road bike / race bike / hybrid / touring / fitness bike - CHOSEN AND BOUGHT

Maurice Wibblington wrote:

a superlight mini pump I can understand, but a CO2 inflator?

It takes a lot of work to get up to pressure with a mini pump.

And a lot of them can't really manage high pressure at all.

I see. But presumably they're costly or have some other drawback
otherwise no-one would bother with any kind of pump?

Not everyone wants to pay £1 to £2 per replacement CO2 cartridge (or bother
to shop for them), and you're stuck if you run out cartridges unless you
have a pump as well.

The inflators are more expensive than the cheapest pumps, and not so readily
available, so I suppose that puts off some people too.

For me, ironically, recent improvements in pump design has made it
worthwhile to mainly rely on CO2 (for dealing with punctures). Pumps like
Topeak Pocket Rocket, Barbieri CarbOne and Axiom Sprint Air are extremely
light but can get a tyre up to over 100 psi if unfortunate enough to get a
second puncture or have some problem with spare tube or repair. (Note that
a couple of spare CO2 cartridges weighs more than one of these pumps).

A pump also comes in handy for rounding out the inner tube before fitting it
in the tyre. CO2 inflators aren't so good at delivering a very small amount
of gas like that.

Innovations Air Chuck SL is my recommendation for a CO2 inflator.
Wonderfully quick and easy to use. Good for commuters as well as lazy
buggers!

Mike Dysaon's is good for spare cartridges.

~PB