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Some more new stuff showed up while I was too busy to write about anything other than my pursuit of happiness.  I'm trying to get around to it as I can, and after I actually get a chance to use it.  I mean, if I told you how great my new GORE ShakeDry jacket is when it hasn't (barely) rained in a lifetime here, that wouldn't be very genuine, now would it?

The Topeak Tubibooster.  Essentially, a very fancy bottle that you can fill up with your floor pump to more easily inflate tubeless tires with a blast of air.  Sound like something I've talked about before?

Conceptually, the idea is brilliant.  Most riders I know already have a floor pump, making an expensive pump with a built in tank (like the JoeBlow Booster) partially redundant.  The direct connection of the tank to the valve means that air flow isn't restricted.

Obvs it would be pointless to not compare the two because I can.

The TubiBooster (TB from hereon) has a 1 liter capacity, the milKit Booster (mB) is available in .6 and 1 liter sizes.  Although their site says .6 and .75?, I can only find those two options available.

The mB is very light (154 grams), as light as any of those aluminum water bottles you received as swag from a 10k or team building exercise.  The TB is built like a scuba tank (852 grams).  I've dented those swag water bottles (totally mishandling them), but if weight were a concern when packing luggage, obvs the mB has an advantage.  The head of the mB is mostly plastic, the TB is mostly metal \m/ .

The mB has a maximum filling pressure of 160 PSI, while the TB can take 200 PSI.  Obvs, the TB has the potential to pack more punch, but the point is moo (like a cow's opinion) for me, as my pump only goes to 160 PSI anyhoo.

The mB can fit in a bottle cage for bike packing and whatnot, but I have no idea if anyone would actually do that.  Amateur homeless personning people are a strange lot, so I wouldn't put it past them.  If they could wear their dangle mugs as helmets... they would.

The mB can double as a water bottle (with included lid), while the head of the TB unit can do this:

Which seems like a handy feature.  I've lost CO2 heads on long trips (or had them fail), so a backup would be buenos.  Travel with the TB and be able to fix two different kinds of catastrophes.

As far as using them, they're about as similar as they could be.  Fill, stick it on the valve, push down.

BAM.

Both of them work with the valve core in the stem or removed.  I did have some issues with something (the actuator?) sticking in the head of the mB from time to time, but a quick poke with an Allen wrench and buenos.  Could be some sealant up in there... something that might not have happened had I been running one-way milKit valves.  Who knows?

The mB retails for $60 while the TB is $70 (although a quick google shows that they can be purchased for less because that's how the world works?).

IMHOMO, a mountain biker should have one of these things.  I have a compressor, but sometimes people are sleeping in my house and my tank is empty.  Also, traveling with a compressor... ummmm... isn't always practical.  If you've never had an issue seating and inflating a tubeless tire with a floor pump, you are truly blessed.  May the sun never set on your empire.


For the rest of us, get one of these for your workbench and...