Craft Cadence Mini E-Pump
“World’s Lightest E-pump with Digital Gauge” as claimed by Craft Cadence.
Picture this: you’re cruising on a scenic gravel ride when a puncture halts your flow. Fumbling with CO2 cartridges or sweating over a hand pump isn’t ideal. Enter the Craft Cadence Mini E-Pump, a pocket-sized, battery-powered game-changer designed to ditch wasteful CO2 inflators, clunky frame pumps, and sluggish mini pumps. Electric mini pumps are the latest cycling craze, and this one’s stealing the spotlight.
Crowdfunded by over 700 backers, the Craft Cadence Mini E-Pump boasts a 1-year warranty and reliable customer support, signaling confidence in its durability. Known for premium gear like handlebar bags, wallets, and backpacks, Craft Cadence brings its A-game to this pump. In this review, I’m diving into its battery life, noise level, ease of use, and storage convenience to see if it lives up to the hype.
If you are interested in this Craft Cadence product, you are going to like these other items I have previously reviewed. Handlebar Bag, XL Wallet, Classic Wallet, Top Tube Bag, Backpacks, and more.
Unboxing
The Craft Cadence Mini E-Pump shipped to my house very quickly, it arrived within days. The outer box took a few dings during shipping, but inside, the pump was pristine, cradled in well-designed foam. A small plastic bag shielded the pump body, ensuring it emerged unscathed.
Tucked alongside were a USB-A to USB-C charging cable, a flexible extension hose (more on that gem later), and a trio of nozzles in neat slots: one for Presta valves, one for Schrader, and a ball needle for versatility. Everything screamed thoughtful packaging, ready to hit the road.
E-Mini Pump Specs
- Dimensions: 71x45x32 mm (2.81×1.50×1.25 in)
- Weight: 108 g (3.81 oz) (updated version after April 4, 2024, is 118 g)
- Max Pressure: 120 psi (8.2 bar)
- Battery: 500 mAh
- Charging Port: USB-C
- Charge Time: ~40 min
- Inflation Speed: 1-2 s/psi
E-Mini Pump Use
The Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump’s front panel is a breeze to navigate: three buttons (+, -, O) and a crisp LCD screen. Hold the O button for two seconds, and the screen springs to life, flashing “888” and PSI (likely a quick calibration) before settling on your last settings.
The LCD is split into three zones:
- Left: A bold gauge pressure display, starting at 0 PSI or 0.0 BAR.
- Top Right: Units (PSI/BAR) and a green battery icon with up to three bars—simple but effective, given the tiny display.
- Bottom Right: Your target pressure, which auto-stops the pump when reached.
To change desired pressure, press either the “+” button to increase it or the “-“ to decrease it. The desired pressure doesn’t “roll-over”, so if you are at a low pressure and want to change to a high pressure, you must press the “+” button to get to the desired pressure.
The minimum pressure is thus 0 psi (0 bar), and the max is 120 psi (8.2 bar). The gauge pressure display only reads to the whole pressure for psi and to the tenths place for bar.
To scroll to the desired pressure faster, press and hold either button and the number will change rapidly. This will be much faster than single clicking, because if you click too rapidly it will assume it was a double click.
Double click the “-“ button to switch between PSI and BAR. Double click the “+” to turn on the LED light on the bottom of the pump. The power (O) does not have a double click feature.
The Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump comes with two nozzles. One is for Presta valves and the other is for Schrader valves. Both nozzles are made from aluminum each with a different color rubber cover. Rubber covers protect the user from getting burned after use because the nozzles get hot during use.
The Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump also comes with a hose extension. The hose extension serves multiple purposes. The pump can get hot during use and will get quite hot when inflating past 100 psi or inflating multiple tires in the same setting. The hose extension allows holding the hose instead of the pump in times when it gets hot.
The extension hose on the Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump will allow filling up hard to reach valves specifically wheels with a lot of spokes with small spaces between them.
With the proper nozzle on and desired pressure set, it is time to inflate.
Press the pump onto the valve, if there is air pressure in the tire already, the gauge pressure will display the existing pressure. Press the “O” and the pump will begin to inflate. Make sure to hold the pump firmly on the valve. Also, make sure not to cover openings on the pump body, these are for air intake and exhaust.
Inflation
With the Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump battery fully charged, this pump tackled a 700x42c tire to 35 psi over 5 times and still had two bars on the battery left. On average it took about 53 seconds to fill-up the tire, which is fast enough for roadside repairs.
Plugging in the pump to charge after this test, I noticed only one bar blinking on the charge screen. So, there is a slight discrepancy on the battery level indicator when the pump is on versus when charging. This discrepancy didn’t affect the performance but suggests the charging screen is more conservative.
Charging
On the side of the Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump there is a USB-C port. Charge time from empty takes about 40 minutes to fill the 500 mAh battery.
Initial Thoughts
Upon opening the box, I was surprised how small the Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump is. It is hard to believe that this little device can pump up a tire. It’s quite amazing how our technology in batteries, motors, electronics, etc., have improved so much that they can all be squeezed into such a small package and produce an elegant product.
While the internal tech impresses, the exterior combines style and function. Drops, spills, and other various things will inevitably happen, so the shell needs to be durable in addition to being stylish. The outer shell sports the Craft Cadence name and teal mountains logo on the front of the device.
The E-Mini Pump is relatively stylish for being a box, but the outer shell being make from plastic is a little worrisome. A drop from the bike while ride, or a slip of the hands while getting to pump up a tire could potentially break the outer case.
Though, I haven’t drop tested it and won’t be purposefully dropping it for this review, the plastic shell raises some concerns. I hope this is something that was considered when developing the device.
Other nice features of the pump are the buttons on the front of the pump. They are easy to press, and they make a solid click, so you know it has been pressed.
It seems silly to say, but I am glad to see that Craft Cadence went with USB-C charging port. It is rare to see a device these days without USB-C for charging even though not mandated in the UK or nationally in the US. But I assume, the EU is a main market for this device, and future proofing the design with USB-C is a logical choice.
Another stealthy feature in the bottom corner is a little “hole” in the case (two holes). These little holes allow for a tether to be attached. Attaching a tether can help prevent drops and relieves some concerns mentioned previously.
Pump Performance
The Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump looks cool, is light weight, and compact, but what most people are really interested in is its performance. Some of the performance markers I will be looking at, the rate of inflation and the number of tire inflations for various tire sizes (battery test). Indirectly, I will be checking heat dissipation and high-pressure pumping capabilities.
It is my belief that inflation rate or time to inflate a tire isn’t that important (as mentioned above). If you are looking for the fastest way to inflate CO2 is probably the best bet (necessary for racing). If you are looking for a device that will be relatively fast and less wasteful compared to CO2 E-Mini Pumps are a good option.
Since this probably isn’t a solution for racing, while on a training or group ride and you get a puncture, the speed of repair isn’t critical.
Test Setup
To test the Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump, I set up my camera to record from start and stop of each tire filling. From there I was able to manually record each pressure jump and the time between each change. Though, this is just a rough estimate since the pressure jump, and frame rate could be slightly off. I tested three tires I ride regularly:
- 700x42c Gravel Tire to 35 psi
- 700x25c Road Tire to 90 psi
- 4 MTB Tire to 27 psi
These common sizes should give most people a good idea to interpolate or extrapolate their own tire sizes.
Test 1 – Gravel Tire
This was the test I was most interested, but that is mainly because of the current popularity of gravel, though other sizes are important too. Lately, wide gravel tires (29×2.1) have been popular, 700×45 tires for gravel are king. The rims I use have a pretty wide internal width and the tire measures wider than 45 mm.
For this test I was able to fill-up the tire 5 times and the battery still hadn’t died. The Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump was starting to get quite hot (I wasn’t able to hold the metal for more than a second), so I decided to end the testing for this tire. I believe if you need to use the device more than 5 times in a ride, you probably weren’t meant to ride that much for that day.
Below is a graph showing the typical rate of inflation. I suspect the digital gauge makes abrupt changes during inflation due to rapid pressure changes. I don’t find this very crucial because when the pump cuts off, the gauge pressure can catch up and matches the internal cut off pressure sensor.
I am not saying that the gauge is inaccurate, since it is a digital gauge, it won’t be sensitive to change during inflation like an analog gauge.
In the table below, are the test 1a-1e. The second two tests weren’t completely deflated, hence a faster fill-up time. The average fill-up time for test 1a, 1d, and 1e was 53.3 seconds, with a rate of inflation average of 0.7 psi/s and a 1.5 s/psi for all 5 tests.
Test 2 – Road Bike Tire
This is probably the most important test of all. Most flats probably occur on road bikes mostly due to road debris and more people probably ride on the road. Road bike tires are smaller volume, but require higher pressure, which would put higher stress on the motor/battery. This potentially will result in fewer fill-ups.
A lot of people are running larger volume tires on road now (28 – 30c) with much lower pressures, especially if running tubeless. Thus, this should result in more fill-ups on a single charge. I run tubes on my road bike, therefore still run higher pressures.
For this test, the pump filled up the tire almost three times. The third fill-up only reached 88 psi. This is still pretty good. I could confidently only bring the Craft Cadence E-Mini pump on a road ride knowing I will have plenty of air to get me back. Typically, my limiting factor is number of tubes since I carry at most two spare tubes.
The table below shows the data for test 2a-2c. The average time to fill-up the tires was about 103 seconds (1 min 43 seconds) with an average inflation rate of 0.7 psi/s and s/psi of 1.2.
Test 3 – MTB Tire
Large volume low pressure tire will require the pump to run longer but not quite as hard as a high-pressure tire. Thus, I expect a similar result to the road bike test.
On my cross-country mountain bike, I have been running 29×2.4 tires, though around where I live, a lot of riders are riding 2.6s. Most people are running tubeless and low pressures. 26 psi seems like a good average pressure a lot of people ride, so I am testing to that psi.
For this test I was able to do three complete fill-ups (see table below, 3a-3d test data). The pump died at 3 psi on the fourth test. This could potentially get you back in a worst-case scenario, but you might be riding on the rim. The average fill-up time for the first three tests was about 99 seconds with an inflation rate of 0.3 psi/s and 3.8 s/psi. The larger volume vs higher pressure road tire took about the same amount of time to fill-up.
| Tests | Time (s) | Pressure (psi) | psi/s | s/psi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 48.1 | 35 | 0.73 | 1.37 |
| 1b | 34.6 | 23 | 0.67 | 1.50 |
| 1c | 44.0 | 28 | 0.64 | 1.57 |
| 1d | 56.6 | 35 | 0.62 | 1.62 |
| 1e | 55.2 | 35 | 0.63 | 1.58 |
| 2a | 95.5 | 90 | 0.94 | 1.06 |
| 2b | 108.0 | 90 | 0.83 | 1.20 |
| 2c | 105.2 | 88 | 0.84 | 1.20 |
| 3a | 114.4 | 26 | 0.23 | 4.40 |
| 3b | 95.5 | 26 | 0.27 | 3.67 |
| 3c | 87.6 | 26 | 0.30 | 3.37 |
| 3d | 22.7 | 3 | 0.13 | 7.57 |
Clean Your Valve
Make sure you valve, and valve core are free of sealant. If you have any clogs, the Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump will cut off before it over comes the pressure to fill the tire. Though, this is typical with most electric pumps though.
One possible way to get around this is to set the pressure very high. I would only recommend doing this in an emergency, because doing this frequently could probably damage the pump.
Heat Management
In the testing I did above, the time between the tests was quite minimal. After the initial inflation, the pump was a bit warm, but never too hot to hold. By the end of the second test, the pump (mainly the hose nozzle) was very hot and too hot to hold. My tests pushed the pump hard with back-to-back fills, unlike typical roadside use.
Since this isn’t typical use out on the road, storing the pump after a single use won’t cause issues with burning your skin or damaging a jersey when storing it. Be aware if you are pumping multiple tires at once though, you will need to be cautious when storing the pump when you store the pump away.
Final Thoughts
The Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump is one of the latest portable electric pumps to hit the market. After some solid crowd funding, they brought it to market. This isn’t some low-quality pump you will find online on obscure websites. Like other Craft Cadence products, I have tested, this is another great product.
There are two things with this pump that I hope can be improved on but aren’t deal breakers. The pump is quite loud. I wish it was a bit quieter (not sure if this is possible). The pump gets hot, and I would like future designs to deal with the heat a little better. As mentioned above, the heat is only an issue when pumping multiple tires sequentially.
Besides those things the Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump works well. Personally, when using the pump, I prefer to use it with the hose extension. I find it easier to use. But it is slightly easier to store without the hose. I have been storing the pump in the Craft Cadence Classic Wallet with the hose extension with no problems, so it will easily fit into the XL wallet.
During inflation there is a slight lag with the digital gauge, but it always hit the target pressure accurately.
Since getting this unit, I have only needed on a ride a few times. Once was to fill-up a tire for a rider passing by, and another to fill-up a slow leak. For my tire fill-up, the valve was slightly clogged, and it took a few times to get the tire up to rideable pressure and the rest of the ride went smoothly.
For short rides close to home, I feel completely confident with only carrying the Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump. I don’t worry about carrying a spare CO2 or mini pump for back up. For longer rides in remote areas, I would carry a backup pump just in case, if I had two of these E-Mini Pumps I would just take both and not worry.
Lastly, is price. The Craft Cadence E-Mini Pump retails $109 USD***. This isn’t cheapest pump on the market, but it is backed by a 1-year warranty. Compared to using CO2 cartridges will cost a minimum of $1.25 per fill-up not including the cost of the inflator head (pack of 20). Smaller quantities will cost more and larger volume C02 cartridges (25 g x 16) can cost up to $2.19 per fill-up.
Thus, it would take around 50 – 75 tire inflations (if including the cost of the pump head) to break even compared to using CO2 and using a hand pump just takes a significantly greater amount of time.
Despite its plastic shell and heat issues, the Craft Cadence Mini E-Pump’s featherweight design, reliable fills, and sleek features make it a must-have for cyclists who value convenience and eco-friendliness.
***Note: US buyers will have an additional $55 added to their order due to tariffs. I will update this notice once the situation is resolved.
Author Conflicts
This E-Mini Pump was provided to me by Craft Cadence. I did not receive any compensation to review this product. Craft Cadence was not involved in reviewing this article (before or after), but was available to answer any of my questions. This product was reviewed in an unbiassed manner to provide information about the product and hopefully give readers useful information to help guide their decision in purchasing this product.
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