How many cartridges do you carry? I'm talking about the inexpensive ones you buy at your local Wal-Mart or K-Mart, etc. They usually come in packages of 5 to 15 for around $2.00 to $12.00. Each cartridge holds 12 grams of CO2.

I'm not sure if you can find any that hold more that will fit in the CO2 gun used to air up a bike tire, but I imagine if you can they are a lot more expensive then $2.00 to $12.00 a box.

Just curious as to how many others carry to fill up say a 100psi tire. I carry 6 at a time. I figure 2 for each tire, with 2 extra. I know it takes more then one to completely fill a 100psi tire.

I just picked up a 16 grm CO2, that'll get a road tire up to 125/135 no problem, or so they say. With the 12 you can get 90 #s of pressure in there, and at least make home to top it off, so I usually carry 2. I learned a tough lesson, wasting one and then getting stuck when it didn't fill the tire. So, now I have two.
Oh, and if you are carrying them don't have the valve screwed on, turn the cartridge around backwards that way you won't discharge the cartridge accidentaly.

I carry two cartridges. They are attached to a common holder along with my forward bottle cage...



If need be, I could carry two more by buying similar mounts for my seat-tube bottle cage mount (might rub my legs though) or I could use a generic one like this...



And if that's not enough, I can always install some cage mounts onto the saddle...



... and in conjunction with two of the above cartridge mounts, carry an additional four cartridges. Seems over the top though.

I carry 2 16-oz cartridges and 2 tubes & patches & a presta/schraeder adapter (also some duct tape on a small pencil as a boot for the tire) If I get more than 2 flats, I'll have to borrow one from another rider or walk to a service station.

On my roadie I carry two 12 gram cartridges, a spare tube and a patch kit.

I'm pretty confident in my ability to repair flats and to use the C02 inflater. If you aren't as confident, it might be a good idea to carry an extra tube, or a minipump.

I carry the same model as pictured above. Had to use it for the first time ever this spring. It filled the tire to 120 no problems, and I put another 50 kms into the ride. My only advice is do a practice run and waste a cartridge. My flat was the first use and I almost fell over when I filled the tire... it filled in about a second and shocked the heck outta me. I imagine it would be more of a surprise if the tire wasn't seated properly.

90% of the time I carry
1 tube
1 16 gram CO2
1 tire level
1 cell phone

The other 10% I bring a Topeak Road Morph and two tubes but only on long (4+ hour) solo training rides.


I also have to admit that most of the guys I ride with carry a frame pump (Topeak Road Morph is a local favorite) so I really don't worry about it much. That topped off with the fact that I haven't flatted on the road in over 15,000 miles doesn't hurt either.

So you're about due... You know that having just said what you said, you've probably just jinxed yourself.

I've been told that many a time over the last 5000 miles

A good chunk of it is luck (knock on wood) but I also run Conti Gatorskins all spring long when the road conditions (read glass, sand, nails, rocks and various car parts) are the worst.

I carry a framepump now, but I used to carry a mini-pump mounted to the frame and two 12 oz cartridges in my bag.

I used the mini-pump to get the tire up to about 30 psi to make sure the tire was seated and alined. Then the CO2 cartridge to get up to pressure.

I learned a trick in filling a road tire with CO2 that I haven't heard from others. You will notice that the cartridge gets freezing cold as the CO2 comes out of it. If you wait a few minutes for it to warm back up to ambient temprature, significantly more CO2 will come out if you use it again. I do it on the same tire to get it all the way up to pressure.

I carry 2 16oz cartidges for these reasons:

1. In case of a bit of air leakage while inflating, 16 oz will still get you up to 100psi
2. Carry 2 CO2 cartridges because sometimes you will get blanks. A cartridge with no air in it!

I used to carry one, but reserve it for my next scooter/motorbike now instead, and will use a road morph instead now.

Used to carry about four on the scooter - occasionally I'd fit the damn thing wrongly, and that would be one down the tube, and it would need two to fill well enough to do 70mph safely.

I do use a small saddle pack. It contains my Topeak Alien minitool, a small bottle of lube, some zipties, several extra links for my chain, a strip of glueless patches and a spare tube is strapped to the underside.

quick questions.. about these CO2 pumps... does any of them come with a gauge? even those that come with a gauge, are those fairly accurate? i currently use the road morph... but been thinking about the CO2 as well.. it doesn't hurt to carry both i think..

I carry three 12 oz in my seat bag along with 2 tubes, glueless patches, cell phone, copy of my DL & Insurance card, a few $$$, a little change, and a multi tool (which I've never used). My inflator won't accept a 16 oz I don't believe. After a few weeks layoff during the winter I checked my gear and found a punctured cartridge in the inflator - it still had some pressure to it.

For a single day ride, I carry the following:

One spare tube
One patch kit
One mini pump
One Co2 inflator with one cartridge

If I have a flat, I always use the pump to air up the tire to about 30 PSI or so, then use CO2 to fill the rest of the way. I view the CO2 only as a way to get full pressure without excessive pumping on a small pump.

If you carry a pump, you can always fill a tube. You can also repeatedly add air to a slow leak and might get home without changing tubes.

If you only carry CO2, how would you put a little air in a tube to find a leak? You might have more flats than spare tubes.

I don't think the CO2 guns have a pressure gauge on them. Mine doesn't. I bought an inexpensive pressure gauge from an automotive store for around $2.00. It can be used for tires that require a pressure up to 120psi.

BTW, what is a road morph? Some kind of a frame pump?

It's a series of frame pumps made by Topeak that is kind of a crossover to a floor pump.

wicked,... never saw that one before. the one i have has the gauge on the tube instead of on the body of the pump.

That looks like the digital version, which is getting silly.

Just bought one, and it has no gauge at all... bit disappointing initially, but it still lets me pump up the tyre real hard to get home though.

I admit that I really like the digital gauge on my Twister floor pump but I'm not so sure I'd care for the bulkyness of it on a frame or minipump. When I do carry a pump along on a ride (typically only MTB rides), I use a Topeak Einstein which contains a patchkit and has a neat builtin tyre lever.



It would be nice if it had a gauge but to be honest, I've never really missed one. I have considered slipping my little Topeak digital pressure gauge into my CamelBak at times though.

khoun,
I don't understand how that Einstein works. Is the diagram showing it mount to the hub and spin with the wheel or something?

I carry one 16 and a mini pump,both in my bag as i hate anything i dont have to be hanging on my bike.

Yep. That's how it works. There's a tyre iron integral with the head which you slip under the bead as normal. Then there's a little pop-out attachment at the base of the handle that you simply slide onto the axle. Them you just twirl the whole thing and zip the tyre bead off.

Just a quick follow up... JINKS!!!

Yesterday's team training ride
8 flats total (3 were me)
1 broken chain (not me)
Lots of rain and standing water

I'm back to a frame pump and two spare tubes until my luck changes