McBTC

No flats in years and I always 'knocked on wood' about that but... it finally happened. Dbl-snake bites due to major road imperfection so unusual circumstances.

Fortunately, I had two spare tubes so everything worked out pretty well but not so the CO2s I've been carrying around for years and never had an occasion to use. The two oldest cartridges went into a barrel and all the gas escaped just screwing on the valve assembly. I had a bigger cartridge that screwed directly onto the head but there apparently was no gas in it.

Now I'm not sure if it's even worthwhile carrying CO2s if I carry spare tubes and hand pump (which worked pretty well considering it too is old too and made for a big mtb tires not high-pressure road tires).

smashndash

Good on you for carrying two spare tubes. I personally carry a frame pump that can reach 85psi in less than 5 minutes. Good enough for me. I hear too many stories of co2 cartridges getting wasted because of a fumble or being empty. Not much point in having both for me, so I'll stick with the pump.

datlas 

atwl77

Topeak Hybrid Rocket pump
https://www.topeak.com/global/de/pro...ybridrocket-hp

If you run out of CO2 you can still pump normally (assuming you brought enough inner tubes and/or patches).

KraneXL

Not with good tires like yours. Same thing happened to me after about two years riding my Gaterhardshells. Now I have another pair older than that. I'd sure like to know what the expiration date is for them?

rgconner

I had two flats Saturday, had to DNF. Wife had to come get me a few miles from home.

Two more on Sunday!. Sunday the bike had the good sense to flat in front of REI, and the second flat half a block from the coffeeshop/bike shop.

I paid to have the second flat changed... I was just SICK OF CHANGING TUBES. Anyway it was split seam, not a puncture or a pinchflat, the second one of the day. Second flat Saturday was a torn stem that at first I thought was my fault, but all 3 tubes were from the same batch of 4 tubes, and the torn stem was right on a seam too.


4th one went in the trash, unused.

McBTC

No one can buy my old pump anymore but I did see the spec is still on the web and looked better than I remembered (push/pull pump is a good feature I'd suggest to anyone shopping for a mini).

79pmooney

An old dyed-in-the-wool type here. I will always have a real frame pump on every bike I own, two tubes and a patch kit. (I rode for decades, often very long rides, alone with no cell phone or SO to bail me out.) On group rides it has been more common for me to be using my pump to bail out others than me delaying everyone while I pump up.

Plus. I nearly always patch my tubes. Makes finding the cause a no-brainer (almost always) since the issue is going to be exactly where the patch is or the same distance on the other side of the valve hole (assuming you haven't moved the tire relative to the rim - label always at the valve).

Ben

Maelochs

Hey. I have an Airstick. It is tiny but a really good pump ... not sure if we have the same one.

I applaud you for bringing a pump. When I read the title, my first thought was that if we rode together I'd rent you mine ... at a nominal per-stroke fee.

I too have heard a few CO2 horror stories ... i suspect there are more than get reported, because CO2 users don't want to hear from the smug pump-carriers so much.

While it is great if folks have a wife who can drop everything and save them, some of us have wives who cannot ... or don't even have wives, or even have husbands who will lecture them the whole way home on how to do things right. ( ) I applaud everyone who brings a tube or two, a pump or CO2, and really, how much can three or five glueless patches weigh? But ... some folks like to live on the edge.

GrainBrain

Oof I had double flats last year doing a century, the flats occurred while I was going thru town over a section of road I didn't think anything of. Then psst!! front and rear flat! I was a few blocks from the bike shop and just walked down and had them throw two new tubes in.

I've been thinking of CO2 but that would save me maybe 4 minutes out of the 15 minutes total. I carry a topeak roadmorph with a gauge, I like to know where I'm at. I can check a tire by feel but it's reassuring knowing my exact pressure if I flat halfway through a metric or imperial century.

Colnago Mixte

I have had similar experiences with several inner tubes recently that are just plain defective, but was informed by some armchair expert here that "modern inner tubes don't even have seams".

I've had to throw away so many bad tubes in the past year, AT LEAST a half dozen, which is bad enough, but when people try to blame the victim, it gets to be a bit much. These Chinese inner tube makers seem to have perfected defective inner tube, causing sales to skyrocket, since when your inner tube explodes you have to buy a new one, there is simply no way around that.

My bad inner tunes have had areas where the rubber is super-thin, but since the defect is internal, there's no way of seeing it. These thin areas eventually rupture, often in several adjacent spots where you'll have a whole row of herniated bumps where the rubber is extremely thin, and when you see the damage it's obvious it can't be patched, so into the trash it goes. It's a scam. I will save the next inner tube this happens with and post pics to satisfy the legions of BF unbelievers.

datlas 

^^ Another reason to patch old tubes. Properly patched tubes have passed QC and are not going to break at the seam or valve stem etc.

Colnago Mixte

True, I just find it sad that we have to do our own quality control these days, and pay for out of our own pockets it too. In addition to the time and frustration spent by the side of the road changing these tubes out, often swapping one bad tube for another one that's in even worse shape, continuing the whole cycle of misery.

I have a few older inner tubes and it's obvious that they were made much better, I just wish they had longer valve stems.

datlas 

Agree about valve stems. I actually have a valve extender I keep in my bag with spare tube/patches/etc., it has saved more than one of my friends' ass when he had a flat and the only extra tube around had a short stem. The thing is small and weighs like 1g. Worthy of consideration.

rm -rf

On group rides, when a rider with a flat pulls out their unthreaded CO2 inflator (the kind that has a shell around the cartridge), I often hear "I hope it works this time".

Instead, the tiny threaded inflators, like this AirChuck, are quite simple and reliable. I did blow out it's valve o-ring once, by trying to just squirt a tiny bit to inflate the tube enough to install it. I probably didn't seat it on the tube valve very well.

On longer solo rides, I'll bring one CO2 and my old Mini Morph pump. I once counted 200 pump strokes to get to about 70-80 psi. It's slow.

~~~~~~~~~

A few local riders carry the long frame pumps. Those things are fast!

Yes, I patch 3 or 4 punctured tubes that I've saved up. That uses up most of a tube of glue. The patched tubes are as good as new. It's faster to patch a few tubes at a time.

I use a silver sharpie to draw a direction arrow on a new tube. And the tire is mounted with the label at the valve. So after locating the puncture, I know exactly how far around the tire to look for a sharp bit stuck in the tread.


Tyvek
Rolling up the spare tube into a small oval, I wrap it with a piece of tyvek and rubber band it. That protects the tube, and the tyvek is a good boot if the tire is sliced. Pieces of overnight envelopes or event ride numbers are good.

rgconner

One of the local builders here offers a matching frame pump on his bikes:

Maelochs

not as slow as walking in cleated shoes.

noodle soup

I started carrying one, in case I needed it for my wheels, but I've only used it to help others.

cycledogg

I have never relied on Co2 for tire repair. If you ride with me and don't want to wait for me to hand pump my tire, ride on!
I ALWAYS carry a small frame pump that works.
I ALWAYS carry a spare tube.
I ALWAYS carry a patch kit.
The ONLY time I carry Co2 was for road race with no support. TT, you puncture, you lose.
YMMV
Cheers

TrojanHorse

The Road Morph-G is the easiest to use small pump. That tiny little foot peg makes a huge difference.

I like to let stranded strangers use my pump while I continue to hoard CO2 in my saddle bag.

Noahma

I had a similar issue a few years ago. I had 2 flats within 10 feet of each other (damn goat heads) Fixed the problem lol I carry 3 spares, a patch kit, small frame pump, and a c02 inflator with a few cartridges lol. Overkill I know, but there are times I am in areas not easy to get to by car

McBTC

The spare I put on the front had a slow leak so I replaced it and checked it out to see if it was worth keeping for emergencies. Turns out air was escaping in the area where the valve is bonded to the tube.

The rear was fine but I also replaced it with a new tube and kept it as a spare that I knew was good.

Threw out all my CO2 kit-- 50 easy push/pulls on a mini pump is all I needed to get back to the car. No biggy.

I once considered myself a champion fixer, able to do the job with a quarter of a patch. I don't mind carrying a patch kit and maybe using it later, back home (or, perhaps fixing a flat if I only need to pull a small amount tube out of the tire), but...

Now I'm thinking, maybe just carry 3 spares, stock a few backups and call it a day. Now seeing the sense in the Amazon's special on 5 tubes... just treat'm as disposable-- about as cheap as renting a video on Amazon.

f4rrest

I don't seem to suffer from the random tube failures with continental race light tubes.

Not the cheapest, but worth it to me.

daoswald

I carry a patch kit, a tube, a couple CO2 cartridges, and a mini pump. First flat gets a tube and CO2. Second one gets a patch and CO2. Third gets a patch and pump. Most I've ever has was 5. Yes, I live in goathead country. Not even Armadillo Elite nor Gatorskins can withstand them.

PaulRivers

I feel like personally if I need to use my emergency equipment, it should just work, not be additional potential problem point. That's why I just bring a pump. A road morph mini will get my tire up to 60psi without to much effort and that's good enough to finish the ride with.

I rarely actually need to fix flats nowadays with flat resistant tires. When I do, I want the repair stuff to just work without hassle.