CO2 Pumps ?

[Steve Adlem]

Hi
I am considering buying a co2 pump.
I do quite a bit of riding and will be taking part in a number of Charity rides over the next few months. On top of this I have started to compete in Triathlons. As such I am looking at a co2 pump for their speed, size and ease of carriage, but I am unsure of the following:
I like the Genuine Innovations Microflate Nano because it is very small but I have also seen the Genuine Innovations Second Wind MTB (I know they do a Road version aswell but that looks too big to carry). The difference with the Second Wind models are that they are built for manual pump aswell. I quite like the idea of having the ability to have speed with co2 and the backup of manual if ever caught short! – but as I will be carrying these in pockets they look a bit big.
Does anyone have any experience of the above mentioned pumps ? If so I would appreciate your views.
Will the Second Wind MTB be suitable for a Road/Cyclocross bike or would it have to be the Road version?
Or do people think the Nano is the way forward ?
Any help appreciated.
Steve

 

[Mortiroloboy]

I've got the GI Co2 inflator, used it for the first time a couple of weeks ago and was impressed at the speed a tyre inflates! You need to be careful that you have checked the tyre for debris and make sure the tube and tyre are correctly seated before re-inflating though, make sure to carry as many re-fill cannisters as you have spare tubes.

I only carry the Co2 inflator on the summer bike though, still preferring the frame pump for the winter bike, it's an aesthetics thing.

 

[Yellow Fang]

I'm not too sure on CO2 inflators. The cannisters seem to come in two different sizes and I always seemed to have the wrong size for fitting into my inflating device or for the bike I was cycling at the time. When I tried using them, I often found that I didn't have a good enough contact with the valve and I'd end up wasting the cannister. The cannisters are quite expensive. Basically, I think you're better off with a decent pump.

 

[byegad]

I have a CO2 inflator on all my bikes (not all the same but all the large type), along with a mini pump. I carry spare cartridges for the CO2 too. There are two sizes of cartridge and the larger one comes in threaded and unthreaded varities. Some inflators will use both types others don't.
Once you've bought one Google for supplies of spare cartridges as they are much cheaper from specialist suppliers than bike sources.