Syncros has had my shock pump needs covered for many years now with its robust and functional SP1.0. It’s up there with the best mountain bike shock pumps, and I preferred it to the generic unit branded up by the likes of Fox, RockShox and Lifeline because it had a tap-style bleed valve, so I could be super accurate when releasing pressure. The valve connection was a two-stage affair that meant I lost very little air when attaching the pump, and it had a sturdy metal construction and comfortable rounded edges that made it nice to hold.

Unfortunately, Syncros has discontinued the old SP1.0, and replaced it with the new Boundary 1.0SH. It gets the same green and black treatment and it uses the same universal digital insert in the head as every other shock pump, but the rest is all new. And I’m not sure it’s for the better.

Starting at the head, there’s a new sliding cover to protect the screen. It’s fairly easy to push back, and it locks into place so that it doesn’t slide forward again and obscure the display when you’re pumping, but I’d argue it wasn’t really necessary as I’ve never seen a cracked screen on any digital pump. The plastic casing is chunky and angular, meaning it’s not the kind of pump you’d want to carry in a hip pack as it takes up a lot of room and could be pretty painful if you crashed on it.

There’s a screw-type bleed valve, which is more accurate than a button-type for releasing pressure, but Scott has reverted to a direct valve connection, so you do lose a bit more pressure when attaching the pump. At 180mm, the hose is pretty short too, so you don’t have quite as much freedom when it comes to how close you need to be to the bike when pumping.

But the biggest issue is that I didn’t find it very comfortable to use. The sharp edges of the display casing make it awkward to hold, whereas the old Syncros version could be cupped in my hand without digging in.

Using a Fox 38 fork, the Boundary 1.0 got me to 64.5psi in 100 strokes, which is 10psi less than my old SP1.0 managed, and 4psi less than the generic design used by Fox and RockShox achieved.