CO2 inflator. Which one?
08-23-21, 01:39 PM
#26
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08-23-21, 01:59 PM
#27
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@ThermioniicScott - Expired DL to Identify me if I get in an accident, which has happened. I don't carry a wallet on rides.
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08-23-21, 02:33 PM
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@ThermioniicScott - Expired DL to Identify me if I get in an accident, which has happened. I don't carry a wallet on rides.
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08-23-21, 05:19 PM
#29
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08-23-21, 07:23 PM
#30
feros ferio
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In summary
Use a portable/frame pump if you ...
- dislike paying for air
- are He-Man
- can show off a sweet matching frame pump
- ride on fat tires
- stop to help the helpless
- like criticizing those who use CO2.
- care about the environment and single use throwaway containers
use a CO2 if you ...
- ride when it's hot
- are weak
- are in an age appropriate triathlon
- have no mo room
- ride 23-25mm tires
- don't flat much
- know what you're doing
- are into firearms
- need a good reason to keep riding when someone asks if you have a frame pump.
Use a portable/frame pump if you ...
- dislike paying for air
- are He-Man
- can show off a sweet matching frame pump
- ride on fat tires
- stop to help the helpless
- like criticizing those who use CO2.
- care about the environment and single use throwaway containers
use a CO2 if you ...
- ride when it's hot
- are weak
- are in an age appropriate triathlon
- have no mo room
- ride 23-25mm tires
- don't flat much
- know what you're doing
- are into firearms
- need a good reason to keep riding when someone asks if you have a frame pump.
1973 Brooks Pro on the 1959 Capo. Still serviceable, plan to put on a different bike. Campag. crankset shown
Zefal HP-X: best frame pump ever, and size 3 fits my 55cm frames (Bianchi, Carlton, and this Capo) perfectly. The Capo Siegers and the Peugeot have downtube frame pump pegs and take a shorter pump.
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Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
Last edited by John E; 08-23-21 at 07:29 PM.
08-23-21, 07:46 PM
#31
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Use a portable/frame pump if you ...
Oh, snap! Guess I don't care about the environment. I should buy a car and procreate while I'm polluting so much!
btw, next time, don't add your opinion to my quote. Bad form! But I'll go ahead and update the original list.
08-23-21, 07:53 PM
#32
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Full size frame pump for me, either Silca with Campy metal head or Zefal HPX. Like Gugie, I have rescued a number of folks sitting by the side of the road when their CO2 cartridges misfired. Also useful for discouraging errant canines.
I could get a tire up to about 110 psi with one of those, but that seems pointless these days since all of my bikes are running 28 mm tires at a minimum and that is never going to change.
I'm not at all keen on CO2 cartridges, due to waste, low reliability, and the small contribution to global warming. Plus, what's yer hurry?
I could get a tire up to about 110 psi with one of those, but that seems pointless these days since all of my bikes are running 28 mm tires at a minimum and that is never going to change.
I'm not at all keen on CO2 cartridges, due to waste, low reliability, and the small contribution to global warming. Plus, what's yer hurry?
Last edited by davester; 08-23-21 at 07:57 PM.
08-23-21, 08:16 PM
#33
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as much as I feel like a Silca frame pump is the one true and pure way to put air into tires, I feel obliged to mention that racers were carrying compressed gas for inflating spare tires a long time ago.
These cylinders of compressed gas (just air, I think) were larger than modern CO2 cartridges, and the French term is "gonfleur". A search for this term pulls up various images, such as this one from Flickr..
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95176013@N08/11910725105/
Gonfleur can also refer to a pump, so some confusion is possible.
I seem to recall various discussions of these in the past on bikeforums, so if someone wants to find out more, it shouldn't be too hard.
Steve in Peoria (still a Silca Impero fan)
These cylinders of compressed gas (just air, I think) were larger than modern CO2 cartridges, and the French term is "gonfleur". A search for this term pulls up various images, such as this one from Flickr..
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95176013@N08/11910725105/
Gonfleur can also refer to a pump, so some confusion is possible.
I seem to recall various discussions of these in the past on bikeforums, so if someone wants to find out more, it shouldn't be too hard.
Steve in Peoria (still a Silca Impero fan)
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08-23-21, 08:27 PM
#34
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08-23-21, 08:36 PM
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as much as I feel like a Silca frame pump is the one true and pure way to put air into tires, I feel obliged to mention that racers were carrying compressed gas for inflating spare tires a long time ago.
These cylinders of compressed gas (just air, I think) were larger than modern CO2 cartridges, and the French term is "gonfleur". A search for this term pulls up various images, such as this one from Flickr..
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95176013@N08/11910725105/
Gonfleur can also refer to a pump, so some confusion is possible.
I seem to recall various discussions of these in the past on bikeforums, so if someone wants to find out more, it shouldn't be too hard.
Steve in Peoria (still a Silca Impero fan)
These cylinders of compressed gas (just air, I think) were larger than modern CO2 cartridges, and the French term is "gonfleur". A search for this term pulls up various images, such as this one from Flickr..
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95176013@N08/11910725105/
Gonfleur can also refer to a pump, so some confusion is possible.
I seem to recall various discussions of these in the past on bikeforums, so if someone wants to find out more, it shouldn't be too hard.
Steve in Peoria (still a Silca Impero fan)
BTW, those size CO2 cartridges have been around for a while. The ones that fit the old seltzer bottles from the '60s are very similar in size and shape, although they are unthreaded. Makes me wonder if some machinist wouldn't have made some inflator back in the day for the "Sparklets" cartridge.
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08-23-21, 10:18 PM
#36
Me duelen las nalgas
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08-23-21, 11:05 PM
#37
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Again, my only issue with frame pumps is they can't come close to the psi levels I require. Oh, and the reason I run high pressures: sick of snakebite flats, I began running higher pressures and experienced a massive reduction in flats. Don't have to tell me twice...
DD
Another good reason to run much lower than 120psi.
Another good way to get away from snakebite flats: run fatter tires.
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08-23-21, 11:12 PM
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Different spokes for different folks, that's what I say
DD
DD
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08-24-21, 11:03 AM
#39
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I disagree. The Zefal HPx is a good pump but it pales in comparison to the Topeak Morphs. Pushing the plunger down into the ground is far easier than trying to pump at 90° to the wheel.
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08-24-21, 11:03 AM
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That's why I carry a large selection.
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If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
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08-24-21, 11:09 AM
#41
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
08-24-21, 11:13 AM
#42
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Insignificant compared to the total time removing the wheel, removing the tire, finding the source of the flat, replacing the tube, mounting the tire, then under a minute to inflate (typical for me), put the wheel back on, check the brakes...
Unless you're trying to place in your age group in a triathlon or more competitive than that, I don't see the point. I've pulled over to help out people that screwed up inflating with a CO2 cartridge maybe half a dozen times. You get one shot with a cartridge to get it right.
CO2 cartridges and bottled water, solutions in search of a problem. Air and water are free for the taking.
Unless you're trying to place in your age group in a triathlon or more competitive than that, I don't see the point. I've pulled over to help out people that screwed up inflating with a CO2 cartridge maybe half a dozen times. You get one shot with a cartridge to get it right.
CO2 cartridges and bottled water, solutions in search of a problem. Air and water are free for the taking.
CO2 inflators are out of the question except for MAYBE in a race where contending for the podium, but that hasn't been a consideration for me yet.
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08-24-21, 12:00 PM
#43
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If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
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08-24-21, 12:38 PM
#44
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Regarding waste, I doubt cyclists use more than a tiny fraction of the CO2 used by paintball and pellet guns. When I shot pellet gun silhouettes and other targets I went through a few a day. In three years of carrying CO2 inflation kits for bikes I've never used even one. And the handful of CO2 cartridges I've seen carelessly discarded along the MUP or roadside by cyclists doesn't begin to compare to the dozens or hundreds of discarded cartridges I've seen from target shooters. Although there are relatively fewer airgunners using CO2 now, as compressed air PCP pellet guns are better overall and less temperature-sensitive.
08-24-21, 12:47 PM
#45
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Didn't it use to be, you could get cartridges of "compressed air" that was actually R12 freon? Wonder if those were ever used as tire inflators. Talk about ecocide! 
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08-24-21, 12:58 PM
#46
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I use this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Bike-Tool...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Some competition pellet guns are hand pumped, but almost always are springers in some sort of sporter class. Single stroke pneumatic rifles aren't very prevalent. PCP reigns king. Where are you seeing hand pumped competition pellet guns? Hardly any ever at any matches I shoot across my region for sure.
https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Bike-Tool...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==
Some competition pellet guns are hand pumped, but almost always are springers in some sort of sporter class. Single stroke pneumatic rifles aren't very prevalent. PCP reigns king. Where are you seeing hand pumped competition pellet guns? Hardly any ever at any matches I shoot across my region for sure.
08-24-21, 01:13 PM
#47
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08-24-21, 01:36 PM
#48
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Me? I simply don't flat much. My last flat, I saw after I got home. My last flat on the road was like two years ago.
08-24-21, 01:58 PM
#49
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What about size? I never see you riding with a bag big enough, and I don't really see you putting a pump in your jersey. Would you add a frame pump in your main triangle on every ride if it easily reached full inflation?
Me? I simply don't flat much. My last flat, I saw after I got home. My last flat on the road was like two years ago.
Me? I simply don't flat much. My last flat, I saw after I got home. My last flat on the road was like two years ago.
Sure, I'd ad a frame-fit pump if I could find one that could give me 110-120psi.
DD
08-24-21, 02:10 PM
#50
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Yes. Like you, I ride with a tiny saddle bag, which is full with my CO2 patch kit and wallet. My middle jersey pocket is spoken for (phone). My right pocket during the summer/pandemic is spoken for (bandana). It's nice to have the left pocket free for whatever.