Memoryspade22590
Member
Sorry if this has been hashed out allready.I am planning a long trip this spring and would like to carry a small air compressor in case we get a flat tire. Does anyone have any experience with this. Recommendations?
To each his own I guess. I'm not sure how many cartridges it takes to fully inflate a tire on this beast. In the past, I just used one or two and pumped up the rest of my tire with a hand pump. Very quick and easy. I also have a set of the extra large set of cartridges that I've never used. I might just end up getting an electric pump down the road since these tires are quite a bit larger and take more pressure than my dual sport bike.For me, it's easier and more convenient to use a compressor. I used to use a CO2 cartridge in my bicycle seat bag, and it took two of them (if I recall correctly) to fill a 700x35C Panaracer Pasela to 90 PSI. I just watched a Youtube video where it took a guy four 16g CO2 cartridges to get a 190/55R-17 tire up to 19 PSI. He was getting about 5 PSI per cartridge. At that rate, it would take him 6 or 7 cartridges to get to 30 PSI. It would probably take that many or more to get my 150/70R-17 E07 up to 38 PSI. When I'm touring, especially if I'm in the desert doing some off pavement riding, I'm going to want to be able to fix at least two flats, which means carrying maybe 15 of those 16 gram cartridges. The space my compressor takes up is probably less than that taken up by 15 or those canisters, and with my compressor, I have an unlimited supply of air (or at least, unlimited until the battery goes dead). I can fix any number of flats, plus any that a riding buddy might get.
I agree that mountain bike pump can move more air per stroke than a mini compressor. To get that same 700x35C tire up to 90 PSI took me at least five minutes and probably closer to 10 using a Topeak frame pump. That can be a lot of sweat if you're doing it on the side of a trail or a road in June in Utah. With my bicycle, I at least had the advantage of taking the tire off and into the shade, and I didn't have to squat down beside it on the side of the road in an awkward position while I pumped (I'm old, and my squat doesn't work as well any more). I have no idea how long it would take with a hand pump to get my rear E07 up to 38 PSI, but there's a lot of volume in there; 10 minutes might be a conservative estimate. I opt for the lazy way out, of flipping a switch and standing in the shade while the compressor fills the tire.