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Gone tubeless and fancy a compressor, it will be used for blowing tyres up and possibly blowing water off chains, so doesn't need to be massively fancy.
Not looking to spend a lot as it will be used about once a month at most.
Needs some sort of blower type attachment and an inflation device for presta and schraedar valves.
What is recommended please? As said, looking to spend minimal amount due to infrequent use but also want it to work and be reliable, so it isn't going to be the cheapest.
Thanks.
Aldi or Lidl
Comes with all attachments.
Had mine years
I have a couple of compressors but tbh for tyres I always just use my AirShot, it's quicker/easier/better.
If you do go with a compressor, bear in mind cheap ones are very noisy, I got a Sumo one from Screwfix which does the job but you wouldn't want to use it in a small space inside without ear defenders. Would be OK if you could house it outside (and had understanding neighbours!). I also have a silent one but then you are talking £300+ even for a very small light duty one.
Go for the biggest air tank that you can afford. Also bare in mind the pump size. ie. How quickly it can pump the tank up.
Typically, 50 litre tank will empty VERY quickly just 'blowing water off chains', and you might be standing around whilst it pumps up.
Anything that is reasonably affordable tends to be reasonably disappointing. Tank size and fill rate are what you care about. If it doesn't have a tank or only has a small one it'll be of limited use. An airshot is better / easier / more portable for seating tyres, and I have a pet drier that's better for drying bikes, imho.
I got one of these although they seem to have gone up in price.
Had a Lidl one about four years, reasonably affordable and not at all disappointing.
Does make a racket, but you can step away while it pressurises then it's quiet as you use it.
As above, for tubeless an airshot is so much better than a compressor, I've had fare more success with mine than when I would use my LBS compressor before, plus its portable / basically silent / no waiting for it to get up to pressure etc...
In Singletrack fashion recommending what we have. If its just for tyres and blowing water off then the Aldi one is fine. Bought one in the sale a few years ago for the garage and its never failed. Bought another for the camper for £25 when they were selling them off. Its rescued quite a few distraught riders at Enduro events up and down the UK and abroad when everything else including Airshots and Leyzenes have failed to seat tyres to battered rims for the next days stages.
I just use a budget one from Axminster. All good.
https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-craft-ac21c-230v-compressor-104295
I've also fitted a Topeak valve/nozzle from a trackpump, so that it's easy to connect to presta valves.
The £70/80 Lidl one mentioned is fine as long as you don't mind the noise. Big tank so its not like its on much though.
We use one in our workshop. Thats been running for 4 years and done thousands of tyres. Needed new hose and gun in that time but otherwise its doing fine. The standard schrader fit gun works fine on valves with the core removed, which is what you'd do for tubeless anyway...
Maybe a bit of a PSA, if you go to the Aldi website and use the the voucher code COMPRESSOR20 when checking out you should get £20 off the Workzone 2.5 HP compressor making it £59.99
What oil are you guys using in your compressors and associated tools, impact wrench etc?
Had my Aldi one for years and used it loads .
Mine didn’t have the standard fitting for Uk stuff but machine mart sell one for cheap and only 2 min job.
I don’t use it for seating tyres though I just use my home made 2 litre pop bottle compressor .
I had one of these for a few days but ended up sending it back as I bought the cheap accessory kit with it which was pretty useless
https://www.sgs-engineering.com/air-compressors/semi-pro-diy/sc6h-6-litre-oil-less-air-compressor
The compressor itself I wish I'd actually kept as it was noticeably quieter then the subsequent one I bought and it'd blow up car tyres easily.
I used it for blowing muck off the bike and water off the chain and you do have to let it re-charge but I also have to let the 24 ltr one I subsequently bought re-charge which takes longer as it's a larger capacity so sings and roundabouts.
In a lot of ways I think it was the perfect, quieter alternative for small jobs like bike maintenance bearing in mind you really have to go up in size / quality a lot for any power tools / spray painting.
I have this one from SGS: https://www.sgs-engineering.com/sc24h-24-litre-high-flow-air-compressor which is similar to the ones from Aldi. It’s brilliant. Way easier to setl tyres than the airshot I use when I’m away from the shed. Great for drying bikes and load of other uses as well.
I used an old track pump end for the air line and it’s seated loads of different tyres on many types of rim. The air gun is the standard one and more than up to what I need it for. Not used the other accessories.
It’s a bit noisy, but fills quickly enough and has been 100% reliable in the 18 months I’ve had it.
Ordered the Aldi unit using the discount code - thanks.
Couple more questions though -
Is it oil-less or does it need oil?
What couplings does it have? I need to order a hose and tyre inflator and would prefer the right couplings.
Thanks.
Anyone able to assist with the answers please? Unit arrives in the next few days and I'd like to order the hose, inflater and possibly the oil.
Thanks.
There's an Aldi compressor in my garage that's from a couple of years ago. The fittings aren't the ones common in UK workshops, I think they're more common in Germany, unsurprisingly.
I think these are what's fitted, but they newer ones may be different, of course.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Compressor-Connector-Fittings-Release-Coupling/dp/B00JEBIX4Q
When they last had compressors in, they also sold accessory kits (with appropriate connectors), is it not worth getting one from the same source?
Thanks for this.
They don't have any kits left, seemed to be only online as I can't seem to find any in local shops.
For anyone using a compressor to seat and inflate tubeless tyres. Try this trick if you are having any problems. First make sure the tyre is either side of the valve (this one can catch you out). Then remove the valve core. Now grab the air jet/blower thing that will have come in your kit of air tools and unscrew the nozzle off it. Now stick the blower over the valve stem and let rip. This will ensure that the absolute maximum quantity of sir in the shortest possible time will be going into the tyre. It should pop and bang and seat almost instantly. I have never had a problem getting a tyre to seat first ime using this technique.
Ok, so Aldi compressor has arrived, has oil in it and seems to be good - bit bigger than I was thinking but not an issue.
I'm still confused about the connections - I don't know if they are BSP tapered or not - how can I tell? I'm not wanting to buy parts twice. I'm needing to find an air hose, tyre inflator and whatever connections are needed to join the inflator to the hose to the compressor.
Anyone able to help a complete thicko out please? Just need confirmation on the type of connectors I need to buy.
Thanks.
Always seems to be plenty of compressors for sale on the Facebook classified ads. I sprayed s couple of cars many years ago & for that you need a minimum 50 litre tank & 14 CFM ideally.
Std air fittings are usually BSP parallel DickBarton. The Aldi Conpressor looks like it has 2 x femaike quick release bayonet connections on the pressure reg, so you’ll need you airline to have a male one end, female the other. Your inflator likewise, with a male to go into the air line.
what do you need ?
I bought a male tapered bsp connector and it doesn't fit...think it is a pcl connector, so I'll return the tapered one and try the pcl one.
Aldi one 5 years and going strong over here.
I think its a euro connector, loads on ebay
It appears to be, ta.