Introducing: Wolf Tooth Components EnCase Pumps – Big & Small

Wolf Tooth, the Minnesota manufacturer and design house, has a catalog full of premium products from chain rings, to pedals, to dropper posts, and now they’ve added pumps in two sizes. A supremely packable 40cc mini model and a big air-moving 85cc version as well. They are smooth and sealed – with a unique locking system, and they pack a pile of different tool storage options. I have been using versions and my thoughts are below. But first…

Graphic Image Warning

Steel yourself. Gird your loins. Prepare for horrors beyond your imagination! You are about to witness images that will be burned into your mind forever. Forever, forever ever? Forever ever? Look, if OutKast apologized to Ms. Jackson “a trillion times” please consider this a trillion plus one.

I love my first-generation Wolf Tooth EnCase tools. I use the multi-tool regularly and I have, thankfully, only rarely used the chain breaker & plug combo. But these beauties go back to before WTC was coating the steel portions of their tools & bits and they have spent the better part of the last 3-4 years living in the handlebar of my "all-weather, year-round, I live in a coastal rainforest" commuter rig.

To say there is some patina on my fully functioning tools is to put things mildly. Now, normally, I would happily go on using these tools without a second thought, but I would not choose to be putting photos of them on the internet.

I will note here that WTC switched over to coating all the steel parts – chain breaker, 8mm tool receiver, tool bits – generations ago. So it helps us get through this, check out these images of fresh EnCase tools and try to imagine them in my photos. Sorry, we do not have the budget to fix it all in post.

Big Air vs. Little Carry

As I would expect from WTC, the telescoping action on the EnCase pumps is fantastic. The only sales tool shops will need to move these things is to demonstrate the unlocking ‘twist’ and then hand them to prospective customers.

Enter the EnCase dilemma. I am certain that we would all prefer to carry the smaller, lighter, 40cc pump. I am equally certain that we would all prefer to inflate a tire with the larger, longer, 85cc pump. WTC claims both pumps will hit 70psi. I can say from my own experience, that either will inflate my 700x40c gravel tires to 45psi and my 29x3” XR4 to 12psi, and in either case I prefer the number of strokes it takes with the 85cc pump.

But how often do I actually need a pump on the trail or on my commute? Between CushCore inserts and modern tire tech, it is still often enough that I religiously carry one – even if it is usually being borrowed by friends.

In addition to moving more air, the 85cc pump will hold, up to, two EnCase tools or WTC’s new plug tool. The 40cc pump will hold one EnCase tool or the WTC plugger. On my mountain bike I wear a pack, or at least a hip-pack, and prefer to use their 8-Bit Pack Pliers as my main multi-tool, so the two-tool option with the 85cc is not a selling feature for me.

I also prefer to carry my pump in my pack, rather than on my frame. With a hip-pack, this would make the 40cc the option, but with my full-size EVOC bag either inflator disappears easily into the void.

I have been playing with carrying either-or and deflating and refiling my tires in the name of science. First carrying the pumps externally to put them through a few rainstorms and now in my bags for different reasons. On my commuter bike, it is one less accessory to remember to pull off my bike when I lock it. On my mountain bike, it’s one less accessory to remember to move from bike to bike between the Spire test rig and my single-speed.

Either pump serves my purposes, but it is so much more pleasant to inflate my mountain bike tires with the 85cc and I am not constrained by trying to stash it in a downtube storage locker or a hip pack. On the flip side, I seldom need a pump on my gravel rig and the 40cc is much easier to lose in my handlebar bag, so for the lower-volume tires and almost-never usage frequency, the 40cc pump is my groadie preference.

EnCase of Emergency Pull Tools

Musings about choosing volume aside, it has also been interesting to arrive at a tool configuration. I want to say first that the rubber sleeves that house tools inside the EnCase pumps stay firmly in place, slide in and out smoothly, and most importantly are silent. Silent.

The outcome, after much playing around, is that I need to order myself a second EnCase chain breaker. This is the perfect tool to keep in either pump. It is a fantastic chain tool to use. That sounds a bit silly, but it is not something I can say about most out-there-repair breakers. I have personally witnessed four different ‘emergency’ chain tools break in use, and that is front of mind anytime I am thinking about trailside tools. What is worse than carrying something for years only to have it fail when it is needed?

Also, the EnCase chain tool has the plug capacity and a fork integrated. So even with the 40cc pump, I can have my chain tool and plugs in the handle. Tools in tools in tools, EnCase3 if you will.

For the record though, it is entirely possible to just enjoy the EnCase pump, as a pump, without putting any tools in the handle at all. The rubber plug on the end is secure and keeps water out, so alternatively you could store other stuff, like a tube of maple syrup or a buff. Maybe some tiny oblate spheroid candies of your preferred variety.

Schraeder Denied

As long as Stan’s continues to make Schraeder tubeless valves , I will continue to preach the return of ‘car valves’ to performance cycling. Pull the valve cores and admire how air or sealant flows just as great as the ultra-premium high-flow Presta-sized options. How many of my rims have I drilled out to accept Schrader? Well, none, the valves do not play nice with tire inserts. But if someone made a CushCore-friendly Schraeder valve? No, I still would not get the drill out. Presta valves are fine.

Anyway, that was the long way of saying that the WTC EnCase pumps are only compatible with Presta valves.

Test Your Friends

Never mind its capabilities for inflating tires, I have had more enjoyment out of the EnCase pumps than I should probably admit to. There is this quote showing up everywhere on the internet right now, which may or may not be spurious, but it is funny, piercing, and apposite. Regarding designing bear-proof garbage can latches, one Park Ranger is purported to have noted the design difficulty stemming from a “ considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest tourists. "

I start by pulling the EnCase pump off my bike or out of my pack, enthusiastically exclaiming “ You need to try this new pump from Wolf Tooth, it’s ridiculously smooth! ” And then, I use every bit of willpower in my being to suppress a smile and the twinkling in my eye and pass it over.

Some folks, well, they just twist the lock open intuitively, cycle the pump a few times, and agree that it is very smooth. Some folks faff with the lock for a moment and then look at the laser-etched instructions on the pump. They open the lock, cycle the pump a few times, and agree that it is very smooth. Some folks, and they know who they are, throw the pump at me as hard as they can when I can no longer keep myself from laughing while watching them attempt to get inside.

I am not saying that Wolf Tooth should have added strategically placed protective, replaceable, rubberized surfaces to the EnCase pumps, but if they were going to make them this damn fun… anyway, they are very well sealed against the elements and they will not open when riding no matter how they are oriented on your frame, and there is not a trick to opening them. Just twist.

So, WTC Makes Pumps

And they are excellent. I hope that Wolf Tooth will add a third size because I continue to pine for the return of frame pumps. I would happily take the 61-gram hit again to have a 130cc pump, assuming that is how math works. On that note, on my scale, the 40cc pump weighs 91 grams and the 85cc pump weighs 152 grams. Add 19 grams for the on-frame pump holder, and do you know what? I am just going to drop in a variety of scale shots right here:

Pricing numbers for these pumps are surprisingly competitive, the pumps’ next-level action, WTC product support, and opportunities for mirth put aside.

The pumps alone will retail for 65 USD for the 40cc Pump and 70 USD for the 85cc Pump. There will be kits combining the various EnCase options and, of course, for the pumps alone. Here is a link that will take you to all the myriad pumping packages .

I imagine that for the EnCase curious you will be able to try one of these pumps in your preferred local bike shop very soon. WTC clearly believes they have a home run on their hands and have been visiting dealers showing samples. I already know of a few local shops that will be stocking them and it is a well-deserved reaction to an excellent product.