Bleck! My first flat!

...lucky so far. There's a piece of glass, out there, somewhere, on the road, which has your name on it.

alienator said:

...lucky so far. There's a piece of glass, out there, somewhere, on the road, which has your name on it.

I'm sure there is, and even though I have Kevlar tires, I'm sure they won't stop all punctures. That's why I went back to the LBS on Saturday and invested in another spare tube and a seat bag to hold that plus my tire levers and my multi-tool. I finally got my Federal tax refund this past week too, so the CO2 inflator will come next week.

co2 inflator?!? dear god, man, have you no arms to operate a pump? 🙂

slovakguy said:

co2 inflator?!? dear god, man, have you no arms to operate a pump? 🙂

I can operate a pump just fine, thank you. The CO2 inflator will actually fit in the seat bag. No place on the frame to mount a pump, those spaces are taken by a water bottle cage and a U-lock holder.

Sure you can mount a pump - some of them are barely 7 inches long. The mounting hardware goes under the bottle cage, and the pump is held off to the side.

I don't really understand those CO2 inflators - expensive and makes lots of garbage. It's not like a pump is too difficult to use.

Yojimbo_ said:

Sure you can mount a pump - some of them are barely 7 inches long. The mounting hardware goes under the bottle cage, and the pump is held off to the side.

I don't really understand those CO2 inflators - expensive and makes lots of garbage. It's not like a pump is too difficult to use.

Recycle the CO2 cannisters. Presto changeo: no garbage.

Yep, the cartridges are recycleable, and your arms aren't sore for a week (YMMV but that's what happened last time I used a portable pump).

I don't really understand those CO2 inflators - expensive and makes lots of garbage. It's not like a pump is too difficult to use.[/QUOTE]
You're right, a pump isn't too hard to use, but in the time that it would take you to get your easy to use pump that is hanging off the side of you bike and use it, the guy with quick and easy CO2 inflator is already gone becuase the CO2 inflator is even easier and quicker than your easy to use pump.

Yes, CO2 may be like 3 dollars per canister, but how often are you using it? If you are getting flats often enough that you are spending 3 dollars per ride...you have a bigger problem. After using CO2 for the first time a few weeks ago, I will never look back at my mini pump. Luckily I have only had 3 flats in about 3000 miles. Knock on wood!

cyberlegend1994 said:

I can operate a pump just fine, thank you. The CO2 inflator will actually fit in the seat bag. No place on the frame to mount a pump, those spaces are taken by a water bottle cage and a U-lock holder.

My pump holder attaches to my waterbottle holder.

dbackmtg said:

My pump holder attaches to my waterbottle holder.

Yeah, I got a pump that has a holder like that. My CO2 Inflator and an extra cartridge will fit in my pocket or my seat bag.

For the record, I do have a pump, just not a portable one. I would only use a CO2 inflator for emergencies - such as flats on the road, after either swapping or patching the tube. At $3-5 a pop - or whatever they sell for in your area, it wouldn't make sense to use CO2 for normal routine maintenance or the pre-ride pressure check.

Oh - BTW - the spare tube turned up last week when I installed the pedals that I sniped on EBay - so now I have two spare tubes.... 😎

cyberlegend1994 said:

For the record, I do have a pump, just not a portable one. I would only use a CO2 inflator for emergencies - such as flats on the road, after either swapping or patching the tube. At $3-5 a pop - or whatever they sell for in your area, it wouldn't make sense to use CO2 for normal routine maintenance or the pre-ride pressure check.

Oh - BTW - the spare tube turned up last week when I installed the pedals that I sniped on EBay - so now I have two spare tubes.... 😎

Nothing wrong with two spare tubes.....you'll find out. I use a shop pump for normal maintenance too. I have two portable pumps and they are a major pain in the arm when trying to pump higher than 60 PSI. CO2 Inflators should only be used for a flat on the road. Not only are they too expensive for routine maintenance, they don't indicate pressure (no guage on any that I have seen) so you have to judge your pressure by feel. Luckily I have not yet had to use mine on my wheels but I found out how well it works when fixing a buddy's flat on the road a couple months ago.

I would laugh at anybody stupid enough to use C02 as their primary tire inflator. That would cost like 6 dollars per ride!!!🙄

while i don't wear hemp shirts or have braided hair, i still can't cotton to the thought of using co2 for any purpose these days. i have a frame mounted topeak road morph (?) which has served me quite well these past three years. advantages--zip ties to the top tube so i don't lose a bottle cage and it has a fairly adequate pressure gauge. there are options to co2 out there.

slovakguy said:

while i don't wear hemp shirts or have braided hair, i still can't cotton to the thought of using co2 for any purpose these days. i have a frame mounted topeak road morph (?) which has served me quite well these past three years. advantages--zip ties to the top tube so i don't lose a bottle cage and it has a fairly adequate pressure gauge. there are options to co2 out there.

Yes, and there are options to pumps out there too.

kdelong said:

Yes, and there are options to pumps out there too.

Well said.

Although, while I was shopping for a CO2 inflator (haven't sprung for it yet), I did notice something you mentioned - the ones I've seen at the LBS don't have pressure gauges, so there is some guesswork on how much to use.

Unless of course, someone decides to either make one with a gauge or invent a gauge that goes between the inflator and the valve....

cyberlegend1994 said:

Well said.

Although, while I was shopping for a CO2 inflator (haven't sprung for it yet), I did notice something you mentioned - the ones I've seen at the LBS don't have pressure gauges, so there is some guesswork on how much to use.

Unless of course, someone decides to either make one with a gauge or invent a gauge that goes between the inflator and the valve....

One CO2 cartridge will inflate a 700x23 tire to around 110-ish psi, give or take 5 psi or so. So even if you were silly enough to be using a 700x19, you wouldn't have any problems, save for the rock hard ride. If you want a pressure gauge, then you can always sport a small one in the back of your jersey or in your seatbag.

Out here--here being the desert southwest--rides this time of year are starting in the 70's, but over the course of two hours, the temps can hit 90-100°. As we move into June, that'll only get worse. At road level, it can be like an oven, with temps exceeding 140°. All of the rocks around heat up nicely so that if you're fixin' a flat, you feel like you're doin' it on a barbecue grill. I don't know very many people out here who want to sit around and bake.

FWIW, Genuine Innovations is in Tucscon. I wonder if they got their CO2 inflator ideas from suffering through hand pumped roadside repairs in the summer desert?