Kenal0

When I bought my bike I also bougt a medium size C02 inflation system to keep in my seat bag along with a small patch kit and a spare tube. Today when I was out riding, a fellow cycler passing by with his wife asked if I had a CO2 cartridge. He had a leaky valve and was going flat. I gave him my CO2 inflator.(He offered to pay but I did not have change and I am a firm believer that whatever goes around, comes around so I told him forget it.) He had to change the tube and I did not need to wait around so the bottom line is I need to replace it with either a frame pump or another CO2 inflator. I only carry one water bottle so I have a spot for a small pump. My fear with the CO2 is that if I blow it and do not get the tube inflated then I am sunk or carry 3 or 4 of the small cartridges.
What does everyone out there prefer?
KL

bradb044

I have co2 but this is a great question. Is there any negatives to co2, and does it have to be let out and replaced with air before the next ride??

dahvaio

Yes... if you use CO2... definately check your tire pressure.. You will lose a lot of air... However, I've been able to ride 20 miles using CO2 without any issues. The next morning... my tire will be down to about 85 or so...

I don't carry a small pump because it is way too hard to get my tire pressure up to 120PSI... with a 16G cannister and the innovations pump... takes less than 2 seconds...

I always carry about 5 16G cannisters with me. If you don't want to carry the cannisters in a bag... Minoura makes a carrier that attaches underneath the water bottle cages and you can screw in 2 16G Cartridges...

Trsnrtr

Worrying about losing CO2 is a bunch of worry over nothing.

First of all, high performance tires should be aired up before every ride. Right?

Given that, the CO2 slowly leaks out and is being replaced by air daily until it's gone.

Problem solved.

DXchulo

There are plenty of cheap manual frame pumps out there that pump up to over 100 PSI with relative ease, so I've never understood why to risk malfunction and waste money with CO2 cartridges.

cydewaze

That's an easy one. My gf is unable to pump a tube up to a rideable pressure using any of the pumps we've tried. A CO2 is the only way she's going to be able to ride again, and she doesn't mind carrying several CO2 cartridges around in her seat pack, rubber banded together. They're something like $9 per 15 cartridges at a sporting goods store, so they're cheap enough.

I usually carry 1 cartridge in the inflator and 2 spares, and the last few I've used have been on other people's tires (one was this past weekend in fact, on the MS-150, a girl with a really nice Fuji carbon, and we had her up and running in under 5 min, tube change included). I don't care for sitting around in the hot sun baking while pumping at someone's tire with a minipump, but maybe that's just me.

The one thing you do have to make sure of is that you're diligent about clearing out the inside of the tire. The last thing you want is to spend multiple cartridges on a recurring flat because of a piece of debris still inside the tire. In fact, the only drawback to CO2 is the possibility of something small stuck in the tire that you can't see, and that re-punctures the tube. This is why I make sure that I put the tube back into the tire the exact same way it came out. A tube is an easy thing to puncture, but no small debris is going to drill through a patch.

krazyderek

One day when the removable valve on my tire had been lose so my front tire was flat after work, took out my frame pump (NOT A MINI PUMP) and had that puppy back up to 120 in under 3 minutes, including checking the pressure every minute or so. Sure it's physically demanding, but so is cycling , maybe I'm just not afraid of a little hard work.


screw tubes.. get tufo's.

cydewaze

Good for you. You get a medal. I should just bring you along on rides so you can pump up all my flats.

Flynn

I carry a Co2 pump as well as a mini pump on my downtube. My mini pump ways nothing and is really only good for emergencies. If my Co2 busts, or does not work, I can use the mini pump. Also, you say you only have one water bottle so you can carry a pump. There are plenty of pumps made that can attch to a bike regardless of the number of water bottles you carry.

Terex

Buy a Topeak Road Morph and you won't go back. Fits under top tube, has quick release, has pressure gauge, has extendable filler tube, has flip-down foot pad so it has leverage of a shop pump - unlike a right angle-only frame pump (e.g., Silca). Pumps up tires very fast. By the time you pull out CO2 kit and assemble, you (or your GF!) can have your tire pumped with the Morph. Have used it several times to top-off and check pressure on sketchy CO2 fills by fellow riders. Oh, and less impact to the environment.

psuaero

Now that's is the best solution anyone has proposed. Take your GF along to pump up the flats. I'm sure my wife would appreciate me drinking some water or eating while she attempts to pump up my tires.

MWW

Get a frame pump. I don't think CO2 is reliable, and you don't want to be guessing when you're out in the middle of nowhere. I've had good luck with Topeak's frame pump.

Kenal0

Looks like a mixed bag. I will look at the Topeak pump mentioned.
Along that same lines I have a patch kit but decided to carry the spare tube also. I generally ride solo and between 20-30 miles so I am not far from home. I am not sure I would ever patch a tube unless that was the last option and then I would replace it with a new tube asap. Tubes seem to be pretty inexpensive ( I guess that would be relative to one's income.If I can get my wife to have one less Starbucks drink per week it would cover 52 tubes per year). Even though a proper repair would probably be fine, I would still not take the chance.
What say you?

KL