Schwinn Air Center Plus Review

The Schwinn Air Center Plus was one of the best pumps for high-volume inflation, and it scored well in every category except accuracy. If you want the most accurate gauge out there, then look elsewhere. But if your needs are casual, you ride mostly MTB tires, and you like to get a good deal, then you're going to want to keep reading.

Performance Comparison

Ease of Use

While there's not a lot to this pump, there are some key features that we really liked. For one, the “F” style dual valve requires that you pick one of two holes in the valve head, depending on your valve type. The larger hole says “Schrader” around it, while the smaller one is marked with “Presta”. Even if one has never seen a bike valve or pump before, the markings make it simple to choose the right fit. Once the valve head is seated on the tire stem and you flip the easy-to-operate lock shut, you get to pumping with a super solid valve seal. We didn't experience any sort of leaking with this pump, even at pressure. However, we did have a harder time getting a good initial seal with our short Presta stem.

The larger displacement coming from a pump that seems like one of the smallest, is a bit of a David and Goliath story. Here comes this short, squat pump, consistently delivering more air per compression than any of the behemoths in our lineup. We'll get into just how much quicker it was able to inflate our tires below. Needless to say, we were impressed.

The handle on this pump is chevron-shaped, with a grey scalloped, hard plastic inset into a black hard plastic handle. The slightly bent shape of the handle makes it more ergonomic for the wrists, which we appreciated. Although the hard plastic handle is, well, hard… the design that gives it more of an oval shape and broad, flattish top makes it easier on the palms than some of the hard handles with more rounded edges. The plunging itself is smooth for a bargain pump.

When it comes time to talk about the gauge, once again, this pump stands out and makes an impression. Rather than just a bunch of numbers, Schwinn offered an innovation – a gauge marked with numbers and hashes only every 10 PSI. That means that if you want to hit that 35 PSI mark, you're guesstimating. Although with large, easy-to-read pressure range markings for your tire type, it's really easy to see when you're in an acceptable range. If you need precision in a pump gauge, then this probably isn't your cup of tea. But if you just need to get within range for your tire type and quicker than any other pump we tested, this may be the pump for you.

Inflation

The Schwinn Air Center Plus blew away the competition in our inflation test, requiring far fewer strokes than most other pumps to more quickly inflate every tire we put it up against. While this means that it will more quickly inflate high-pressure road bike tires, the pumping becomes increasingly more difficult as the pressure increases. As such, we don't recommend this pump if you mostly need it for high-pressure applications.

The first tire we hooked this little pump to was our 700x25c road bike tire. This pump took only 14 compressions to bring our tire up to 100 PSI. The next best contender took 19 strokes to accomplish the same, and most of the pumps were in the 20s range. Granted that for the last few plunges, we were leaning a lot of body weight into the handle to complete the compression. That's an average of over seven PSI per stroke, and it was fun to watch the gauge needle bump up with each one. We were wowed, and we also recognize that this probably isn't the best pump for your needs if you primarily ride a road bike.

When it came to inflating our 2.1" x 26" MTB tire, again, this pump vastly outperformed even the next best option. It was one of the best at only 21 strokes to fill this tire; many of the pumps took over 30 strokes. With a 2.3" x 29" MTB tire, it was the same. The Schwinn took only 38 strokes, while the rest fell between 52 and 66 strokes! So, once again, this is an excellent pump for high-volume inflation, but it is just not well-suited for high-pressure pumping.

Stability

At first, we were skeptical of this pump's base. Schwinn abandoned the classic, standard tripod shape in favor of something that looks more akin to a Chevy symbol or a scarab in flight. Throughout testing, however, this base proved its worth, providing a stable base for our pump.

The base of the pump tube flares into a kind of faceted rectangle shape, with hard plastic flashing fluting into a hard chrome metal base. It has a classic look that we appreciate from such an icon in the bicycle industry. The metal feet extend from either side of the base and have raised plastic pedals built into the base to improve foot grip and pressure when pressing down.

With our two-handed, two-footed rounds of testing, we were surprised at just how stable this pump was. At first glance, it looks like a cheaply made toy, but time and time again, this base proved durable and provided a solid base throughout the reps. Ok, fine, but we were sure this base would be unstable for one-handed pumping. It easily rocked forward and backward due to its shape and design. However, when it came time to put in the one-handed reps, with one foot pressed down on one side of this pump, it didn't budge. It performed just as well as any of the best pumps in this category, and since it took fewer reps overall to reach the same pressure, it was all-around easier to use this pump with one hand than with the majority of other pumps we tested.

Accuracy

This is not where the Schwinn Air Center Plus shines. The gauge, as easy as it may be to read, is not all that accurate. Read below to find out just how far it's off the mark.

In our pressure accuracy test, we hooked these pumps to our specially engineered and built pressure chamber, complete with a highly sensitive digital gauge. We then compared the pump's gauge reading to the actual pressure in the chamber at 20, 50, and 100 PSI. The results support our claim that this pump works best at lower pressures. At 20 PSI, the gauge was right on target. At 50 PSI, the gauge was .8 PSI high; the actual pressure was 49.2. At 100 PSI, however, it was almost nine PSI low; the actual pressure in the chamber was 91.4 PSI. While with high-pressure tires, it's better to be a bit under than be over and risk popping a tire; you're better off finding another pump if you ride mostly road tires.

Should You Buy the Schwinn Air Center Plus?

This pump presents an awesome and affordable option if you need a pump to quickly inflate your high-volume tires. At a competitive price, the Schwinn is a clear choice if only riding MTB tires. If you plan to use your pump for both mountain bike and road bike applications, then we'd recommend going another route. Also, this may not be the pump for you if you're in need of a highly accurate gauge at high pressure, but that's just one more reason why this pump is more suited for high-volume, lower-pressure applications.

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