co2 carts
 

Hey I am finally thinking of going over to co2, but where can I get a good supply of cartridges?

I'd like to abandon my frame pump too while I'm at it and instead have 2-3 cartridges, whats the difference between threaded and non-threaded??

Why are you thinking of switching over?

I'm officially annoyed of pumping on the side of the road and its really rare that I get two flats in one sitting. One time I got 8 flats in a row from no rim tape and I ended up calling my bro to pick me up anyways because I was out of tubes/patches...I got more than an arm workout that day too.

And possibly weight?

ebay for cheap cartridges or support your LBS for not much more that is what I do. Threaded will cost more and use a smaller inflater, while plain will cost less and require a larger inflater.

biketiresdirect.com sells 16g threaded carts for about $1.50 - that's the way to go.

My Proflate takes 16g threadless...I get them for $2.50 at the lbs. I usually only carry one with me. If I had to do it again, I'd probably get a smaller, air-chuck type inflator. This would allow me to carry two carts and tubes in my wedge bag.

Microflate is the way to go - very small, works as advertised.

Get threaded and an Air Chuck SL inflator. I think they come in a kit for about $20. Prepare to waste a couple practicing at home. You don't want to be 20 miles from home and blow off all your cartridges in the wind because you've never practiced.

Non threaded are cheaper but the inflators are bigger. You can get 12g cartridges in bulk at Walmart cheap. I prefer using a smaller inflator and paying a little more for each cartridge. My LBS has a bucket of them for $2 each.

What kind of frame pump do you have?

I just broke out my proflate for the first time yesterday. I'm sold.

I use the 12g un-threaded cartridges. They're used in some fashion in various BB guns, so they can be found cheap at any sporting goods store. They'll get you up to 90psi or so, which is enough to get you home.

the frame pump i've had for a long time, its not bad gets me to about 90 psi.

I should practice? I've seen people do it and I saw the instructions on the back. Thread the guy in, press forward, voila!

How hard can it be? lol.

Crossman 12g carts at Walmart. 24 to a box. Im still on the same box i bought 5 years ago. I think the box was less than 10 bucks.

It's up to $12.95 now - a little over 50 cents a pop.

+1000 - Still have the same box from about 4 years ago. I thought I got mine for around $7 though...it's those damn steel surcharges again....:rolleyes:

I think this post sums it up well. My experience is that the threaded cartridges are pretty much foolproof. But the first time I needed to use non-threaded cartriges in earnest, I guffed it up - twice. I was thankful to be riding with someone with a real pump.

My opinion is that threaded CO2 is the minimalist way to go - good if you rarely get flats, and you want to keep your seatpack small and light.

And that a proper pump is the non-minimalist way to go - good if you flat frequently, or if you don't really care about weight.

Non-threaded CO2 only has the advantage of being slightly cheaper than threaded CO2. If you find that $2 per cartridge is becoming a financial hardship, then carry a pump and fill your tires for free.

i got a box of 40 for 19.99

On a really hot day you can tap a cartridge and let it vent - it'll get very cold and frosty - and drop it in your water bottle to chill things a bit.

For me it was worth it to burn one at home to be comfortable in doing it. I am new to cycling and changing tires so it was really needed for my confidence. That said, I did fine the first time - really easy. I am glad I read about the 12g walmart ones here. I wanted to get those, but I noticed they were smaller and it worried me (that they would not work). Just less pressure and I can live with that.

here is my new portable inflator.

fills up the tire to 900 psi in about 3 seconds.


http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/pho...0899/90836.gif

lol

I tow it in a flatbed with 200lb of batteries to power it. I can only go about 2 mph but its really worth it if I get a flat.

I have a special bottle top with a cartridge fitting. So I use my cartridges to recharge my Coke with fizz when it goes flat. And then I drop in the spent casing... ice cold fizzy Coke on a hot day.... the pause that refreshes...





OK, not really.

As to the cold and frosty. Its been a question on my mind for a bit...

I use non-threaded inflator that hold the entire cart with a plastic carrier. Works great, but as noted a bit bulky.

But I've seen those very tiny interfaces, nothing but an elbow and a valve, that screw on the end of a threaded cart. What I wonder is how can that be used without giving fingers frost burn?

Al

The cart does get very cold - you'll get a good layer of frost on it even in warm weather. It stings the fingers a bit, but it only takes a few seconds to inflate the tire so there just isn't that much contact time. I doubt that the the little bit of metal in a cart has enough heat sink capacity to cause frostbite anyway.

I was, of course, joking about dropping one in my water bottle, but I have rolled them back and forth across my forehead in hot weather - feels really good.

this is what I use...works great and is small....doesn't dump all at once which is nice IMO...get my refills at the LBS for about $2

http://cgi.ebay.com/Planet-Bike-Air-...QQcmdZViewItem

You can control the flow rate with microflate, too, and it's tiny:

http://www.genuineinnovations.com/bi...px?prodid=1001

since this is a 'I will show you mine' situation - this is what I have. It was all the LBS had the day I was in there. I like it quite a bit, but is a bit larger than others. You can leave a C02 cart in it (just do not tighten) which helps its size.


http://www.genuineinnovations.com/bi...=2&prodid=1003