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The Unprepared Cyclist

04.19.2015 by Ray Niekamp // 7 Comments

What a day! Sunny, a nice breeze, and 84 degrees (29C). There was nothing to keep me off my bike, even at the expense of foregoing yard work, and putting off a chore I promised to do for my wife.

I wasn’t going to go too long — maybe 20-23 miles — something that would keep me out about an hour and half. I could tell I haven’t been riding as much as I should, but over the years, I’ve built a good base, so getting back into a rhythm wasn’t difficult.

A fellow from my cycling club caught up to me and passed me like I was standing still. But then I caught a group of unfamiliar riders, and went by them. I felt strong pushing up some small hills, and had fun reaching 35 mph going down a sweeping bend on an empty road in a new housing development.

About 13 miles in though, something wasn’t right. I had just gone through a 90-degree turn on a busy road, and was heading up another small hill, but my rear wheel felt unstable. Uh-oh — a flat!

I wasn’t comfortable changing it in the shoulder of a 65 mph highway, so I walked the bike about a quarter mile to a pulloff, and set about changing the tube. It turned out that the smallest possible shard of glass had punctured the tire and the tube. I picked it out of the tire, checked for any other debris inside the tread, yanked out the punctured tube, and got out a new one.

Some time ago, I stopped bringing my small pump on rides, deciding to stick with CO2 cartridges. I had some recently-purchased cartridges in my seat bag, but when I went to attach the inflator chuck to one, I made an unwelcome discovery. The cartridge was one of those unthreaded ones. I needed the threaded kind.

So there I was, at the side of the road, the bike upside down with the chain hanging forlornly, and doing the only thing I could think to do: Call my wife.

She was there in less than 10 minutes, and we headed home. I inflated the tube in a matter of minutes and got the tire back on the bike, but by then, it was too late. My cycling window for the day had closed.

I’ll be stopping by the bike store for a few new, threaded cartridges. And I think I’ll start carrying the mini-pump again. Sometimes, it’s not a bad thing to be a belt and suspenders kind of guy.

And you wonder why I still call this blog Bike Noob.

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Categories // tires Tags // flat tire, pump

I’m Switching to CO2

09.01.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

So while we’re on the subject of flats, I have to tell you about a 180-degree change in my attitude toward pumps. This is apparently a topic of never-ending interest among bike noobs, because a previous post about pumps and CO2 cartridges is the all-time most popular post ever put up on this blog.

Road Morph

As most readers know, I adopted a frame-mounted mini pump — the Topeak Road Morph — three years ago as my preferred way to get the tires up to pressure after a flat. I had just fumbled and bumbled too many times with CO2 cartridges and decided I needed something more reliable. The Road Morph proved to be the answer. At least, for the several flats I had in the next year or so, I was able to get the tire pumped back up to the low end of its range, and ride home easily on it. At home, I could use my more powerful floor pump to top it off. The pump has bailed out fellow riders in group rides more than once, as they misfired their cartridges and needed something to fill their tires or be forced to call for a ride home. The picture at the top of this blog is of me and my friend David using the Road Morph to pump up one of his tires during a ride.

But during my three flats in two weeks run last month, I had help from riding partners in two of those cases. Each time, they suggested filling the tire with CO2 to get moving faster. As skeptical as I was, I agreed.

My friend David uses the little nozzle that attaches directly to the cartridge. Get it on the valve, turn it a bit, and pfffffft! — the tire fills without incident. Two weeks before, when I had my first flat, a fellow rider lent me his CO2 inflator. It’s the plastic housing that you slide the cartridge into, then use a small trigger to shoot the CO2 into the tire. I’ve got one of those, and I had consistently misfired the thing, wasting CO2, not filling the tire, and eventually switching to the pump. Maybe I’m older and wiser (no, not wiser, says my wife) but this time I filled it with no problem at all.

The weekend between those two incidents, I flatted while on a solo ride, which prompted the previous post about fixing them faster. This time I used the pump. The Road Morph is terrific for the first 60 pounds of pressure. Then you have to work harder. It’s got a built-in pressure gauge down by the valve, so you can see how well you’re doing. By the time you get to 90 pounds, you’re pushing with all your strength and the pump is barely moving. I know I’ve gotten tires up to 100 pounds in the past with the Road Morph, but it’s a struggle. And given how easily the CO2 cartridges work when used correctly, I decided to change my ways.

Inflator and cartridge.

So now I’ve got my inflator with the trigger and two cartridges in the seat bag. But in true belt-and-suspenders style, I continue to keep the pump mounted to my frame. One way or another, I’m going to leave the scene of future flats with properly inflated tires.

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Categories // Accessories, tires Tags // CO2, pump

What the Hey, I Added a Pump

02.16.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

Guest poster Don Blount makes what, for him, is a major concession.

I finally settled my personal pump vs CO2 debate.

When I first began riding, I went weeks without carrying anything – a pump, CO2, patches or tire levers. I was just lucky, because I didn’t have a flat during this period. I was dumb too. Now, I wouldn’t go anywhere without the basic tire changing implements.

Shortly after I had those tools, I flatted on a hot summer day. It took me more than 20 minutes to change that flat and get the bike rolling again. On that hot summer day, it seemed like forever.

I have had more than my share of flats since and have become proficient at changing them although I’m not as fast as this guy. It takes me about 10 minutes total time to get the flat changed and the bike rolling again. And note that the guy in the video changes the flat in no time but doesn’t look for the cause of the flat.

CO2 is one of the things that I use when changing flats. I like the speed and also the convenience in part because my many of weekday rides come before work when a flat not only cuts my ride short but also shortens my preparation time to get ready for work or another appointment. The faster I change the tire the more likely I am to get to my next stop on time.

Mishaps are of course nerve wracking.

Last October while my wife was out of town I was returning home from a ride. My plan was get a quick shower and change and pick up my then three-year-old daughter at her preschool. I was on schedule, but about a mile from home I flatted.

Hurricane HPV Dual Mini (this is the old pump)

I changed the tube, took out a CO2 cartridge, pushed the nozzle and pssssst, it was a dud. I had two more cartridges. I kept getting a bubble in the tube and bam! overinflated the tube causing it to pop. I had one more tube and one more cartridge. No pump. I had stopped carrying a pump thinking that the CO2 would replace it. Quite frankly I never liked the pump, the few times I had used it, it didn’t work well, in addition to being bulky I wasn’t able to get much air in the tire.

I was already thinking of how long it would take me to push my bike to my daughter’s school in full riding gear.

I got the second tube inflated, mushy but rideable and picked my daughter up on time.

Common sense should’ve told me to look for another pump. Instead I worked on becoming more proficient at using CO2.

For that matter I didn’t think much about adding a pump until a few months ago when I came across that photo of George Hincapie’s training bike and saw that he was carrying a pump.

If one of the world’s top racers had one on his bike, why wouldn’t a recreational roadie? I’m not racing, I’m not hammering and a few extra grams of weight isn’t going to cost me anything.

Blackburn Airstik 2Stage (this is the new pump)

I decided that I should carry a pump, but it had to be the right one – small, affordable and effective. I ended up buying a Blackburn AirStik 2Stage, the one Hincapie was carrying. It is small enough to fit in a jersey pocket, although I mounted it on my bike. And it can get a tire up to riding pressure in about 200 pumps, that was about 90-100 psi. (I tested it.) And the $22 cost, including shipping, was within my budget.

I still carry CO2 and intend to use it as my primary method of inflating flats, especially when I’m short on time. However, having a pump on board provides me with a backup if there is a problem or as an alternative inflation method for those times when I have time.

SPECS Hurricane Blackburn
Length 267 mm 170 mm
MAX. PSI 100 160
Weight 185 g 84g

Don advises that the Maximum PSI figure for the Blackburn may be a little misleading. It can pump 160 psi “only if you’re Hercules,” he says.

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Categories // Accessories Tags // Accessories, CO2, pump

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