Wasn't really sure where to post this but, I'm curious about Co2 pumps. I've had my 4th flat commuting in a few months and my pump that I carry is pretty much useless.
Are Co2 pumps ideal for fixing flats? Or are they more for quickly airing up in small amounts? If they are good for fixing flats, as in completly filling a new tube...how long does a cartridge last?
Thanks.

Maybe you just have a cruddy pump. I have a Topeak Road Morph, and it's quite good.
You probably need to carry a pump anyway; if you have more flats in a day than you have CO2 carts, you're walking. Unlikely, but it happens. I once had 5 flats in one day, and it was NOT because I didn't get the sharp thing out of my tire, I was just really unlucky.

Yeah i definitely need a new pump either way, mine is junk..but I was just curious about the co2's because i see them a lot.
5 flats in a day!? Sounds like something that would happen to me.

You can purchase a CO2/Hand hybrid pump, those are real handy. That way if you get a second flat and only have one inflator you can still pump the tube.
CO2 can inflate a tire completely. It is best to set the bead with a hand pump first, and then use the shot of air to complete the pump-up... at least that is my advice.

Maybe I'll look into that...any idea how long the cartridges last though?

one cartrige will inflate one tube, anything left over I just donate to global warming because it is not enough to really aid me in the future. In fact, I'm not sure if you could save it and use it at a later date, though I likely am wrong on that.

On time use.

I carry two with me, 16 gr and 12 gr, just in case.

The Planet Bike Red Zeppelin inflator works well for me. It uses threaded cartridges, threads onto the presta valve, and has a valve that controls the release of air. It allows me to reseat the tire and inflate a little air, ensuring the bead is set, and then inflate the rest of the way.

I plan on also getting a mini pump just in case

PJ: What pump do you use?

ItsJustMe: How much pressure are you reasonably able to get your tires up to with that pump?

More like 1 day's use. You can start a tube, install it and then finish inflating with one cartridge. If there is any left over you pretty much have to use it within a few hours.

Save your money and get a road morph.

Get your facts straight man. CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) is what plants use. CO (Carbon Monoxide) is a greenhouse gas.
As for me I just use a good pump as the air for that is free

Carbon Monoxide occurs naturally due to vocanos, brushfires and forest fires which occur at a far less rate then then they use to since the earth is not as vocanically active as it once was, and fires do not go unabated anymore since man controls wild fires better today. However man and their use of carbon fuels has put carbon monoxide into the atomsphere but nowhere near the levels in the past when vocanos and fires were rampant. Also carbon monoxide reverts to carbon dioxide by the process of oxidization that occurs naturally in the atomsphere, therefore carbon monoxide is short lived and spatially variable in the atomsphere, making hypocritical Gore's arguement completly useless.

As far as using CO2 pumps, I don't like them unless I was racing and had to fix my own flats. Reason I don't like them is because you have a limited supply of air, you have to remember to restock your seat bag after using them and remember to buy more when you run out.

There are several good mini pumps on the market that promise to reach 160psi; but since clinchers don't usually go higher then 135 your well within the pumps limits, and because your within the pumps limits they make it a snap to pump your tires with good minis. Just look for a mini with the higher 160psi rating and you'll be happy.

One CO2 cartridge=one time use.
One Topeak Road or Mt. Morph pump= hundreds of uses

One of the cartridges will only get my 100 lb tires to about 40 lbs. Then I must pump. So I don't bother with the c02 and just pump. I have 26" x 1.5" tires. I guess they work better for skinnier tires.

I carry a Road Morph pump that works great.

picky bastard!
Can't a man make a joke?

I have a Topeak Master Blaster mini-pump and some cheap-ass screw on inflator with a valve, sort of like the Zeplin, only crappier. A guy gave it to me out on the trails once. He was riding by and I was doing the ***********y thing with the mini pump and I guess he felt sorry for me.

To quote Bugs Bunny (Hare Trigger {1945}) Eh, he don't know me very well, do he?

One cartridge will fill my 700x32 tires to about 90 pounds. But I still carry a Zefal HPX frame pump, too, and seem to end up using it about two thirds of the time. I always use the pump to get a bit of air into the new tube before putting it into the tire, and I feel like re-seating the bead with the pump is less risky to the new tube.

One thing that's annoyed me lately is the number of spent CO2 cartridges I see lying in the bike lanes on my commute across town. Somehow, I doubt that those are being tossed there by BB gun users.

Maybe it's time to look into installing better tires.
I ride on very crappy roads with lots of trash in the road and get a flat every 1500-2000 miles.
My tires: Panaracer Pasela TourGuards.

I've never seen the point of CO2 inflators. I'm carrying a pump anyway, and it only takes about 3 minutes to pump up a tire, and I'm too cheap and forgetful to A) buy more CO2 and B) remember to throw away the old cartridge and replace it. I'd probably still have a spent CO2 cart next time I needed it. You'd think that cyclists wouldn't be so eager to rush to save 2 minutes, or to avoid exercise. Maybe they all have little stick arms and huge legs, so running the pump seems horribly hard. Is a little upper-body exercise and taking 2 or 3 more minutes really that distasteful?

I had two of these. The first one seized up on the manual side. The second one accepted the CO2 cart but wouldn't work. It took 10 minutes to pump the tire manually.
To answer the OP, a small CO2 pump with a couple cartridges is a fair trade off between size and convenience but don't make it the only option. One CO2 will get one road tire ridable - until you get home. The CO2 doesn't keep the tire psi up for long. CO2 also doesn't work as well in temps below 40F.

I carried CO2 for a while, but switched to a Road Morph. The only real reason for CO2 over a good pump is weight, and there's hardly a difference if you run larger tires.

To fill one of my tires, I need a 16g and a 12g cart. A 16g, a 12g, and an inflator add up to 170g-180g. For 220g, I can carry a Road Morph, which is also much more useful in helping (say) a fellow cyclist, without giving up my ability to patch a flat later. If I wanted to add another cart for a top-up or for helping somebody else, it's about weight-equivalent to a Road Morph.

If your pump is ineffective, get a better pump! A pump is far better than CO2 in a lot of ways - for example, if you have a slow leak, you can pump it up to get home without losing the option to change the tube later if it gets worse.

Thanks for all the info...I'm definitely going to scratch the co2 and spend the money on an extra pump...If a cartridge is only good for one tube I don't see a point for the extra cost.

I heartily agree. I had a problem that caused six flats within 50 or so miles. I ride with Armadilos so I was really upset. We never could find anything in the tire and I took it to the LBS and once they found nothing and the second time they said it was the rim tape that slipped. Well after two more flats they completely changed the rim tape and the problem was fixed.

The point is, if I had a CO2 I would have walked home a few times. With the pump, I could stop and top it off and make it home. INHO, CO2 is for racers who need to save time. A pump takes two or three minutes and air is free.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION...There was a thread a few weeks ago in which CO2 users said that for whatever reason, after using the CO2, they found that it leaked or somehow disapated and they needed to use a pump the next day anyway. Fine if you are home every night, a bummer if you're on a multi-day ride w/o support.

EQUALLY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION...The Topeak Road Morph is an excellent pump and if OCPers are looking at the pump and laughing, it's distracting them from my spandex clad butt.

I second the Road Morph. When I first switched to road bikes I tried a crank brothers pump which just about wore me out. After the day of 4 flats I ditched it and bought the Topeak on recommendation of the LBS - also ditched the tires I'd been using.

For a commuter, where you need things to be reliable and always available, I consider a good pump to be irreplaceable. CO2 would only be acceptable to me if my ride were fairly short (no ability to accurately control tire pressure) and I had decided to carry more cartridges than I thought I needed.

I would look into a pump that does double duty like this pump by Topeak.

I've never used co2 pumps before but I know pumping after 40psi becomes hard when you manually pump on the small pumps. I'm not sure how well the seals are on the co2 pumps and how long they will last once you've used some of the co2 and wish to keep the remaining unused portion for later. Personally I would use a co2 for topping up the tire after you've done the tire up to 40psi and use the co2 to pump up to the higher psi's.

I would prefer a pump that takes 12gm unthreaded tubes instead because any sports store, mega deptartment store, Wallys, etc types will have some area with pelletguns/paintball guns and you can buy the co2's there if your tube is run out. Best to buy a 25pak then the 5pack co2's. You get better value on a 25pack.

Pair this up with a nice pelletgun and you've got a nice combo.