CO2 and Sealant Compatibility?
 

If I lose a good amount of pressure before the sealant works, is it a good idea to use CO2 to inflate the tire up to pressure? Rumor has it, the CO2 is so cold it could freeze the sealant and render it ineffective. “Wise”-tale or fiction? Time to buy a new emergency pump for the road bike and would like compact pump to fit under the saddle with the saddle bag and have seen these combo-pumps and just don’t know it the CO2 part would be counter-productive. TIA

Once the seal forms, you should be ok. You can keep your hand on the place where the puncture is to keep it warm if you are worried. On the other hand, I decided to ditch CO_2 once and for all, since it is so wasteful. I now use an inexpensive Silca frame pump, which I picked up for $175. Eventually, it will pay for itself.

Why did you pay $175 for an inexpensive pump? Feeling charitable? Or, is $175 considered inexpensive?

And that Silca pump likely weighs only slightly more than a CO2 valve and a couple cartridges, which is the minimum you should carry on a long ride. Bonus points if it's a full size (i.e., frame) pump, since that will fill a road tire pretty quickly.

rsbob , you should give up on the idea of a mini-pump that will fit in your saddle pack, unless you've got a very large saddle pack. Virtually all of them come with mounting brackets that fit alongside a bottle cage, held in place by the same bolts. I like the Silca mini-pumps (Tattico and Gravelero), but there are plenty of great ones on the market.

It's called sarcasm. You should try it sometime.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d878625eac.jpg

Well, it is no featherweight:


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d3f4bfc08.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0f4706210.jpeg

Sorry, I didn't recognize it as sarcastic.

It took me a moment to recognize this. Well-played.

Excellent since Silca makes fantastic products (I own a few). And you are quite right, it is wasteful but since I flat every two years or so, I can live with it.

The good news is that sealant does not freeze, only poor sods hands which don’t cover the cartridge when using. Only a sarcastic $175? That’s a steal!

This is what I was using until water rotted its innerds and rusted away the pin which punctures the CO2. It is also a hand pump. I tie it to my seat bag and is relatively small - emergency only. Clipper is to show scale.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...138958479e.jpg

I paid $40 for 50 CO2 cartridges about 10 years ago and the old cigar box is still stuffed with them. Much less wasteful than a $175 Silca frame pump.

If I get a flat, the dead cartridge is decorated as a Christmas tree ornament but I cannot remember my last flat

I imagine if there was worry about freezing, then methodology would be to put the valve at eg. about 2 o'clock position so the sealant is sitting down at 6 o'clock, and then fill by using shorter bursts on/off with the CO2 instead of one long full blast?

Weigh a CO2 valve and a couple cartridges, and they're almost as heavy. And they'll only give you two shots.

A tiny mini-pump looks great, until you actually have to use it.

Before I learned my lesson and stopped abusing myself with Herse tires, I counted 400 pumps to fill them up. My record was 13 flats on one ride. Admittedly, it was over 200 miles in cold rain. So, a littel pity for Compass tires.

Ride with a group where someone else has a pump.. that's the lightest option. After using a CO2 or two, you lose the weight when you leave them on the roadside. :rolleyes:

The last photo is a CO_2 cartridge, the valve, and a micro hand pump (that weighs 60 gm itself).

For my all-road bike, I regulate the "suspension" by changing the air pressure in the tires, so the hand pump is worth the 100 gm weight penalty.

Used the CO2 ability with this pump several times on my MTB until I wised up and went tubeless. The CO2 aspect worked great and then would use the hand pump to top it off, so fortunately never had to inflate solely using the hand pump. I see that this pump has been discontinued after they revamped it and it started exploding plastic shrapnel into people’s hands. I may just go with a Lyzene CO2 head, a couple of cartridges and a lite weight mini pump. I know there are some old threads on mini-pumps. Not willing to spend over $100 for an emergency pump I may or may not use.

Yeah, but it's fun to lend them out and watch other people use them.

Protip.. use the pump first to bring tire to a pressure that the CO2 can finish.. easier pumping at the beginning of inflation than at the end

[QUOTE=Polaris OBark;22735955]The last photo is a CO_2 cartridge, the valve, and a micro hand pump (that weighs 60 gm itself).
/QUOTE]

Right, sorry, I missed that.

That's how insurance works: you pay your money and hope to never use it.

Ah, but then you're sitting there, watching them pump away for god-knows-how-long.

Two critical observations:

It is much easier to weaponize a full-size frame pump than a CO_2 cartridge.

They should enable the bb mark-up tags that allow one to write CO[sub]2[/sub].

I always bring a book.

Carry a full size Impero pump with a Campy head on the old Bianchi. The horned end makes a good weapon.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2aa84a4cb7.jpg

That looks like mine, including the peeling off blue stuff.

The new Silca pump is essentially the modern version of the same thing. But significantly lighter:


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...51887a891.jpeg


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