Been riding extensively since the early 1970s.
Covered 300,000+ miles so far.
Yup, you'll get flats eventually so learn to fix/cope with them.
For the past several years we have been using the Maxxis Re-Fuse tires on both our tandem and my road bike.
In 2011 had 1 flat (loosened patch)) in 5,200 miles.
In 2012 (til Dec. 27) had 4 flats (3 punctures, 1 leaky patch) in 5,200 miles.
Our Re-Fuse tires are 700x25s, Aramid (kevlar) protection and folding bead.
Carry a Topeak Mt.Morph pump on tandem and Quicker pump n single bike.
Works well for us!
Pedal on!
Rudy/zonatandem

I have had flats, but none last season. I usually call my wife to come get me. I carry a CO2 cartridge and spare inner tube just in case she's not willing and able. What about CO2 cartridges vs pumps? Any strong arguments for one vs the other?

TSAPP

Yes.

Oh, you want to know what they are? Why didn't you say so!

Almost every time I'ever ever used my pump it was to help someone else who upon patching a tire discovered either that his/her CO2 cartridges were empy or that he/she had left is/her pump at home. Or simply didn't caryy anything.

A pump never runs out of air. If you have a spare tube or a patch kit (and the hole can in fact be patched), the pump will work.

More importantly, I ride vintage bikes and a vintage bike loses style points if it doesn't have a frame pump. Everyone has a favorite, but I find the Road MasterBlast (despite its name) to be very good and almost look C&V.

YMMV.

I carry a pump. My expertise with CO2 puts me in the "dolt" category. Deflating ... to say the least.

You gotta pump pretty furiously with this puppy. But it weighs next to nothing and gets the job done.

https://www.amazon.com/Topeak-Micro-R.../dp/B000FIAVLK

CO2 fillers are a waste of resources. If you are too lazy to pump up a tube then perhaps you should reconsider your hobby. The energy, metal and landfill space from a single use CO2 cartridge can be better used elsewhere. IT not that one makes a difference, it doesn't, but millions do. Systematic of a use it once and throw it away culture, no reuses, non-repairabe.

i installed some tire liners, https://www.rei.com/product/787739/st...rs-700-x-23-25, and haven't had a flat in about 8,000 miles. they have saved me from at least 10 flat tires.
every time i take a rest i do a quick check to see if anything is stuck in my tires, and i regularly check my tires for debris embedded in my tires when wiping down my bike after a ride.

Wow, I had to reread this a couple of times.... Biking is one things I enjoy and can do. Even with my CHF (congestive heart failure) and an EF = 15% (Ejection Fraction amount of blood pumped out of your heart in one beat). So please don't assume all those that carry a CO2 pump as lazy. There is no way I can use a hand pump to get 100 psi in my tires on the road. I'm pretty well done with changing the tire during a normal ride of 25 miles or so. I do have tire liners and a good home floor pump. But, with the thorns we have on FL trails I'll take an CO2 type pump with me. AND I plan on riding as long as I can.

That's great! As a home health nurse I've worked with a lot of people with those numbers -- but I've never seen somebody like you. Most have trouble getting to the fridge.

I have nothing but respect for a person who has a limitation and then finds ways to work around it.

Thanks for sharing your story -- and keep up the great work!

I'm new to biking but I carry both a pump and CO2. I also carry two extra inner-tubes and a patch kit. Of course I have been known to wear a belt and suspenders.

+1, this is my situation, thanks for this reply.

For those who can't pump their tires because of a physical limitation, CO[sub]2[/sub] canisters are a Godsend. For those who can pump, I say use a pump.

You do realise that a CO2 cartridge is recyclable, once used they are open to the air and are no different then any other metal container. They can be melted down and either made into new cartridges or something else. This does beg the question, why can they not be made refillable. I know why, people are too lazy to pick up their trash when they are done with it. I've had a couple of times, where I have come across a bicycle tube someone flatted, rather then take it home and dispose of it, they left it on the path. Usually they aren't the $2.50 tubes I use, but the super light $25 tubes, if I see one, I collect it, usually a 5¢ patch is all it needs to return it to service. If it's split or the the valve is shot, it goes into the nearest dust bin. Which is what the idiot that tossed it, could have done, just as easily.

I use a Topeak Turbo Morph G pump. I like it better than the gauge on the road morph gauges.
Kevlar helps in tires, but it was made to stop blunt bullets, and doesn't do quite as well with sharp cutting punctures.
CO2 usually fills the tires up "mostly", and they should be finished off with a pump. If you have trouble pumping, carry CO2 and a tire pressure gauge. You can try using 1+ cartridges. Get a CO2 unit that screws onto the valve.

To those of you who are physically unable to use a hand pump I apologize. For the other 99 per cent of cyclists out here, do the earth a favor and use a hand pump.

Great story - hope you have many more cycling outings.

Another great story - keep it up.

I realize this is an old thread, but Sunday, while on a club ride, I also experienced my first ever flat. Since I've been back into cycling three years ago, I have gone through 4 bikes and ridden over 12,000 miles without a flat. I have a Topeak pump that I carry on my hybrid and CO2 cartridges that I carry on my road bike. I have used the hand pump to inflate a fellow rider's tire before and when it got close to 45 psi, it became pretty much useless. Sunday, I was on the road bike and had the tire fixed and filled in no time at all.

I think that putting everyone that uses CO2 cartridges in a group and label them as lazy for not using a pump is pretty ignorant, as you don't personally know the habits of the 99% being labeled. I take my cartridges home and put them in the recycling bin when they are empty. Most road tires can be inflated to the proper pressure without completely emptying a CO2 cartridge. The cyclist that I know, including myself, that use CO2 cartridges will leave the cartridge in the filler head rather than throw them away and use them the next time they get a flat. Although Sunday was my first flat, I have used several of my CO2 cartridges for riders that do not carry anything but a spare tube or don't know how to use the cartridge correctly and lose all the CO2 before it can inflate the tire. And CO2 does not endanger the atmosphere nor does it have any adverse affects on the planet. For those that dispose of their cartridges along side the path or roadway, shame on them, but they don't come anywhere close to making up 99%.

John_V, which Topeak? I've used my Road Morph a couple of times, once for me and once for another, and been able to get to 120 PSI without too much issue. Of course the Road Morph has the foot tab, flexible hose, and fold out handle giving one extra leverage.

Now, anyone who changes tubes, patches, or uses cartridges definitely needs to police the area.

Hey! I resemble that remark! -- I am proud to call myself lazy -- but I don't carry a cartridge!

But, the reason I carry a pump is for flexibility. A week after I got my DS the front tire developed a slow leak on my way home from a ride. I ended up stopping a half dozen times to fill it up. But, it got me back to my car. A CO2 cartridge would not have done that.

The other reason is: aside from being lazy, I am cheap (oops, I mean "frugal"). I figure a one time investment in a pump is the cheapest.

But, I also know that there are a number of reasons why people prefer cartridges.

The first trick for any self respecting cheap, lazy guy is to use what works best for the individual and the situation.
... the second trick is to know what that is ahead of time...

I had the same reaction! It's not like I flat-out that often, but I get one at least every few months or so.

Keep using the CO2, certainly dont stop because you were told it was bad for Mother Earth. If that is a bother, save them for recycling.

I use the Morph Dual G with Guage. If you have biceps, it has the power.

I've had up to twenty of those darn goatheads in each of the front and back tires at the same time back in the summer of 2011. Yes I was on my road bike and yes both tires went flat and the tires were gatorskins with liners!! I had two tubes and two Co2...enough to get me home.

Anyway, don't ask why I decided to ride across twenty feet of "grass" on my road bike; never again I learned my lesson that day.

I bought that same pump. Probably on somebodies recommendation on this forum....maybe yours. I have used it a couple of times here at the house (don't have another pump, only a compressor) and once for a friend of mine who was riding with me. She was complaining her tires were low so I pumped them up. I like the built in air gauge but it is a little hard to read. The air gauges at the LBS seem a little on the high side compared to the ones at the auto parts store. Are they supposed to be more accurate or something?
And that is just common sense whether it is the items you named or candy wrappers, bottles, or anything else that wasn't there to begin with. If it comes with me, it goes home with me.

I have that same question, since I'm in the market for a new gauge. Common sense tells me to avoid the car/truck gauges with large diameter, long barrels; take the bike tire pressure once with one of those and it'll drop 5 psi, I'd bet.

But what about the short tubed dial type gauges that are a couple of bucks at the auto parts store?

I have the Mini Dual G on the hybrid. It's rated at 120 psi, but it's a real bear just getting in the 65 psi needed for the tire. Wears you out after 45 psi and I can't imagine trying to use it for up to 120 psi. You would have no arms left. Although it works a bit better than the old Giant pump I had, it isn't anything to write home about. I wanted a small (mini) pump rather than a full length frame pump. I guess I learned my lesson and should have got the full length frame pump instead.

The main reason I don't use a pump on my road bike is because I have a hard enough time with those stupid presta valves when using my floor pump. I have no intention of trying to hold a hand pump on those things and try to inflate a tube at the same time.