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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Pump or CO2?

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Old 02-18-15 | 11:46 AM
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Originally Posted by valygrl
Why? two C02's for the first 2 flats, pump for subsequent flats and seating the tire prior to C02. Why not just the pump? It's way too slow. All those flats might be yours or they might be your friends' flats. i won't give a friend my last C02 cart, but i'll loan the pump. If I'm on a training ride, i don't care if I'm carrying a little extra weight. If I'm racing, none of that stuff is on the bike anyway, so it doesn't matter.

If your head unit is bulky you have the wrong one.

I carry 2 C02's, a really small inflator head, and a mini pump on the frame. Why not a full size pump? I think they are ugly, and I don't think it would fit on my tiny frame anyway. I don't put that stuff in my pockets because my pockets need to be available for other stuff.
You must flat way, WAY more than I do. It's a very rare event for me. Knock on wood, haha.

A pump and co2 do the same thing. Redundant. No way I'm carrying both.
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Old 02-18-15 | 11:48 AM
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Originally Posted by chaadster
I've seen it more than once, and I guarantee you that, if you look in the rubbish bin at a trailhead or other ride start, you'll find 'em. Money down on that.
Originally Posted by rjones28
Co2 cartridges are a multi-use item:

1. ballast to bring bike weight up to UCI minimum.
2. tire inflation.
3. projectile for warding off angry dogs.
4. provides work for those serving community service sentences.
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Old 02-18-15 | 11:48 AM
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Originally Posted by rpenmanparker
Yeah this whole discussion is kind of like, "Let him who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone..." Who has done a cradle-to-grave ecological footprint analysis of CO2 cartridges? Who knows how they compare, on average, to using a pump? How many cartridges the average user will consume during the lifetime of one pump and what the difference in ecological stress that will represent? Is that amount of waste (assuming the CO2 is disadvantaged) significant compared to other lifestyle choices we make? This is all beyond ridiculous...just like the last 100 times it was discussed.
Oh, come on. It's not that hard. The simple metric is that a pump is reusable, CO2 cartridges aren't. You don't have to do a cradle-to-grave anything to understand that.
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Old 02-18-15 | 11:50 AM
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Originally Posted by cellery
AHEM. CO2 cartridges are recyclable. I suppose the canister hater is a 70s steel touring retrogrouch with hemp shoes in old toe clips or something?

FAQ - Genuine Innovations

Laziness? What a joke. If using a canister instead of a pump is lazy then it's lazy for me to do a two hour ride on a wednesday instead of a 4 hour ride on a saturday... Seriously, just ride your bike and don't worry so much about how other people handle the technical aspects of getting themselves unstranded from the middle of nowhere.
We know they're recyclable, smartypants. The point is that many people don't...precisely because they're the lazy type who bought them in the first place to save a bit of effort. So yes, you are lazy.
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Old 02-18-15 | 11:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Leinster
"Oh no, I have to sweat and make some effort for about 60 seconds before I can get back on my bike and sweat for another hour of riding. This is too much inconvenience for me."

I can see the benefit of CO2 in a race, TT, Tri or other event where an extra 60-90 seconds can make the world of difference. Even on a fast, no-wait group ride I'm sure it'd be worthwhile. But the day you have your (C+1)th puncture (where C=no of cartridges you're carrying) on, say, a century ride, you're going to wish you had a pump. And then next ride you're carrying a pump and cartridges.
Thanks for your insightful input.

At 9,000-10,000 milesish a year, I'm not too worried about exercise.

When I raced, it was about 25,000 miles per year.

Oh...1 puncture in the last year.

It's not a problem. But I am always open to informed advice.
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Old 02-18-15 | 11:53 AM
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Originally Posted by chaadster
Again, the bar is very low. I'm not asking for you, me, or anyone else to be perfect, or even make a major concession, as hang-drying laundry would be (in terms of labor, time, lifestyle, etc). Using a pump is cheap, easy, fast, part of cycling tradition, and good for you, even. Choosing a pump over CO2 is not "a commitment", it's just not being a lazy, selfish F**k.
My point is that there are many way more important eco footprint choices we all make every day than CO2 cartridge use. Plenty of things much higher on the laziness list too. That's quite a small potato you've chosen to rail against here.
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Old 02-18-15 | 11:54 AM
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Originally Posted by chaadster
We know they're recyclable, smartypants. The point is that many people don't...precisely because they're the lazy type who bought them in the first place to save a bit of effort. So yes, you are lazy.
I know I'm lazy but how do you know I'm a smartypants??
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:01 PM
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Originally Posted by AlmostTrick
My point is that there are many way more important eco footprint choices we all make every day than CO2 cartridge use. Plenty of things much higher on the laziness list too. That's quite a small potato you've chosen to rail against here.
Sure, I get that, but yet, this was an easy choice to make right (provided one doesn't elevate laziness as the prime criterion), and is one of those small things that just speaks volumes. Will using a pump bring back extinct species and create heaven on Earth? Of course not, but using CO2 still looks bad.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:02 PM
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Originally Posted by cellery
I know I'm lazy but how do you know I'm a smartypants??
It was a WAG that now looks like a brilliant insight.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:02 PM
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:02 PM
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I forgot to mention in my previous post that I use the same saddle bag for both my road and mountain bikes, so it's an easy switch from saddle to saddle. So, by some accounts....I guess I'm SUPER lazy and not just practical.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by redtires
I forgot to mention in my previous post that I use the same saddle bag for both my road and mountain bikes, so it's an easy switch from saddle to saddle. So, by some accounts....I guess I'm SUPER lazy and not just practical.
Sounds like work.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:05 PM
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Originally Posted by rjones28
Sounds like work.
Darn....guess I'm off to the bike shop to waste more money. That would be the smart thing to do.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:11 PM
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Originally Posted by redtires
Darn....guess I'm off to the bike shop to waste more money. That would be the smart thing to do.
You keep the economy going.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:12 PM
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Originally Posted by redtires
Darn....guess I'm off to the bike shop to waste more money. That would be the smart thing to do.
Each of my bikes has it's own fully-stocked saddle bag.

#lazyass
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:13 PM
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Originally Posted by rjones28
Each of my bikes has it's own fully-stocked saddle bag.

#lazyass
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:13 PM
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Originally Posted by rjones28
Co2 cartridges are a multi-use item:

1. ballast to bring bike weight up to UCI minimum.
2. tire inflation.
3. projectile for warding off angry dogs.
Originally Posted by rjones28
4. provides work for those serving community service sentences.
5.
Originally Posted by roadwarrior
You keep the economy going.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by chaadster
It was a WAG that now looks like a brilliant insight.
Don't I know it! Just adding little self deprecation to balance out the banal eco smugness.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:19 PM
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Depends on the bike. For the road bike, I use CO2 because I hate trying to get up to 100 psi or so with a minipump. The other bikes have lower tire pressure, so i use pumps.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:23 PM
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Originally Posted by rpenmanparker
Yeah this whole discussion is kind of like, "Let him who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone..." Who has done a cradle-to-grave ecological footprint analysis of CO2 cartridges?...
I don't know about a comprehensive footprint analysis, but my understanding is that the CO2 for cartridges is captured as a byproduct of industrial combustions and sometimes organic processes. ie, it would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, so the net effect is nothing.

I do recall repairing a flat one night, in freezing rain. It's hard to imagine someone begrudging me the time saved as laziness, not that you'd particularly care in that situation. I've used maybe three of them in the last 5 years so I'd say that it's only a small amount of laziness. Considering that I have probably expended more energy carrying them around (5500 - 7300 miles per year @roadwarrior) than I have saved by not pumping by hand on the couple of flats.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:26 PM
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Originally Posted by chaadster
the rubbish bin at a trailhead
Trailhead? Isn't that the place that you drive your car so that you can ride your bike? Isn't that lazy and selfish? Riding to the trailhead gets you exercise before you exercise.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:27 PM
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Originally Posted by cellery
Don't I know it! Just adding little self deprecation to balance out the banal eco smugness.
Oh, I'm not eco. I run a couple of vintage sports cars that burn up the dino juice at rates to rival the eco crowd's favorite scapegoats, SUVs. I am smug about not using CO2, though.
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by chaadster
Oh, I'm not eco. I run a couple of vintage sports cars that burn up the dino juice at rates to rival the eco crowd's favorite scapegoats, SUVs. I am smug about not using CO2, though.
EH? Don't you know cars R coffins bro?
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:35 PM
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Originally Posted by chaadster
I've seen it more than once, and I guarantee you that, if you look in the rubbish bin at a trailhead or other ride start, you'll find 'em. Money down on that.
What does that have to do with me?
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Old 02-18-15 | 12:37 PM
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Originally Posted by rpenmanparker
What does that have to do with me?
It fills in your knowledge gaps.
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