it excel – there are definitely more ergonomic handles out there.
The base isn’t too bad either. The Stratosphere is stable and doesn't wobble, while the grip tape for keeping it firmly underfoot is a nice touch.
Get pumping and the Stratosphere Sport feels great, with a buttery smooth action. That's handy as it doesn’t actually have an awful lot of puff. Attempting to seat tubeless tyres with it left me with some seriously achy arms and beads still not on the rim.
In my experience, auto-select heads are rarely as convenient as they're meant to be. They can struggle to engage with the valve, but I was very surprised by how reliable this one is. I've never had an issue with it, and it's engaged correctly every time.
If you run tubes and have an independent pressure gauge – or simply want repeatable results – the Stratosphere Sport is a great pump that's smooth and easy to use. If you're wanting to seat tubeless tyres or rely on accurate pressure readings, however, it's best to look elsewhere.
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Test report Fabric Stratosphere Sport floor pump review £32.00
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