Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
But, if you want to carry 1.1 kg pump on a tour, go ahead. Nobody has ever accused me of being an ultra light camper, but even I would not lug around a 1.1 kg pump.
If you were part of a family group of half a dozen riders, I could see one of those for group use on a tour.
I did have a flat on a trip last year (first time ever on a trip) and had to use my mini pump (bontrager air rush road, I believe). I patched the tube, didn't have a spare with me at the time, but had a hard time finding the leak. I ended up over-inflating the tube to about 2.5x the diameter of the tire to get enough air in there to spread the hole further = bigger leak. Then once I got the tire back together I found I couldn't get pressure on the pump. What I found was the pump body was "loose". The assembly screws together. Once I figured that out I tightened it down and was able to get it to work. Now that I know that I am more confident with the pump. Anywho - trying to get the small pump to work and the effort it took to get to riding pressure, to me, wasn't worth it. So after that I actually got in the mode of toting my regular floor pump with me. I used a piece of cord to tie the handle back so it was locked in place and just strapped it to the top of my rear rack. Yeah it's bulky and adds some weight, but nothing beats a floor pump when you're dealing with a flat or need to add pressure. OK, maybe an air compressor already charged... but I'm not going to carry an air compressor with me.
One of my riding partners' bikes has schrader valve stems. On some of our rides I've taken the same floor pump because it does both valves. For 2 people it becomes a bit more "logical".
Of course, to each their own.
I have to say, I have never used a CO2 inflator. The mini pump I have is a combo hand pump + CO2 though, and actually that is the main reason I decided to put it back on the bike along with the Road Morph Digital. CO2 is the only valve stem-mounted inflator type I would recommend. The reason being - you aren't "pumping" and in the motion/force of pumping isn't transferring any load to the valve stem.