KiddSisko

For the longest time I've ridden with a frame pump, and they've never let me down when called up for duty. Some time back I decided to shed the frame pump and use the newfangled CO2 cartridge system on local workout rides, and save the frame pump for longer rides. So I'm nearly 3/4 of the way through the tough climbing on my daily loop ride today when I ran over a pile of glass, and sure enough, ffft, ffft, ffft went my rear wheel with each revolution. I could also feel the air escaping as the leak source went past my thigh. OK, time to try out this new CO2 system. Or walk.

I honestly felt pretty anxious about trying it. I'd heard some bad stories -- dead cartridges (I only had one), flawed dispenser design, frozen fingers, over inflating... As I'm setting up (bike upside down), a chap rolled past and asked if I had everything. I answered honestly, "I think so. Check back later." The tire itself had a slice where the hole was, but the tube only had a small puncture. That was a relief given that I only had glueless patches (used my spare tube on another bike and haven't gotten another one for the seat pack). Then the dispenser system didn't seem to work at first. As I twisted the cartridge counter-clockwise, very little CO2 came out. "Crap! Dead cartridge," I thought. So I cranked the cartridge back down tight, then unscrewed it and lots more finally came out. Whew.

This little flimsy device actually worked! To be on the safe side, I didn't fully inflate the tube. I probaby inflated it to half it's normal pressure, which was enough to ride home without risking a pinch flat. What I found particularly curious was how the CO2 froze the needle valve open. Not fully so all the gas escaped, but a tiny bit until the metal thawed above freezing.

Took me close to 20 minutes, and I got yelled at twice by young dudes in cars. The good news is that even though I soft pedaled the rest of the way home (some 8 miles), I still made good time.