Planemaker

I rode 20 miles on Sunday and was getting ready for 10 mile ride yesterday. Before every ride I check the tire pressure and yesterday the pressure in my rear tire was down so, I topped it off and away I went for my 10 mile ride.

Today I am getting ready to load my bike on the car rack because it is going to my LBS for 30 day warranty checkup. The rear tire was completely flat.

I got away with going out on two long rides with a faulty tube with no extra tube or patch kit in wedge.

I won't make that mistake again.

So, for the experts should I buy a mini pump or use CO2? Keep in mind the maximum tire pressure on tires is 80 psi. Finally, a mini pump model or CO2 attachment recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

contango 

Don't know if I count as an expert but unless time is critical I'd go for a pump over CO2 cartridges, simply because with a pump I can blow as much air into as many tyres as I want, as many times as I want, and the only limiting factor is my arms. With CO2 when you've used your last cartridge if you get another flat you're outta luck.

Dudelsack 

CO2 cartridges rule. They're quick and, once you waste 3 or 4 of them trying to figure out how they work, pretty easy.

I also like venting them to the atmosphere. This winter was really cold, and I want to hasten global warming.

B. Carfree

I really like the pump that my not-quite-lbs put on the tandem they built for me. It's a Topeak Road Morph G Master Blaster. It mounts on water bottle braze-ons and has a pressure gauge built in. The mount is quite secure, which is important to my paranoid side. Here's one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Topeak-Road-Mo.../dp/B000FI6YOS

I'm a bit of a retro-grouch. I still ride an old steel bike and I have never used CO2 cartridges, just pumps.

martianone

luck the flat fairy gave you a break, make sure you get a pump in homage
prefer a hand pump, have carried a Lezyne alloy drive for years, it is reliable and effective to around 80 psi

Velo Dog

I've given up on CO2 for a couple of reasons. First, you can always have more flats than you have cartridges (I've had nine on a century), and if you have to carry a pump for backup, you might as well leave the carts home. Second, I use big tires (I weigh 240), and some carts won't inflate them fully. If you have to carry a pump to top them off.... I don't like the waste of throwing cartridges away, and I don't like finding them in the woods when I'm riding my mountain bike, and I don't like the cost (I have about 30 flats a year, so it adds up).
Mini-pumps sound good, but I've never found one that worked very well. My Zefal hPx will inflate my 37mm tires in fewer than 100 strokes. The last two minis I tried took 450 and almost 600.

Biker395 

If you're going to bring only one, Pump > CO2, for all the reasons mentioned. There are models that integrate the two together.

Which one? I have a little carbon Topeak that isn't much bigger than a Marks-a-Lot. It will pump to pretty high pressures if you got arms like Popeye.

stapfam

Topeak Morph series every time. Only thing is be careful on the choice of model. The mount replaces one of your water bottle carriers and for most that means the seat tube mount. The "Standard" Morph length is long and if you have a sloping tube frame- it may not fit on the seat tube. For that reason I have the Mini Morph on two bikes and the standard on one.

There is an alternative mount system that is supplied using zip ties but it is still a problem to mount on some bikes.

I don't use CO2 as it is surprising how many times I have loaned out my pump when their CO2 has failed. And the same goes for cheap pumps aswell. Surprising how many times my Topeak works when theirs does not.

gif4445

I carry both. I'm a tourer, so used to extra weight anyway. CO2 is quick and easy, but I don't like to depend on it solely for reasons already mentioned. Mini-pumps are a PITA, but a good back-up IMO.

bruce19

+1

NOS88

I carry both. A mini-pump attached to the water bottle mounts and the CO2 in my seat bag. In really cold weather (i.e. below freezing) I've found using a pump difficult with hands that are getting stiff after changing out or patching the tube. In those situations that CO2 is a welcome relief. Otherwise, I use the pump. (OK, once when I was going to be late for an important work meeting I used the CO2 because it was faster.)

Dudelsack 

Why so many flats? That's a lifetimes worth for me.

The same people who toss cartridges toss old inner tubes. They commit a mortal sin.

lenny866

This is what I have and love it.

https://www.amazon.com/Lezyne-Road-Drive-CFH-Pump/dp/B004BKQGTE

It is excellent quality and works well. I love the fact it mounts to the frame, by the waterbottle cages.

rydabent

I went to CO2 as I have had at least 2 mini pumps fail me on the trail. But I still carry one as a back up.

mtn.cyclist

I tend to carry both, especially on longer rides. CO2 will get you back on the road quicker but I have had technical issues (operator error!) with them so I consider a pump more fool proof.

rumrunn6

anything is better than nothing

Steve Sawyer

I've been really lucky - have yet to get a flat, but since I just transitioned to a road bike I'm expecting that to change. Based on recommendations on this forum I do the belt-and-suspenders thing and carry a couple of CO2 carts AND a pump.

I tried both the Road Morph and the Lezyne Pressure Drive hand pump (small), and found that even without the ability to use the Road Morph as a floor pump, I was able to get my tires to 100psi easier with the little Lezyne than with the Road Morph. I thought that the gauge on the Road Morph was going to seal the deal, but found the gauge a bit hard to read - much harder than the little brass dial gauge I carry in the seat bag. From the standpoint of ease and efficiency I'll use the CO2 carts first, and switch to the pump only if I waste or run out of the carts.

InTheRain

See Lezyne.com

osco53

CO2 is for wimps, Bikers Pump ! because we should use our arms at least a little XD

Dellphinus

Topeak Road or Mountain Morph pump.

Retro Grouch 

The most important thing is to understand yourself. Most of us don't get flat tires very often but, when you do, it can be aggravating. If you're the kind of person who gets upset easily, you want the quickest and most convenient inflation system you can find. If you're a more laid back kind of person, the time it takes to reinflate your tire isn't as significant.

CO2 is, by far, the speed and convenience king. I don't live in goat head country so I don't get a lot of flats but, when I do, I hate it. For years I only carried CO2 in my road bike saddle bag and never had to walk home or beg a pump from another rider. I would recommend practicing at home at least once. I also always took the time to check my tire and tube seating before shooting in the CO2. I never had a misfire. If I was still riding my road bike, I'd still be carrying CO2.

That leaves pumps. The laws of physics can't be violated no matter who makes the pump. There's 2 factors to consider, pressure and volume. Skinny pumps let you achieve higher pressure, pumps that are long and/or fat build up volume more quickly. I like relatively big pumps because I want to get back riding as quickly as possible. Dinky little mini-pumps may look cool and fit neatly in your saddle bag but, if you actually have to use one, they suck. If the pump connects directly to the tire without a flexible hose, there's also a technique factor to consider or you might tear your new inner tube at the base of the valve stem.

For the record, I stopped using CO2 when I switched to recumbents because one 15 gram cartridge will only inflate my tires to my minimum get-me-home air pressure. Now I carry a Topeak Morph pump. It works like a mini floor pump. The only things I don't like about it are that I have to bend over more than I like to use it and I think it's ugly.

cccorlew

Road morph, or mini road morph.
Foot peg rocks.

But their stock mounting system is amazingly ugly. Instead get a under-water-bottle clip on from Performance. You pump disappears, hidden by the bottle.

Planemaker

link please

cccorlew

Link for clip
I seems Performance doesn't have them on their site now, but on eBay I found this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Roswheel-Bic...item53f3826cf7

Depending on pump size this might work too.
https://www.probikekit.com/bicycle-to.../10772106.html

I also used an old one from a mountain bike pump.

Here's a larger Topeak on my commuter bike with a side mount, its opposite the drive side and even though the pump is a large Topeak mountain pump it hardly shows. No zip ties, no giving up a water bottle boss.


Motobecane Fantom Outlaw by ccorlew, on Flickr

BikeWNC

If I got 30 flats a year I'd probably just go hiking instead. I carry a couple CO2 cartridges on my road bike and CO2 and a mini pump on my mtb. The mtb is tubeless so I'm not really sure what would happen if the latex sealant didn't work.

BTW, that bike ^^^ above is much too clean.