Originally posted by Guy Goldich
I've used a Zefal HPX frame pump for the last 15 years or
so without problems. I usually carry 2 inner tubes and a
patch kit.
However, at my local bike shop, my eye has been straying
over to the CO2 inflators. Most of my rides are between 20
and 40 miles. I've heard that since CO2 is a smaller
molecule, tires lose air quicker.What has been people's
experience with them? Viable alternative? Weight &
reliability?
Dear Guy,
Apart from the question of which molecules you
have in mind (which I leave in good hands), there's
the question of practicality and reliability.
Whoosh! Oops, that spare tube that's been sitting
in your bag for months turns out not to hold air.
Hope the other tube works. Hope your other CO2
cartridge works. Hope you don't get another flat.
Whoosh! Bang! Could have sworn that the tire was
seated properly. Never made a mistake like that
before, so make a note to write bitter post to
rec.bicycles.tech about inferior tire brand. Couldn't
possibly have been my fault.
Whoosh . . . fizzz . . . goddamned valve is leaking!
Bent or defective or something.
Whoosh! There, that's the front tire. Whoosh! And
that's the back tire. Hope I don't hit another patch
of whatever the hell gave both of them flats--only
twenty more miles to go.
In short, a bike pump keeps working as long as
you need it, while CO2 cartridges tend to run
out in bad situations, even when you need only
one more.
Three other points prejudice me against CO2:
1. I don't want to hesitate when I finally spot
a gorgeous super-model stranded with a flat
by the side of the road. With only CO2, I'd
hesitate to give her one of my precious cartridges,
just as I'd hesitate to give her my morphine
styrette on a battlefield--I might need it myself.
With a pump, however, I can string things out
without a care, chatting while she admires my
tire-inflation technique (and secretly wishes that
I had a CO2 cartridge so that she wouldn't have
to listen to me prattle).
2. So far this year, I'd have used 14 CO2 cartridges
to fix my flats. They're only a buck or so each, and
I waste far more on tubes, but I can buy nice pumps
for less than $50 per year and can use the exercise.
3. "Summer is a-coming in, Loud sing cuckoo . . ."
No cuckoos around here, but I expect to see a
rattlesnake coiled up and rattling on the bike
path before May. An extended bike pump works
to shoo them off, but I doubt that waving a CO2
cartridge at them has the same effect.
Carl Fogel