Co2 inflator and cartridges help please

[Justchris]

Today I spent ages trying to inflate a 29er tyre with a mini pump. It took ages to get to a decent pressure. So I have been thinking of getting a Co2 inflator, but Google isn't answering my questions very well. So if some could answer the below questions it would be very helpful.

Can you inflate a 29er tube to a decent pressure with a 16g cartridge.

Which cartridge size do you use to seat a tubeless tyre.

Do tyres inflated with a Co2 cartridge really deflate overnight. Or roughly how long do you have at a rideable pressure.

Do the different brand of cartridge have a standard thread size. Ie do cheap cartridges fit all adapters.

Can you use part of a cartridge, then keep the rest, some nozzles seam to have this feature, but I could be very wrong.



Yes I know you can't depend on a Co2 inflator while bikepacking. But it will save me loads of time to get back from work and allow my better half to go climbing. Which she didn't get to do, and she has told me 28 times in the last three hours.

Thanks.

Chris.

[Richard G]

I'd use a 20g cart for a 29er tyre. You can use a smaller one, but you wont get a decent pressure.

I wouldn't generally use CO2 to seat a tubeless tyre if I could avoid it. You seriously speed up the creation of Stans monsters.

Yes, they will deflate, but probably not overnight. More like a week in my esperience.

Yes, the threads are generally standard.

I've never tried to keep a cartridge for a long time once open. Generally you'll use most of it getting a decent pressure.


...and you can't depend on them, but I'd certainly carry one alongside a normal pump.

[AlasdairMc]

What pump do you use? Could a bigger volume one be the answer? I use different pumps for different bikes, the higher volume ones on bigger tyres and the slimmer ones on higher pressure road tyres.

The 16g cartridges will seat a 29er tyre, never had any deflation issues though.

[Trail-rat]

Take mini pump.

Throw it away.

Buy mountain morph.

mostly the smaller a pump is the more useless it is for an mtb.

One of the club guys counted 300 strokes of his lezyne mini /micro pump thing to inflate a 700x23c - he would probably still be there if it was an mtb....

[PaulB]

Pump - Lezyne Alloy Drive which is part of their HV (high volume) range has worked well for 5+ yrs. Lezyne has great backup if required. They fit both presta and schrader valves by just turning the fill pipe around.
We have had great success with the cheap, £2.50 plastic pumps from Decathlon inc bottle cage mount. These have worked very well with both mtb and road tyres. I know some GB team riders have been using these.

CO2 - we use 16g cartridges but we don't use big vol tyres, 2.1's max. 20g I would think for 2.3's. Yes they will blow a tyre on. Yes our valves hold CO2 if only use a part cartridge, but you wouldn't know how much was left in the cartridge. We have Genuine Innovations, Specialized and Aldi (big compared to the others but does have on off valve that is easy to use) ones. They will freeze your fingers, wear gloves, and may freeze the valve.

Buy cartridges online, big boxes are way cheaper.

Paul

[benp1]

I used to have a carry a Mountain Morph but it's a bit big and heavy. Now carry a Lezyne Alloy Drive as I'm tubeless so flat less. Still pumps a 29er up fine

I carry CO2 in my commuting bag but haven't had to use it yet (thankfully), it's much easier to carry than a pump though!

[Justchris]

thanks for the replies. yes i could probably use a bigger pump, i currently have the topeak race rocket, but i run tubeless, and they usually work. usually pumping up a tyre for twenty to thirty mins would not be a problem. but i wasted a load of time waiting for the stans to work, before eventually throwing a tube in. i have the tubeless reapir kit, but stupidly dont take it in my commuting bag, a wee bit of anchovie would have solved everything.

for general tubeless set up i have a compressor tube, but it might me possible for a trailside fix if i have a co2 cartridge.

thanks

chris