Small graphics, making the gauge a little hard to read.
Exposed braided stainless steel hose could scratch the frame if not careful.
Bleed button releases too much air, and is hard to control.
When I first used the Sette pump, I felt it was a little bulky and labor intensive to use, but I quickly changed my mind after using it on the road to dial in a new Manitou Minute MRD fork and Magura Hugin rear shock.
The Sette pump is a very well thought out design.
It has 360 degree swivels on both the schrader fill head and pump end of the hose, along with a 360 degree swivel on the pump, allowing the hose to be clipped parallel to the pump body for storage.
The brass fill head's threads are tapered nicely and easily threads on to the schrader valve stems without cross threading.
The Magura pump was the most difficult to keep from cross threading, as it has an angled fill head, with a quick release lever on the side.
You have to screw it on at an angle because of this offset angle design, and have to be really careful not to cross thread it as you screw it on to the schrader valve.
You have to fight the filler hose, as it tries to keep the fill head straight, and you need to bend the hose to angle the fill head and attach it to the schrader valve with one hand, while holding the pump with the other.
The Sette's fill head turns smoothly, and attaches to the schrader valve easily every time.
The Sette pump's gauge is a little hard to read, as it has smaller graphics for the psi scale than the other pumps, and does not read out below 30 psi.
The loss-less pressure release system is well thought out.
A red alloy knob on the backside of the brass fill head is unscrewed until it backs away from the schrader valve completely, closing the schrader valve and preventing air loss when removing the fill head.
It self seals with a common o-ring, which is easily replaceable should it wear out.
The red alloy knob is actually a long rod that presses and opens the schrader valve for filling, when screwed in.
When done, unscrewing this knob closes the schrader valve stem completely, while still under pressure.
Then, the brass fill head is unscrewed from the schrader valve stem.
It's a little more time consuming than the Magura's quick release lever, which does the same thing, but the Magura's angled head defeats any advantage that the quick release lever gives you.
The Magura's quick release lever feels a little flimsy, and I have no idea how long it will last before breaking off.
The Sette fill head and pressure release knob is built like a tank, and will probably last forever.
The Sette system is more time consuming, as you have to screw on the fill head and the pressure release knob, and then unscrew both, but it works reliably every time, and doesn't cross thread when attaching to the schrader valve.
After spending a few hours constantly adjusting my fork and rear shock, the Sette is now my favorite shock pump.
It even has a rubber coated gauge which none of my other pumps have, so it is designed to take some hard knocks without letting you down.
It has a plastic gauge face, unlike the others that use a glass face.
I can't say which is better; in 10 years the Sette gauge face may become scratched and yellow, but it won't shatter like a glass face if dropped.
The only gripe I have with the Sette is the air bleed off button.
It releases too much air, and is very hard to control for fine tuning.
However, it was easy to pump back any lost air to exactly the level needed.
The Magura and Wrench Force wins hands down in control of the air bleed off button.
If you're using a pump without some type of loss-less pressure release system like the Sette or Magura pumps, you are not getting accurate pressure fills.
I didn't realize for years how much pressure was lost when removing my Wrench Force pump, especially on the smaller capacity SPV and negative air chambers on shocks, giving me inaccurate readings and wrong settings.
Contrary to what some may think, the air you hear escaping when removing a pump hose is NOT the air in the hose only, but air escaping the schrader valve as you are unscrewing the hose.
You can never unscrew the filler head fast enough to prevent a large pressure loss through the schrader valve.
The Sette shock pump was obviously designed by a real bike rider, and is highly recommended.
For the price, it outperforms even the most expensive shock pumps on the market.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
What's New
»
BEST OF MTBR - Check out the highest rated bikes, parts, & gear!
»
LED BIKE LIGHT SHOOTOUT 3 - We test all the newest products and latest light and battery technology in this comprehensive guide»