Road Cycling - newbie to CO2 -- help!

hello all-

i've been looking at CO2 as a quick and easy way to fill my tires while on a ride because i dont have a pump peg on my frame. but i need some help. does anyone have any recommendations for a good inflator? also, someone told me that a certain size CO2 cartridge can only fill to 100 psi, so you didn't have to worry about overinflating; just shoot the whole sucker in and you're ready to go. what size CO2 cartridge is this? thanks!

Since this is for road bike tires, all you need is the smaller 12g cartridge which will fill up to 100psi. MTB riders sometimes carry the larger 25g cartridges.....which only pumps more volume of air. Your best bet are the little inflators which use non-threaded 12g cartridges. Non-threaded cartridges are cheap and are available almost anywhere.......such as Wallmart.
Don't wait til you actually get a flat to use the inflator for the very first time. Go ahead and waste a couple cartridges so you know exactly what to expect before you hit the road.

I have the Innovations Ultraflate CO2 System and it works great for me. (Have only used it once).

Ultraflate link (http://www.excelsports.com/new.asp?page=8&description=Ultraflate+CO2+System&vendorCode=INNOVAT&major=3&minor=9)

I took the base and drilled a hole in the bottom of it that allows to store a cartridge in it with the head of the CO2 cylinder head protruding out through the bottom. (I also carry an additional 2 - 12 gr. cartridges just in case I need 'em).

thanks!

do you have any recommendation of a good non-threaded 12g inflator? i have no clue of any brand that makes them, and roadbikereview.com doesn't have any CO2 stuff listed.

[edit] thanks cipher, just read your post. i think this is a good way to go, since it's 12g and either threaded or non-threaded.

Originally posted by Cipher

I took the base and drilled a hole in the bottom of it that allows to store a cartridge in it with the head of the CO2 cylinder head protruding out through the bottom.

Gosh.......I did that originally about half a dozen years ago and I see alot of people doing the same thing now. At the time, I thought it was just such a common sensical thing to do......I don't know why they're not sold like that to begin with......?.....

Dont forget,there good once and a little more and a reg pump keeps pumping.A small pump will fit in your saddle bag.

Has anyone thought of making a seatpost plug (possibly with a spring to keep things from rattling about) that you can use to cap one end of the seatpost so you can store things like spare CO2 cartridges? I have an SKS AirGun (sorry non-threaded fans.. this one uses threaded cartridges) and the spare is carried in a threaded mount on the other side of the waterbottle cage attachment but it sure would be slick to store that stuff up inside the seatpost. Maybe I'll make one out of a handlebar plug and a cheap spring.

Mr. khuon.......nice idea, but once my seatpost is set and adjusted, that's one thing I don't like messing around with, like stem height, handlebar angle, and so on... unless they get whacked out of position. Besides......I know for certain that my cartridge is larger than my inner seatpost diameter.

Ok, I just got a "Second Wind IH" It's a dual CO2 and pump! It's really small and although I haven't used it yet, I am sure it will be awesome.

After buying a good frame pump, I will never go back to C02 again!:D

Originally posted by uciflylow
After buying a good frame pump, I will never go back to C02 again!:D

Can you elaborate on this, please?

Originally posted by uciflylow
After buying a good frame pump, I will never go back to C02 again!:D

Now, had I known you 10 years ago, I wouldn't have a drawer full of pumps today!

After maiking it home on a wing and a prayor from a long ride, I started carying so many C02 cylinders that a frame pump was lighter. I check the pump every few weeks, I have read that the seal can go bad in them from non-use, to make sure all is well. C02 contraptions arn't fail safe by far either.
Where I live there are very, very few road bike riders, I have never seen another on any ride, so you can't depend on any help of any kind!

There is nothing worse than being 30 miles from home and having multiple flats, ruining your tube and having a flat on you'r spair. You better have more than 2 C02 cartreges with you or you get to make a long, long walk home!

I trust my pump more than any C02 contraption now.

i would look into a frame pump, but unfortunately trek doesnt put a pump peg on their OCLV bikes. damn this flashy new technology, we still need pump pegs.

are there any good minipumps out there? i've heard that most of them have trouble getting past 80 psi, and that it's a lot of work to get it to that point. any good ones that can get to 100 psi relatively easily? i may start a new thread on the topic.

Some of you guys sound like you use a pump all the time.I dont unless i have a flat.I dont use them to keep my tires pumped up,just for a flat.

i carry two. but please burn a few practicing at home before actually needing one. out on the road i blew the tire to bits because i actuated the co2 cartridge too fast and too furious and learned a valuable lesson.

i'm new to C02 inflator/cartridges also. I got my first flat. I didnt have any tools to fix it, no tubes, patches, etc. I have a crank bros. mini power pump, but that thing is awful and hard to use, and hard to pump with.

What is the difference between a non-threaded vs threaded? Which do you recommend? Now are these CO2 inflators compatible with a presta valve automatically or do I hve to buy an adapter for it? I plan on buying pretty much all my road essentials online. Also, can anyone post a link or recommend me a good affordable CO2 inflator?

I'm still really really on the fence as far as CO2 is concerned. Right now it's all I have (carry three 12g canisters... considering putting a fourth in the inflator.) I carry that along with a patch kit and extra tube. The reason I'm on the fence is because I got my first flat a couple of weeks ago.

At the time I carried just two 12g cans (1 in the inflator). I went through the paces, took the previous tube out, looked for the hole. When I couldn't find it right away, I went for the spare tube. When I do this, I start thinking to myself that the catridge in the inflator has been in there for about 1 year, unused. I had read a thread saying that they may leak slowly over time so you shouldn't store them that way. So I already had it in my head that I might be down to just the one cart.... So when I try and pre-inflate the tube, and it just kinda sputters, I go to take the catridge out thinking that it's spent. When I do this, all the CO2 in there escapes. WTF? oh... you have to loosen the presta valve before you try and inflate it! :o Turns out it would've been fine, so I just wasted 50% of my CO2. Then I go ahead and check the tire and rim, put the tube in, pull the tire back on and proceed to fill it up. I forgot that with my 25mm tires I have to put the wheel back on and through the brakes BEFORE filling with air, because the brakes don't get wide enough (yes, even with the brake valve open). So at this point I'm thinking I'm potentially screwed, because if I can't somehow force my wheel back on, I have no more CO2 to try this again...

The moral of the story? When I made the decision last year to go with CO2, I had made myself aware of the 'risks'. Those risks being that I limited myself to a finite number of flats that I could handle on any given trip. I was fine with this prospect at the time. Now that I've actually been in the situation where I was down to zippy CO2, I've re-evaluated that risk.

I use a Innovations Hybrid that provides both CO2 and can act as a small hand pump. It is not something you would want to use to take a tire to 100psi all of the time but if you run out of CO2 you have a fallback. It handles both threaded and threadless cartridges. The difference between th two has to do with what you have to carry. If you get threaded cartridges then you just need a head to screw onto the cartridge. If you get threadless then you need a pump body to hold the cartridge along with the pump head. No big deal for me as I just store a cartridge in the body in my bag and it takes no additional room. the 12g cartridges are cheapest as you can buy them from Walmart they will inflate to 90psi. I tend to use 16g cartridges since they will inflate to 130psi. You can buy them pretty cheap online. Most LBS just carry expensive threaded cartridges, at least by me

i'm new to C02 inflator/cartridges also. I got my first flat. I didnt have any tools to fix it, no tubes, patches, etc. I have a crank bros. mini power pump, but that thing is awful and hard to use, and hard to pump with.

What is the difference between a non-threaded vs threaded? Which do you recommend? Now are these CO2 inflators compatible with a presta valve automatically or do I hve to buy an adapter for it? I plan on buying pretty much all my road essentials online. Also, can anyone post a link or recommend me a good affordable CO2 inflator?

I'm unaware of what functional difference there is between threaded and unthreaded, as my inflator will take both (up to 16g I believe). The only difference I'm aware of is the fact that one type has threads where it connects to the inflator, and the other doesn't.

As far as schraeder/presta compatability, again mine is 'universal'. It's got one nozzle, but will automatically adjust to whatever valve you put it on when you close the lever. It's actually very easy to use... because it opens up more when you open the lever, it's easier to take off than most presta specific chucks.

One more note on cautions to take with CO2, from my experience: in practicing using the CO2 system at my house, I figured out that one 12g can will get me what I need (like 100psi in 25mm tires). However, I had no way to know for sure how much air was in my tire at any given time while out on the road... like if I decided to chance it and 'top off' my tire with a second canister. While this is not necessary, it might be worth while to invest in a pressure guage to lug around with you.

so you can store things like spare CO2 cartridges?

Or spokes, or batteries for your commuter bike, or an extra tube, wrapped around a spoke...

No, no, I haven't thought about it.

>>>I'm unaware of what functional difference there is between threaded and unthreaded, as my inflator will take both (up to 16g I believe).


There aren't any real functional differences. Unthreaded are cheaper, and more commonly available. Threaded allow you to get a really small inflator like:

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=106&subcategory=1073&brand=&sku=11477&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Bob

I just had my first flat and the CO2 didnt go so well. I have the Inovations Ultraflate and three 12g cartridges. One was already in the unit. I got the rear tire off, bad tube out, and checked the inner tire for debris. All was good. I went to slightly pre inflate the new tube and nothing. I went to reomve the cartridge and a cold burst of air shot out of it. On to number two and bam, when I pressed the button a burst of cold air explosion and it was empty. Number three you ask, Bam, the same thing. I think I picked these up in April so they were not that old. Anyway, I had to call the wife and she ran me out the hand pump. I am in the market for a hand pump. Later.

That wasn't "air" - it was CO2.

As we say in my line of work: RTFM

Read The Fu**ing Manual



I just had my first flat and the CO2 didnt go so well. I have the Inovations Ultraflate and three 12g cartridges. One was already in the unit. I got the rear tire off, bad tube out, and checked the inner tire for debris. All was good. I went to slightly pre inflate the new tube and nothing. I went to reomve the cartridge and a cold burst of air shot out of it. On to number two and bam, when I pressed the button a burst of cold air explosion and it was empty. Number three you ask, Bam, the same thing. I think I picked these up in April so they were not that old. Anyway, I had to call the wife and she ran me out the hand pump. I am in the market for a hand pump. Later.

I just had my first flat and the CO2 didnt go so well. I have the Inovations Ultraflate and three 12g cartridges. One was already in the unit. I got the rear tire off, bad tube out, and checked the inner tire for debris. All was good. I went to slightly pre inflate the new tube and nothing. I went to reomve the cartridge and a cold burst of air shot out of it. On to number two and bam, when I pressed the button a burst of cold air explosion and it was empty. Number three you ask, Bam, the same thing. I think I picked these up in April so they were not that old. Anyway, I had to call the wife and she ran me out the hand pump. I am in the market for a hand pump. Later.
as per my previous comment (http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.php?p=2815200&postcount=18), did you check that the presta valve was open before you attached it the first time? For the other two, not sure why it would dispell its contents when you depressed the button while not on the tube :rolleyes: Did you try using them before you got out there on the road? or was that your first time?

That wasn't "air" - it was CO2.



Yea, but we all got that, I think


As we say in my line of work: RTFM

Read The Fu**ing Manual
Can't argue with the message, but could've been said nicer, eh?

I use a Innovations Hybrid that provides both CO2 and can act as a small hand pump. It is not something you would want to use to take a tire to 100psi all of the time but if you run out of CO2 you have a fallback. It handles both threaded and threadless cartridges. The difference between th two has to do with what you have to carry. If you get threaded cartridges then you just need a head to screw onto the cartridge. If you get threadless then you need a pump body to hold the cartridge along with the pump head. No big deal for me as I just store a cartridge in the body in my bag and it takes no additional room. the 12g cartridges are cheapest as you can buy them from Walmart they will inflate to 90psi. I tend to use 16g cartridges since they will inflate to 130psi. You can buy them pretty cheap online. Most LBS just carry expensive threaded cartridges, at least by me

Sounds interesting. How big is this unit? Will it fit it a small saddle bag / wedge?

I use a small frame pump – like many here I avoided CO2 because I don’t want to be stranded if I run our of cartridges. That being said, I hate the mini pump as it takes 5-minutes and way too much effort to get anything close to 90psi.

Gosh.......I did that originally about half a dozen years ago and I see alot of people doing the same thing now. At the time, I thought it was just such a common sensical thing to do......I don't know why they're not sold like that to begin with......?....

Actually they are. At least mine is. http://www.genuineinnovations.com/INmain.asp?Option=CatList&Category=bike&SubCategory=power

The one I use is now out of date, I believe this is the one that replaces it:
http://www.genuineinnovations.com/INmain.asp?Option=CatList&Category=bike&SubCategory=hybrid

The one I have is a little too big for the bag, 8" or so, but it clips into a holder that you can attach behind one of your bottle cages, I have it on my down tube and it is small enough it does not get in the way of the crank.

The one I use is now out of date, I believe this is the one that replaces it:
http://www.genuineinnovations.com/INmain.asp?Option=CatList&Category=bike&SubCategory=hybrid

The one I have is a little too big for the bag, 8" or so, but it clips into a holder that you can attach behind one of your bottle cages, I have it on my down tube and it is small enough it does not get in the way of the crank.


I have this one too, the Second Wind IH (which stands for Intelligent Head - for use with both Schraeder and Presta). I love it - I use the mini hand pump to pump it up a little, make sure the tube is seated properly, pump it up to about 10-20 psi, then use a non-threaded 12g cartridge to fill it up the rest of the way. Never had a problem with it. Comes with a little clamp that attaches to your water bottle braze-ons, dosen't get in the way at all. I put it on the crank side, but you can pick whichever side you want.

The website says you can pump it up to 90psi with the mini-pump alone, but I think that would take you at least an hour. BTW, I use the 12g nonthreaded cartridges from Walmart.