March 20, 2021
Adding an air compressor for working on bicycle tires to your workbench is a great time saver, making it simple to seat tubeless tire beads and handle topping off tire pressure on an entire fleet of bikes quickly and easily.
An air compressor alone doesn't connect directly to the presta valves on your bikes, though - for that, you'll need a bicycle-specific inflator head to plug in to the compressor. Arundel's Shop Inflator and the Park Tool INF-2 are two top sellers in this category.
Let's take a look at their features, pros, and cons:
Arundel's Shop Inflator is a well-made, reliable alternative to the Park Tool INF-2 and has the benefit of a significantly lower price point, making it ideal and recommended for home mechanics.
The INF-2 could of course be used in a home mechanic environment, but it's really designed for bike shops, and is prohibitively expensive for occasional home users. The INF-2 is a better fit in busy bike shops where it's higher cost is justified by repeated, consistent use on a daily basis.
Regardless of which tool you use, get the most out of your new inflator head, read my Tips for Installing Tubeless Bicycle Tires after you've got your new air compressor setup for the first time.
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