I don't see why there's such a fuss over the use of CO2.
For the overwhelming majority of my time "seriously" riding (25 yrs), I've used a frame pump, then a mini-pump.
And for most of the time it was good enough. But when I broke the valve stem on my one remaining 'tube (lucky my companion had a spare & CO2 cartridge), I knew I'd be using CO2 from then on. And in the last few years, luckily I've only had to use a cartridge (save the time described above) once.