Move over, Silca: Enve has a new $750 tire inflation device
Already bored with your custom-painted Silca SuperPista Ultimate floor pump? Looking for something a little higher-tech now that you’re fully educated on the potential marginal gains of dialing in your tire pressure? Well, good news: Enve has heeded your call.
The new Air Pressure Station is a wall-mounted electric pump, complete with a digital pressure display, automatic cutoff for up to three presets, claimed accuracy within 0.5psi, and ultra-clever NFC (near-field communication) wireless tags that you can apply to your favorite wheels (Enves, natch) so the device automatically knows what tires you’re inflating. There’s even a separate NFC tag that’ll help direct your smartphone to Enve’s latest tire pressure recommendations, as well as a handy “tubeless override function” that’ll allow you to inflate tires past that preset point to help seat tubeless tires.
Buttons on the right side of the unit let you easily choose between three presets.
The 15ft coiled hose is topped by a locking Presta-only chuck.
The unit comes complete with a 15ft coiled hose, a Hirame-like presta-only locking chuck, and a sturdy-looking plate for mounting the Air Pressure Station to the wall of your fully finished workshop.
What’s not included, however, is the air compressor needed to actually increase tire pressure, nor the hoses required to connect the two together. As such, the Air Pressure Station seems like something that would super, super cool to have, but at US$750, the value proposition is a bit, uh, lacking.
In fairness to Enve, the company isn’t exactly pitching this as a must-have item.
“It is a super cool thing to have on the wall, or in your Sprinter, or in the shop fit room/bike set-up area,” said Enve VP of product and consumer experience Jake Pantone. “This is a tool for education and starting a conversation around having the right tire pressure at the retailer level, not something we expect everyone to run out and buy. At the consumer level, it’s a luxury inflation item for the home workshop or your #vanlife. We just want people to start thinking about tire pressure differently, and to start taking it more seriously. Where these units will primarily land are bike shops, demo operations, and service courses.”
That said, if you still feel like you need one of these at home, Enve won’t say no.
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