Forgot how good CO2 is
06-23-13, 01:11 PM
#26
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If you pull out a mini pump on a group ride you deserve to be LFD.
i carry both; a cartridge for group rides and a pump for a second flat or when I'm alone.
i carry both; a cartridge for group rides and a pump for a second flat or when I'm alone.
06-23-13, 01:22 PM
#28
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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.
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.
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.
Who the **** said anything about reasons for using CO2 are wrong?!
And I doubt anyone has gotten their tire to 100 psi with a mini or frame pump.
I know I'm gonna get testimonials to the contrary, but unless I see it, I aint buying.
06-23-13, 01:26 PM
#29
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The CO2 in cartridge form is manufactured for other purposes, e.g. airsoft, soda, CO2 dragsters (I remember that from highschool). CO2 itself is used for other things, such as dry ice.
Bike tire inflation is probably a tiny slice out of all those uses. If we must worry about stuff like that, we should also get concerned with what the rubber plantations are doing to the environment, what the metal extraction / plastic creation is doing to the earth, etc etc...
Bike tire inflation is probably a tiny slice out of all those uses. If we must worry about stuff like that, we should also get concerned with what the rubber plantations are doing to the environment, what the metal extraction / plastic creation is doing to the earth, etc etc...
06-23-13, 01:28 PM
#30
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Two flats and you're calling for a ride?
Not exactly making a case for c02 
.
Topeak road morph G...
Not exactly making a case for c02 .
06-23-13, 02:09 PM
#31
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But if I do get more than two flats I'm saying **** it, it's not my day. YMMV.
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Last edited by ahsposo; 06-23-13 at 02:12 PM.
06-23-13, 02:13 PM
#32
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Topeak Road Morph is great. Currently have a Lezyne mini. Fits great on the jersey but never able to the full pressure. Gonna get a Topeak once the Lezyne eats it. Long on the jersey pocket but oh-so reliable. Don't have to worry about canisters of carbon clinking around on a jersey or stuffing a saddlebag either.
06-23-13, 03:08 PM
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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.
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.
Pumping a tire to 100psi with a hand pump in the middle of a ride sucks. If anybody stops and waits for you , it sucks even more.
If hand pumps really werent' that big a deal, people would just use them at home instead of buying a floor pump. Alas, they suck compared to floor pumps (and CO2).
06-23-13, 03:27 PM
#34
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One gallon of gasoline results in approximately 3000g of CO2 emitted, so is equivalent to 187 16g CO2 cartridges, which makes one cartridge about comparable to combusting two tablespoons of gasoline. Basically, a lifetime of fixing flats might compare to driving a single errand. (Yes, there is some manufacturing involved in making CO2 cartridges, but gasoline doesn't magically appear at the pump either.)
06-23-13, 03:51 PM
#35
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Methane gas is worse for the environment than C02. That means that a burrito is more hazardous to the Earth than a C02 cartridge.
06-23-13, 03:58 PM
#36
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Burritos, cows, etc are carbon neutral. Things that grow use carbon from the atmosphere, which then gets released back when you or something else living consumes it. It doesn't affect the total amount of carbon in the cycle - hence its neutrality. The only thing it affects is the rate of the cycle. Gasoline (and CO2 carts) release carbon that wasn't there already, so adds to the total amount in the cycle.
06-23-13, 04:00 PM
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Seriously, if you're complaning that you're ruining the environment by buying CO2 cartridges for your bike inflation needs, you need to seriously re-examine your perspective and priorities.
As said above, you'd better not be driving your car on a single needless errand for the rest of your life, or never take another airplane trip ever again if you think that you're optimizing so well that you need to worry about the amount of CO2 involved with the cartridges.
Your google searches in a week definitely exceed the CO2 emissions from that 16g cartridge.
As said above, you'd better not be driving your car on a single needless errand for the rest of your life, or never take another airplane trip ever again if you think that you're optimizing so well that you need to worry about the amount of CO2 involved with the cartridges.
Your google searches in a week definitely exceed the CO2 emissions from that 16g cartridge.
06-23-13, 04:21 PM
#38
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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???
06-23-13, 04:32 PM
#40
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Burritos, cows, etc are carbon neutral. Things that grow use carbon from the atmosphere, which then gets released back when you or something else living consumes it. It doesn't affect the total amount of carbon in the cycle - hence its neutrality. The only thing it affects is the rate of the cycle. Gasoline (and CO2 carts) release carbon that wasn't there already, so adds to the total amount in the cycle.
06-23-13, 04:38 PM
#41
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06-23-13, 04:41 PM
#42
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And what do people do with their empty cartridges? Leave them on the side of the road?
06-23-13, 04:43 PM
#43
Senior Member
I can suffer pretty bad on the bike too, but that's fun.
Pumping a tire to 100psi with a hand pump in the middle of a ride sucks. If anybody stops and waits for you , it sucks even more.
If hand pumps really werent' that big a deal, people would just use them at home instead of buying a floor pump. Alas, they suck compared to floor pumps (and CO2).
Pumping a tire to 100psi with a hand pump in the middle of a ride sucks. If anybody stops and waits for you , it sucks even more.
If hand pumps really werent' that big a deal, people would just use them at home instead of buying a floor pump. Alas, they suck compared to floor pumps (and CO2).
06-23-13, 05:12 PM
#45
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06-23-13, 05:13 PM
#46
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Burritos, cows, etc are carbon neutral. Things that grow use carbon from the atmosphere, which then gets released back when you or something else living consumes it. It doesn't affect the total amount of carbon in the cycle - hence its neutrality. The only thing it affects is the rate of the cycle. Gasoline (and CO2 carts) release carbon that wasn't there already, so adds to the total amount in the cycle.
06-23-13, 05:14 PM
#47
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06-23-13, 05:27 PM
#48
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Not lessening CO2 emissions. The CO2 comes from the air. It is not made especially to load into the cartridges. So it just ends up where it started. If you recycle the cartridges, not terribly much to complain about emvironmentally. If you subtract the CO2 that you wouldn't generate from effort to pump up the tire, the picture looks even better.
Researchers are trying to develop processes that remove CO2 from the atmosphere (air), but it's very difficult since the CO2 is at such a low concentration (~380 ppmv) and there's no pressure driving force.
I used to work on developing processes that removed around a million tonnes of CO2 per year. We'd need thousands of these types of plants to make a difference in the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. So please do the math and see if the amount of CO2 in a 16 oz cartridge makes a difference.
Last edited by RoboCheme; 06-23-13 at 05:32 PM.
06-23-13, 05:45 PM
#49
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The ONLY thing I don't love about CO2 is that the tyre is flat the next morning... so now when I get home I typically patch the tube and put it back on the bike filling it with N2... and put the spare back in a Ziploc for the next ride, replacing the 16g CO2 I used.
CO2 is too cheap when purchased in bulk. I pay less than $1 each and the 32 count case I picked up last year will likely last till I buy a new bike!
CO2 is too cheap when purchased in bulk. I pay less than $1 each and the 32 count case I picked up last year will likely last till I buy a new bike!
06-23-13, 05:47 PM
#50
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and it fit nicely in yours seat bag and personally I like to make my bike as clean looking as possible with less things to attach to my bike frame.