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(More customer reviews)First, a bit of advice: Always carry a hand pump in addition to your CO2 pump. The CO2 pump is really ideal for when hand pumping starts to get difficult as pressure builds in the tire, but not by itself. Some will try to shave grams of weight off their rides by not carrying a multitool and a hand pump amongst other necessities, but take it from a veteran of countless tours and avid rider of decades that it would be better to head out with a CamelBak or handlebar bag full of everything you might need from Clif Bars to band aids, a windbreaker, and a multitool than to be perhaps a whole pound lighter. Besides, there's a saying that is growing in popularity amongst cyclists: If you want to shave weight off your ride, start with the rider. Your ride, your comfort, and your endurance will all be far better if you're better equipped.
A cartridge pump isn't really a necessity, but it's a great item to have because flat tires most often happen in wet weather, or on a group ride or tour when your flat or your friend's flats can hold up a whole group of people or hinder your enjoyment of the day. I usually carry extra cartridges, tubes, and patches to help friends or even strangers who brought nothing. And whether for myself or another rider in need, I much rather get going quickly with the pull of a trigger than be pumping the tire by hand for at least ten minutes, tiring myself out for nothing.
But you will need the handpump to start out the tube, and should use it to quickly do a pumping until it starts to get hard to move the pump, THEN use the CO2 inflator for the hard part. By using the hand pump first, you can inflate the tire fully using only one cartridge instead of two or three.
Also note that--using a mountain bike tire as an example--while the first cartridge will bring the pressure in a mountain bike tire up to perhaps as high as 40 psi, that doesn't mean a second cartridge will give you up to 80 psi. In fact, that second cartridge might only give you another 10 psi, bringing you up to 50 psi--which is fine for a mountain bike ride, but no good for a road ride. Use another cartridge fully, and it will be exponentially less effective. Hense, the hand pump is a necessity to start out the tube and get a good bit of initial air in there, then finish off with one more cartridge.
A road tire will pump up to 100 psi on one cartridge, one shot, on a warm day.
On a cold day, below 40F, the cartridge pump could be almost useless. I've had some luck with keeping the cartridges in a pocket close to my body so that they're warm when I use them, but can't say conclusively that it works. They will, of course, ice up as soon as the gas is released, but warm gas takes up more space--remembering Science 101 from junior high.
Know also that this pump is compatible with every kind of cartridge except 12 gram threadless--which are hard to find except for the air rifle cartridges that contain silicon. But they work best with 16 gram threadless, so you can use handle and all.
The locking switch is a great improvement over my old CO2 pump which didn't have this feature, so that you can still use that bit of air that may be left in a partially used cartridge.
Good luck finding Big Air cartridges in your local bike shop.
Anyway, glad I have this item. It works and has saved me a lot of time and frustration.
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Innovations Ultraflate Plus CO2Our best selling \'Trigger Grip" inflator. Easy to use with built in safety feature and trigger inflation. Works with ALL Genuine Innovations CO2 refill cartridges (except 45 gram). Comes with one 16g non-threaded CO2 cartridge.
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