StanSeven

I haven't had a flat in months until today. I was hot, dehydrated, sweaty and weak and almost forgot I had CO2 and started with my mini pump. Then I remembered and it took maybe 4 seconds to inflate to 100 lbs.

It can't be beat especially when it's very hot or very cold and you want to just keep going.

Sean Gordon

My riding buddy got four flats today on a 60mi ride, he tried to hold out on the CO2 for the first two. But yeah, we were tired and hot.

Cat4Lifer

I'd be lucky to inflate to 80psi with mini or frame pump.
CO2 is the way to go

RoadMike

Somebody who knows voodoo must hate your friend. 4 flats on 60 mile ride is absurd.

Looigi

Agree it's hard to beat 4 seconds to inflate a tire. With my Lezyne Road Drive it takes me 128 seconds. That's 32 times longer!

Cookiemonsta

In circumstances where speed is crucial I think CO2 is great (even when you do not want others to wait for you). Outside of those circumstances I have been using a mini-pump (Topeak racerocket) and have been pretty satisfied with the ease of use and the time it took to get a decent pressure in them. I have also used minipumps that were absolute trash.

Bah Humbug

On what tires? And how old?

ahsposo 

Yeah, I can't quite get these people that won't even consider CO2.

I will say, however, that if I were to decide on a long solo out of home area ride, I'd probably spring for a Lenzyne. If I'm in my home area and somehow use both of my cartridges I'm gonna make the call of shame.

hhnngg1

Most people take 5+ minutes with a typical portable pump. I'm not weak at all and my portable pump works fine, but anything over 80psi is a royal pain. It also takes me 5+ miuntes if I want to get up to 100psi.

CO2 - 3-4 seconds.

No contest. It's also wayyyy easier to put the CO2 in - between the arm pumping on the portable pumps, the darn thing keeps falling off the valave (I've broken 2 tube valves from that alone.) With CO2 it's even easier than a home floor pump.

Fox Farm

I use a mini pump made by Carbo-One. It will pump up my tubular tires or clinchers to 120psi if I wish. I have used CO2 and had mixed results, probably because the head was not correctly screwed onto the valve. So, from a sustainability point of view, I find using CO2 cartridges and discarding them after one use to be stupid. Why ride a bike and say to yourself that you are making yourself more healthy and lessening carbon emissions to the environment while throwing away spent CO2 cartridges???

Carbon Unit

CO2 cartridges are recyclable.

Bah Humbug

Pretty sure the CO2 is compressed out of the atmosphere anyway, so the only factor is the bit of power used for the extraction and compression. Which, for a little 16g canister, has to be a tiny amount compared to, say, driving to the start of a group ride. Or running the AC in your house in the summer. I'm sick of that reasoning for not using CO2.

ahsposo 

At risk of angering the flat-gods, CO2 concerns like you mention are really minimal for me because I manage to ride a long time between flats. Last flat on the road bikes I remember was maybe 3 years ago. I ditched the Zefals because the last time I had to use that pump (not my last flat but close) the lubrication on the piston had dried up. I had to unscrew the thing and spit on it to get a seal and that fix wasn't very good.

Every time a car is cranked more CO2 goes into the air in the atmosphere first few seconds than is contained in that cartridge.

And speed can be important. Who wants to lose a group or keep them waiting while you futz around pumping up a tire.

gregf83 

I've been carrying CO2 for the past year because my last mini-pump fell out of my back pocket and I hadn't got around to replacing it. I recently bought a lezyne pump that mounts under the water bottle cages. It seems to work well and takes about 150 strokes or so to pump up the tire. I didn't time how long it takes but even at 5 min it's immaterial to me. If I'm on a group ride and flat I send the group on and don't want them waiting as I can't stand waiting for others to fix their flats.

I don't mind an extra 5 min of upper body workout when I'm out exercising.

Carbon Unit

When you pump up a bike tire with a mini pump, you are exhaling CO2.

hhnngg1

I definitely mind. It's not just the 5 minutes of pumping - it's the whole annoying experience of pumping a tire to 100psi with a minipump. Drives me nuts.

I used to feel the same as you, using nothing but a minipump for 3 years and thinking CO2 was a total elitist overkill solution because you're not in a time rush on training rides. Trust me - after 4-5 more flats with CO2 pumping, you'll never go back to that annoying minipump, even if it's a really good one. It's no comparison. Totally, utterly effortless to refill in 3 seconds. There really is no downside if you bring 2 cartridges so you don't run out if you have more than one flat.

gregf83 

I've used dozens of CO2 cartridges over the years mainly because I didn't have a mini-pump with me. I'm used to suffering on the bike and pushing a pump 150 times doesn't compare to the discomfort I put myself through on the bike.

I don't think CO2 is environmentally bad or elitest or anything else. I just don't mind pumping them up manually. If it's wet and cold I may still use CO2.

chasm54

The fact that you are sick of it doesn't make it wrong. CO2 cartridges have to be manufactured, like everything else. And the fact we waste energy in other ways doesn't legitimise wasting more.

My lezyne pump is rated to 160lbs. Getting 100 lbs into a tube isn't perticularly hard work. It isn't as vulnerable to operator error, and it never runs out of gas. Unless you carry lots of cartridges CO2 is inherently less reliable, as well as wasteful.

TromboneAl

I'm a recent convert to CO2, as long as I have a backup pump.

This is my new setup, and I am Jonesing for a flat so I can try it out.



I've experimented in the garage, and the 12 gram air-gun cartridges fill the tire to just the right amount.

Carbon Unit

If you Lezyne mini pump is like my Lezyne CNC floor pump with a screw on chuck then it is more prone to operator error than my Innovations Air Chuck that pushes on. I have never had a problem with my Air Chuck. I carry 3 or 4 cartridges depending on where I ride. This still weighs less than an a Road Morph.

Carbon Unit

https://forum.slowtwitch.com/cgi-bin/...i?post=1526555;

"A 12 gram CO2 cylinder has the same amount of CO2 found in a one liter bottle of soda."

Dunbar

It's just crazy to worry about the environmental impact of using a couple CO2 cartridges per year. It's probably the equivalent to driving less than a mile in a car.

Bah Humbug

Actually it pretty much does. If you're going to get sanctimonious to me about "wasting" energy in CO2 canisters (at the rate of approximately 1 per year) you'd better be sure you aren't wasting far more than that in the rest of your life or, by your logic, I can sit here and judge you for having your AC set to 78 instead of 82, driving anything that doesn't get 40mpg, eating lots of imported fruit, watching a large TV... I mean really, CO2 cartridges are the wrong thing to try to make an environmental point on.

And I carry three with me, and I've never had a failure. I have, on the other hand, had a Road Morph head blow apart on me, so there's that.

AdelaaR

Hahaha

chasm54

Well, I agree they're hardly the most pressing threat to the environment. Though as it happens I don't have AC (unnecessary where I live) do drive (rarely) a car that gets more than 40 miles to a US gallon, try to eat as locally-sourced as I can (though the carbon consequences of importing foodstuffs are often less severe than of heating the growing environment in cooler climes) don't have a large TV, and still have a carbon footprint bigger than I'd like.

I just think CO2 is unnecessary, that's all. And I have a slightly puritanical streak.