Cannondale Precise Floor Pump review – simple, effective and with a really nice gauge

Cannondale started in 1971, in a garage, in Connecticut, and went on to revolutionise the use of carbon and aluminium in road bikes and mountain bikes. In 2022 they worked with both the EF Education–Tibco–SVB and EF Education–EasyPost World Tour cycling teams. 

Cannondale itself has a full range of road, tri, gravel and mountain bikes along with kids', urban and e-bikes. Along with bikes and frames, they also have a full repertoire of components, on bike gear, accessories and tools to support all cycling endeavours – including a line competing with the best bike pumps.

Cannondale Precise Floor Pump: construction

The Cannondale Precise Floor pump is a hefty piece of equipment coming in at nearly 2kg for a floor pump! A 34mm shaft and 54.5cm stroke allows a large volume of air to be expelled in one pump. Skateboard grip tape is used on the feet of the pump where you place your feet, meaning there is very little chance of the pump moving around while you pump tyres up. 

The pump works with both Presta and Schrader valves, it also comes with adaptors to pump up other accessories. Usefully, the chuck also has the ability to bleed air for when you want to reduce and fine-tune your tyre pressures. The hose itself is a good length, at 130cm.

The one of the biggest benefits (literally) of the Precise is the giant gauge at the front that you can see without having to squint downwards. 

The gauge measures 7.5cm across in terms of what is actually readable info, compared to Cannondale’s claims that it is 12.5cm. This is still far better than other pumps I currently use and does make precise pumping up to different pressures very easy. I even found it good enough to pump car tyres where 1psi either direction is too much or too little. 

Cannondale Precise Floor Pump: the ride

The pump was very easy to use, and the large volume of air shifted every stroke meant that even seating tubeless tyres was manageable – albeit still with a bit of frenetic pumping. The wide and stable base with grips really helped with this. For more regular use, it’s quick to pump up 25mm tyres from flat to full. To get up to 90 PSI took less than 20 pumps, compared to the 30 of the Specialized Air Tool Comp. 

With the Cannondale pump being so efficient, over-pressurising was a common occurrence, but at least the bleed valve made getting exactly the right PSI easy. The giant gauge made it very easy to read the pressure and make sure it was at the right level. I also really appreciated the fact that at the lower end of the PSI scale the gauge is more spread out, so you can be even more precise.

Another nice benefit was that the pump head does not require much of the valve showing to get a grab. On the 44mm deep rims I was using, the visible amount of tubeless valve was too little for the Specialized pump to get a grip. The Cannondale Precise had no such issues.

A disc wheel adaptor is also very easily fitted, however for those doing track races the 145 PSI limit will likely be too little.

One slight issue could be that, for smaller riders, and given the pump's large air reservoir per pump, it does take a fair bit of force behind each stroke. A pump that moves a smaller volume of air per stroke takes longer when topping up your tyres, but doesn’t require as much force and can be easier to use for smaller riders. 

Cannondale Precise Floor Pump: value and conclusion

$65.00 / £55.00 is a pretty good price for a track pump. The Specialized Air Tool Comp is $70.00 / £50.00 and the Lezyne Alloy Floor Drive Tall Track Pump is $85.00 / £89.99 – but both are less heavy duty or have less precise measurement. 

The Topeak Joe Blow Tubi 2Stage is $149.95 / £109.99 – and it does offer a tubeless inflation system, but at a hefty premium extra. I have managed to use the Cannondale Precise Floor Pump to pump up tubeless tyres and seat them, however it did require some fairly violent pumping to achieve seating. Overall, it does offer good value for money against the competition.

The Cannondale Precise pump can inflate tyres quickly and very precisely, thanks to the high volume chamber and bleed valve. It can even be used for seating tubeless tyres with a bit of rigorous inflation. A big benefit is that there does not need to be much valve exposed for the pump to get a grip on the valve. 

Smaller riders may find the large amount of air applied per pump a bit difficult to manage, but equally they will not need to inflate their tyres as much as heavier riders.

This pump works brilliantly as an everyday bike pump and can even be used for tubeless seating, all at a very competitive price.