I am really getting overly sensitive about mini pumps. Over the last 10 years I have had 3 fail me on the trail. One just plain broke, one the chuck failed, and the last one just plain wouldnt pump air.

I got a give certificate to a bike shop for Christmas. I decided to get another mini so I dont have to switch it between by bent, and my trike. Yes I still carry one, but only as a backup. I use a CO2 inflater now. Both the bike and trike have presta valves, and on one occasion I broke off the stem trying to use the mini. So I wanted to get a mini with a hose so not to break off stems.

At the LBS I told the dealer what I wanted, and he showed me a mini with a section of hose, a built in gage, and a swithable chuck. Fantastic I thot, everything I wanted and more. Yup all those features, and when I got it home the damned thing wouldnt pump air. The dealer is ordering in another one for me, since I really do like the design. Lesson learned, try before you buy.

You......blasphemer! CO2 cartridges are bad for the environment and cause global warming and aren't dependable and cause acne and bad breath and are Satan's tools.

dudle

Or cyclist may be blamed for a new ice age. Look at all the CO2 trapped up in the CO2 cartridges cyclist are carrying that wont keep the earth warm. Buy your fur lined under lovelies now before the price goes up!

I don't know which model mini-pump you are using, but I go nowhere without my Topeak Road Morph... for the same reason, the broken stems. Although I have never used it on the trail, I have used it for a few trial fills, and it works great. Like you. it is a backup to my CO2 inflator.

Ditto for the Road Morph, I use it on my hybrid, I don't need to pump up the PSI on those tyres (around 80-85 psi) or so, nice gauge and no failure as of now.
I probably should get a mini once I become a roadie again

You probably exhale more CO2 in a 10 mile bike ride than is contained in a CO2 cartridge. So, for the sake of climate change, stop breathing.

BTW I was given a CO2 cartridge pump as a Christmas gift a decade ago and it is still in the package. Much prefer a regular pump.

well at least you have a warm body to talk to when you go back and do show-and-tell ..

Topeak road morph, + 100. Works great for road or dirt.

I would like to see how the engineers can figure a way to get an air pump to go say a max of 120 psi without CO2 and without the size issues of frame pumps like the Road Morphs. And most important of all, the arm effort that plagues the mini pumps.

Sounds like they (engineers) need to think outside of the box.

Engineers can't design something that goes against the laws of physics.

Toss the mini/micro pumps, get a road morph and be done with it. I need to do the same. but I still carry CO2...

Yes, the engineers are bound by the laws of physics. They could design a small pump that is easy to pump, this is not the issue. The issue is that we would be then complaining that it takes an hour to pump up a 700X23 tire to a pressure that you could ride home with. I have tried mini pumps, CO2 and the topPeak road morph. I still use the road morph. The problem I have found with CO2 is (all the ones I have tried) are all or nothing, some claim to e able to stop the air flow but what I have seen is they freeze up and keep going. This can be a problem if you need to pump the tube up enough to find the leak, you let off the trigger or what ever they use and it just keeps going. I have had many flats and tried several solutions. the one that has worked best for me has been the road morph and use a new or previously repaired tube. Save the patching for at home when you have plenty of time to do it over again if it does not hold the first time.

So where does the CO2 in CO2 cartridges come from? Are they making new CO2 or are they recycling CO2 that already exists?

They take the compound H2C2O4 and split it up. It yields 2 CO2 and one H2 which is also used by cyclists when they want to keep their tires as light as possible.

I use Park's adjustable full size frame pump. It fits on a wide range of bike sizes.
Due to it's design, it's not really as full size as a non-adjustable, but still better than a mini pump.

My LBS dealer replaced the defective pump, and the new one works fine. However-------------I will still use it as a back up to CO2 cartridges.

BTW be logical the people that manuf CO2 cartridges do not create CO2 they take it out of the air. So------------untill you put it in a tube it is not causing the so called global warming.