Cycplus Mini Bicycle Tire Inflator

There are now many mini pumps that are lightweight and portable. One of the first pumps that I know of is the Xiaomi Portable Pump, but it is super noisy, rather heavy and also relatively bulky. Not ideal for bringing on bicycle rides.

In order to reduce the size of the pump, something has to be compromised. In this case, the battery capacity is greatly reduced to lower the weight, cost and size. For a portable bicycle pump that you will only use in emergencies, this is fine.

Cycplus Mini Bicycle Tire Inflator!

The battery capacity is only 300 mAh which is really small. This means that it can only pump 2 bicycle tires, which I assume is 2 road bike tires from flat.

Comes with a user manual and USB cable, along with a translucent rubber sleeve for the pump.

Clear instructions provided!

Shows the pumping capacity for different bicycle tires. If using on a large MTB tire, it might be barely enough for one tire.

Compact unit with the pump nozzle

I think the reason for this instruction is to ensure that attaching the pump to a half-inflated tire does not cause it to deflate fully when the nozzle is engaged to the valve.

Power button with the LED underneath the button.

Close up view of the nozzle, with the rubber seal inside. This configuration is for Presta valves.

Comes with interchangeable parts at the nozzle, if you wish to use it on Schrader valves.

With the nozzle parts removed

Cycplus pump weighs 98 grams! Lighter than I expected.

With the rubber sleeve, it weighs 116 grams

A CO2 canister with valve would weigh 83 grams, about 30 grams lighter.

A traditional manual hand pump would weigh 100 grams, including the mounting bracket.

In terms of weight, all 3 options are quite similar. Using the manual hand pump as a baseline,

Manual pump: Can be used as many times as you need. However, takes longer and needs effort.

CO2 canister: Can be used only once. Fast and quite effortless to use. Slightly lighter.

Battery powered portable pump: Can be used a couple of times. Not very fast, but saves effort. Slightly heavier.

Size comparison of CO2 canister vs the Cycplus portable pump. Slightly wider, but similar in thickness and length.

Here is how it will be used! Might not fit on smaller wheels where the spokes may block access.

Using the Specialized Aethos bike as a reference for the size of the Cycplus pump.

Here are all the spares and tools on the Aethos road bike!

All of them fit into the tool bottle, including the Cycplus portable pump.

I'm happy with the size of the Cycplus portable pump, as it is compact enough to fit into the tool bottle, replacing the CO2 canister. As an emergency pump, I hope I never have to use it. 

I recommend getting a mini pump such as this if you want to avoid putting a manual pump on your bike, and yet want to avoid using CO2 canisters.

Specialized Aethos: Maroon Frameset and Dura-Ace R9200 Crankset

Here is how the Specialized Aethos looks, with the Maroon coloured frameset! The previous Champagne Pink frameset was replaced under warranty, and I got the chance to choose a new colour.

I decided to build it up again, with mostly the same components. There were a few components changes, but otherwise largely the same Dura-Ace R9200 2x12 speed specification.

Freshly built up with a new frameset and same Dura-Ace components!

Another view from the non-drive side.

Front view

View from the rear. See how glossy the paint job is!

Fresh PRO bar tape, with my ideal shifter angle and handlebar position.

Dura-Ace C50 wheelset is used for better aerodynamics, compared to the Dura-Ace C36 wheelset.

Everything is freshly cleaned

Just 6.7 kg including pedals! Lightweight road bike possible with this lightweight Aethos S-Works frameset.

At the Bird Park in Mandai

The first ride is a wet ride!

Love the glitter that shows up under sunlight

With lots of other road bikes, also at the Bird Park

One other modification that I later made to the Aethos is the crankset. I had previously been using the Dura-Ace R9100 crankset, which is designed for 11 speed but also works well with 12 speed drivetrains. It saves some weight over the 12 speed crankset, which is why I kept it on the Aethos.

Dura-Ace R9100 crankset: 610 grams

Dura-Ace R9200 crankset: 682 grams

However, now I decided to install the 12 speed Dura-Ace R9200 crankset onto the Aethos, to complete the groupset. There is a little weight penalty of 72 grams but I think it is not going to matter at all.

For a detailed comparison of the R9100 vs R9200 crankset, check out this post!

R9100 on the left, R9200 on the right.

Dura-Ace R9200 12 speed crankset installed

Complete Dura-Ace 12 speed groupset!

Full bike picture again, with the Dura-Ace R9200 crankset. Most people will not be able to tell the difference.

I don't have any other upgrades or modifications planned for the Specialized Aethos, as it is pretty much perfect. Highest spec frameset with highest spec drivetrain, there is nothing more I need.

At People's Park Complex in Chinatown, Singapore.

Some old school signs can be found!

Specialized Aethos: Assembly with new Frameset

In the previous post, I wrote about the replacement Specialized Aethos frameset, in Maroon colour. With the replacement frameset, there are actually a few options for me.

1) Sell the new frameset and buy another frameset to build up. Cannondale? Trek? Etc.

2) Sell the new frameset, and also the components that I removed from the Aethos.

3) Rebuild the bike using the new frameset and the same components.

Option 1 sounded tempting, as I could get a new frameset from another brand. However, the value of the Aethos frameset was not really good even when brand new, as the prices have dropped a lot since I first got it. In fact I think there is now excessive stock which the shops are trying to sell off.

Option 2 means having no road bike to ride, as the Aethos is my only road bike after selling away the Focus Paralane earlier. Although I do get back some cash if I sell the road bike, I think I still want to keep one road bike for the occasional fast road ride.

That means I eventually decided to go with Option 3, which is to rebuild the Aethos using the same components but the new Maroon frameset. Since I was going to rebuild the Aethos from scratch, I decided to take the opportunity to change some components as well.

I bought a new PRO Vibe superlight carbon handlebar, which is a new generation that is even lighter than the previous version! The previous version weighs 198 grams, which is already lightweight but there are a few others that are even lighter.

This time, the new handlebar is going to weigh even less, check out the actual weight below!

New PRO Vibe superlight carbon handlebar, now lighter than the previous version!

In my preferred width of 400 mm

Just 2 holes at the bottom for the hydraulic brake hoses, instead of 4 in the previous version. It is assumed that you will be using wireless road shifters.

Hole near the drops for routing the hydraulic hose internally from the road shifters to the middle of the handlebar.

Oval hole at the back of the handlebar enables Di2 wires to be routed into the stem, if necessary.

Side view shows a short reach and a standard drop shape, with a flat horizontal end.

See how thin the walls of the carbon handlebar are! Good manufacturing and quality control is needed to ensure that the wall thickness is consistent and fulfils the minimum requirement. It's a delicate balance between weight and strength.

Handlebar is really lightweight at just 160 grams! 38 grams lighter than the previous handlebar.

Inclusive of the Specialized S-Works SL Stem, the stem + handlebar combo weighs just 275 grams! Lighter than many integrated carbon stem + handlebar combo.

Although the new handlebar saves 38 grams of weight, the new Maroon Aethos frameset weighs 56 grams more than the old frame, so there is a net increase of 18 grams. Although it is nice to keep the weight low, I have realized that adding a little bit of weight here and there is not going to matter at all.

Since the components have been completely removed from the bike, I took the chance to clean up the Dura-Ace R9200 cassette as well. Once again, I used the Ultrasonic cleaner to make sure that the cassette is as clean as can be, with minimal effort from me.

Dura-Ace R9200 cassette to be installed onto the Shimano Road L2 spline freehub body, on the Dura-Ace R9270 C50 wheelset.

Shiny cassette after cleaning, looks as good as new!

As the new frameset came with a new fork as well, this means having to cut the fork steerer tube to the correct length again. Since my home workshop is pretty comprehensive, with all the right tools that are commonly used, I was able to do this job at home.

Marking the section to cut, after fitting on the stem for confirmation.

Using the table clamp to hold onto the Topeak Saw Guide, and cutting with the carbon blade on the Park Tool Hack Saw.

After cutting, the fork weighs only 286 grams! 16 grams was removed by cutting it to my required length. This is one of the lightest forks you will ever see.

Specialized S-Works SL Stem installed, with the lightweight expander slightly recessed as per instructions.

Front part of the frameset is ready, with the fork, headset and stem installed.

Glittery Maroon paint job! Looks awesome in sunlight, much like the Cervelo Aspero.

The Maroon colour looks better and better by the day!

With a new frameset, the excitement of building a new bike is here again. At the same time, there is the reassuring thought that I have done this before, and all the components have already been tried and tested to fit this frameset. In fact, even the chain can be reused as it is still in good condition and of the correct length.

For a detailed part by part analysis of the Specialized Aethos, check out the original series where the Champagne Pink frameset was first assembled!