Birzman Infinite Apogee MTB pump and tubeless repair kit review

Birzman’s take on the pump and Co2 inflator combo has some neat touches but there are some slight practical glitches, too. The tubeless repair kit is also styling overkill considering the limited contents.

 Birzman Infinite Apogee MTB pump and Co2 inflator 

At 25cm long, the Infinite Apogee pump is a bit long for most waist packs and pockets but it comes with a bottle cage clip mount for smaller tubed frames. The all-metal design gives it a robust feel in the hand, but there's actually a lot of wobble between the body and green anodised shaft even when new. You also have to shove the rubber locking collar down so it doesn’t interfere with pumping.

The braided connector hose that also works as a CO2 inflator adds weight, too. The push-on head with locking sleeve means no danger of unscrewing the valve core when removing the hose. The fit is relatively loose though and the sleeve itself only moves a few mm and can slide down in use, letting air spill out. That’s irritating when pumping but potentially a real waste if you’re using it with a CO2 cartridge. Two cartridges are supplied with this kit (they screw into the bottle cage mount too) or the pump is available separately for £29.99.  

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 Birzman tubeless repair kit 

This tubeless kit is styled to look like a CO2 cartridge which is either very smart or a big fail if you get mixed up and take the wrong thing with you on a ride. The knurled grip should be a giveaway for most though. Inside you get five fat ‘anchovy’ tyre plugs and a big insertion fork that can be used in the short top cap or removed and re-screwed into the spout end of the canister for more grip. It’s a big fork though so it leaves a big hole to plug - and for the tyre carcass to cope with - even if you only had a small hole to begin with. While the canister can be used for storing spare chain links, there’s no knife for cutting the excess off the repair. While pricing is comparable to other fancy cased kits, you can get more comprehensive kits with glue, reaming and inserting tools, knife, thin and thick anchovies and even a marker crayon for a quarter of the cost if you’re happy with an old-school plastic case. 

Verdict

The pump and tubeless kit are functionally okay if you can work around their potential problems but you’re definitely paying for style over substance.  

Birzman Infinite Apogee MTB pump specs

• Price: £36.99 
• Weight: 177g 

Birzman tubeless repair kit

• Price: £19.99 
• Weight: 46g