blueapplepaste wrote:
But $275???
I struggle to fathom how that cost is justified. Perhaps it’s like buying a Ferrari when a Hyundai will get you where you need to go just the same.
It all depends on how you look at it. From a technology and manufacturing perspective this thing is roughly the same cost to produce and actually shares a handful of electronic components to a modern power-meter and has a higher cost to produce than a number of power meters out there, so compared to it's nearest cousin, it's quite a bargain. The problem is that we've all been conditioned to assume that tools, pumps and accessories should be ever cheaper and more disposable while items in other categories become ever more expensive yet still disposable.
We're out to break that paradigm (hate the word, but it fits here). There are 500 companies selling cheap crappy, frustrating pumps on Amazon that will more or less get the job done, the world absolutely does not need another company doing that. Your Ferrari example is not fitting, we are more the Porsche of the category, Porsche is continually the highest quality, most efficient, highest satisfaction rated of all the car brands... that's what we aspire to be. We also have a bit of a cult like following, people collect them, etc..
We're out to do something much better and different and unfortunately, both of those have costs associated, but for the discerning user, the justification here could be as simple as eliminating a chronic frustration for a user for the next 10+ years, or it could be as simple as helping an athlete achieve the perfect tire pressure which will save them 2-3x as many watts as that $500 oversize pulley setup, or achieve that fastest possible gravel setup that minimizes the likelihood of damaging a $800 carbon rim.. Or it could be as simple as my favorite piece of feedback from one of our test riders who said 'breaking this thing out at our local group ride was like bringing a puppy to a sorority house.. I'm like famous now..'
So yes, in the same way that an new P5X does what a department store bike does.. this pump does what all the others do. But for those who demand or desire something better..or find themselves frustrated, or who are looking to eek out a few more watts of efficiency than everybody else or who are willing to put in some time to gain the asymmetric advantage of tire pressure optimization, it's worth it.
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