The Great Debate: Pump or Chuck

I’ve said it once before, but it bears repeating now: adherence to Rule #29 carries with it the ultimate mission of the aspiring Velominatus, which is to geek out endlessly over the minimum amount of gear which yields maximum security in the event of a mechanical incident while riding.

The goal here is twofold. First, with no European Posterior Man Satchel dangling off the back of your bike like an elephant’s nutsack, pocket real estate is at a premium; filling them up with unneeded tools seems wasteful. Second, sagging pockets are as distressing as an EPMS, so care must be taken to ensure the pockets stay as light as possible.

Minimalist multi tool, lightweight inner tube or tubbie goo, and tire levers are all obvious choices; one is left only to endeavor to find the lightest model of each which still functions reliably (a lifetime can be devoted to this task). But that leaves us with the delicate matter of how we choose to resupply the air which provides a simple yet critical element to repairing the most common mechanical of all, the flat tire. The question in this case is, of course, whether to choose a chuck and cartouche c-oh-duex or minipump. Ignoring the obvious utility of being able to challenge someone to a mini-pump duel in the event of irreconcilable difference of opinion on critical matters of La Vie Velominatus, both means of air resupply have their merits.

Dictum 1 above has historically put me in the camp of using a chuck and two C02 cartridges. (One cartouche is not enough, I am much too clumsy to depend on my ability not to bugger the first one up.) First of all, the Lezyne Trigger Drive appeals to my sense of aesthetics; it’s small, nicely crafted, feels great in the hand and can provide hours of fidgeting should it find its way into my pants pocket. I can’t get excited about any particular C02 cartridge, but they are small and simple and I have an inherent appreciation for anything with a thread on it.

Dictum 2, however, does give me some pause; the ensamble is anything but a featherweight. Enter my Lezyne Carbon Roadlite, which was given to me when Lezyne came onboard as Air and Tool Supplier for Keepers Tour 2012. Initially, the pump only accompanied me on wet rides (C02 has a tendency to cause some freezing when discharged in cold, wet weather – very unpleasant). But before long, it began to creep into my thick noggin that the little devil hardly weighs a thing and is more than small enough to fit in my pocket without protruding out of the top, which is most unsightly and considered entirely unacceptable. Today, I find myself reaching for the pump more often than I do the chuck as it lightens my kit a bit, allowing me to consume an additional ale or two without contributing to any overall rider-kit-bike weight gains.

I find myself wondering where others fall in the Great Debate; which path do you walk, Pump or Chuck?

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146 Replies to “The Great Debate: Pump or Chuck”

  1. Pump.  It is often damp when I ride (increasingly often in the foggy early AM), and I’ve had the CO2 disconcertingly frost up too many valve stems. Even when I ride in the middle of the day, I don’t want to think about which set of inflation gear I’m bringing, so I’ve more or less abandoned the cartouches.  And the Lezyne minipump is great — being a retrogrouch I have the shiny/black metal one.

  2. Pump. Guaranteed to work. Not so obtrusive anymore.  And you can hit someone or something with it if necessary.

  3. How can there be a debate? Pumps are so appalling to look at, CO2 wins by default.

  4. I have the Lezyne floor pump and Trigger Drive, so I Chuck home and away.

    The Trigger Drive is simple, fast, and as you say, fits neatly away in a tiny zipped pouch that goes in the rear pocket with other essentials.  I like the look of that carbon mini-pump though

    But there are issues, all of which can probably summed up by the phrase “You’re not doing it right.”

    The freezing, which you mention, was a problem; but allowing a few moments with a warm hand around the chuck has rendered this mostly a non-issue for me of late.

    Secondly, in valves with removable cores, I have to lock-tite the core in so it doesn’t come off while removing the chuck; it’s a bummer to lose all that newly uncompressed CO2.  A guy at an LBS says he’s never had someone ask specifically for a tube with a non-removable valve core.

    Finally, I can’t seem to get the full pressure I’d want with a CO2 cartridge and have brought along a mini-pump on a long ride just to get those last few kilo-pascals. 

    Thus I Chuck and Pump which makes me a CHUMP.

  5. Carrying a Lezyne pump AND CO2 these days – in jersey pocket of course. I think I will lose the CO2 and keep the pump going forward – something about an endless supply of air for the pump appeals to me. Those Lezyne tire irons you show look way cooler than my plastic ones. Rock on with the posts, Frank.

  6. These days, I’m carrying only a Blackburn CO2 inflator with multitool attached.  In center pocket it goes (from L to R) Inflator, spare tube, phone/$20/Credit Card in small see through bag.  This setup all fits standing straight up in most jerseys I own, and nothing pokes out the top of the pocket.  Keys (minimum needed to access house or car) go in the left side pocket, and cleat covers go in the right pocket.

  7. One or two CO2, it depends from how long the loop will be, never considered to put a (small) pump on the frame or in the jersey pockets.

    Just once the two CO2 were not enough, but a coach full of german cyclists saved my day!

  8. I gleefully stuff my pockets with both, phone, ID/money/bank card as well and depending on length of ride a few cooked potatoes.hahahaha

  9. Both. Get the tire as far as you can with the pump or until your hand goes numb. Use the C02 to get it up to pressure

  10. Oh, fuck, another lead V-Article that will go well into the 200+ comments by the time the weeked is done.

    I chuck. VHM chucks.Interestingly, I think the 16oz cartouche easily gets me to my preferred 120+ psi pressure, something of a chore with a pump (and I actually like to go to 140psi). In an effort to reduce the amount of un-merckxesque Shit in my pockets, I am going to move to road tubeless next season, and ditch the tubes and one of the 2 cartouches I now carry. Will add a core remover and a tube of sealant.

    Interesting addition to the debate: travel. Airlines/FAA/TSA nazis frown upon cartouche transport by any means including checked bags. So, unless you have cartouche sent ahead via ground or make a stop at a LBS to buy ahead, then abandon in place upon departure, you’re looking a pump.

  11. I use Co2 because it’s fast, but I do always have a worry in the back of my mind that I’ll somehow bungle two cartridges then be stranded. I do want one of those tiny pumps… the Lezyne carbon drive would fit the bill nicely.

  12. Perhaps I too am using the Trigger Drive incorrectly, but it has been relegated to The Box.  I previously had a Hurricane Quickshot which I never used, but the other day for kicks I tried it out and though larger and less pleasing to the eye vs the TD, it functions much better, for me.  No freezing to the valve, no freezing my fingertips, no losing all the air when trying to remove the chuck.

    To that end, I’d go with the Hurricane, but I flat so much it’s become more sensible I carry a pump, so I use the Road Drive.  When pocket space is limited, I screw it into the bidon cages.  When I’m just commuting, I’ll toss it into the pocket.

  13. when riding with the club one CO2 and one tube. When riding alone or in small group on a long ride I carry that and a second tube and small pump similar to the lezyne.

  14. The chuck and two CO2 cartridges for anything up to four hours, a pump for anything over four hours.

  15. I chuck, but am considering going to pump for one simple concern. Latex tubes and CO2 are not compatible. CO2 leaks out of latex tubes 10x faster than air, and air already leaks out of those babies quite fast. Depending on how far from home you are, you might not make it back.

    Secondly, if you’re running tubeless and use Stan’s, CO2 does not play well with it. I learned this the hard way with my mountain bike. No CO2 for me there.

    That Lezyne Carbon Drive pump is gorgeous. I think I know what I’m getting for Xmas.

  16. @a stray velo

    Neither.

    As a true aspiring Velominatus my ride is not prone to getting flats. They interrupt one’s true attempt at the embodiment of Rule #5.

    Well played.

    @Tony@Dave

    This is the only answer which can be deemed as “wrong”. It contravenes both Dictums which basically make YOU a dicktum.

    @Endless Air Arguments

    I’m not against the pump, of course, but this endless air argument would make me cock an eyebrow if I could do that without the use of a finger. How many flats are you planning on getting? And how many tubes and patches are you carrying?

  17. I carried CO2 for years. One day my teenage daughter called me out on the environmental waste I was propagating. So, I went to a Lezyne pump, bottle cage mounted on the seat tube. At first I wasn’t liking how it cluttered up the lines of my Salsa Primero. But after a few rides I got used to it.

  18. CO2 is fife if there’s a short time on your ride left.  The several hours out flats will leave you flat again, as CO2 permeates and doesn’t hold you off.  Topeak Micro.  Tidy in a pocket pouch, lively, works great up to decent pressure.

  19. This debate has been raging, and do mean RAGING with for months.  I currently carry a pump (a cheap Blackburn) and a CO2 system.  I’m beginning to think this is lame and ecessive in the weight dept.  A hand pump will inflate a tire.  It may not do this as quickly as a CO2 system, but it will get the job done.  If having to work at flat repair for a few more minutes seems  ………. well, time to invoke Rule #5 and learn to lay down some V while pumping up a tire. 

    The CO2 system goes in the drawer before I ride tonight.

     

  20. I spent ten years as a marine navigator. Up until the eighties, finding out where you were was a very long and arduous process of using a sextant and getting your head round some complex spherical trigonometry. By the time you’d worked out a position, you were actually an hour away from where you were when you took the sights. Then came satellite navigation… briliant I thought.., less time number crunching, more time watching the waves and actually knowing exactly where you were. No said the Captain, who acted like he’d been on the Cutty Sark, you can’t trust it, can’t be relied upon blah blah blah, best use both, only the sextant is guaranteed to work. The fact that the sextant is perhaps the most delicate bit of kit on a ship and prone to numerous errors didn’t come into it.

    For me there is no choice, CO2 is the future, it has never let me down and used properly should never fail you, used winter and summer. Trouble with freezing? Just ease the valve a little more slowly, you shouldn’t be blasting it in that quickly anyway.

    Less time pumping, more time riding and at decent presssure to boot.

  21. @eightzero

    Ha! Too true!  When I flew up to Seattle (and snuck a ride in w/ Frank after work on night) a month or two back TSA took umbrage with my repair satchel.  They even had to consult the manual to determine how to dispose of my newly confiscated cylinders.  Funny thing about that, Frank actually had a flat that blew his tire right off the rim on that ride.  Hmmmmm…..

  22. I note the Lezyne carbon road pump is $100. Plus tax, ship. IIRC, a can of CO2 about $3 if buy in quantity? And my chuck was <$10?

  23. @frank

    @Endless Air Arguments

    I’m not against the pump, of course, but this endless air argument would make me cock an eyebrow if I could do that without the use of a finger. How many flats are you planning on getting? And how many tubes and patches are you carrying?

    I’m not planning on getting any flats.  I’m meditating on Rule #83.

  24. Pump. Every time. When I’m completely fucked from dishing out V to the power of V it is a Herculean task for me to remember how those portable hand freezers work, whereas the pumping action held just so seems to come naturally to most males never mind the level of depleted energy.

    Plus is lighter and sits central in a specially stitched pocket on my jersey, what else cold go in there ?

  25. Pump.

    As for how many tubes and patches: one tube, one pack of six Park adhesive patches.

    Of course, I haven’t got a puncture here at home on #1 in almost exactly a year.

    One year anniversary must be in a few weeks. I am surely tempting the gods by even mentioning it.

  26. frame pump and saddle bag please! leave the bare seatposts to those with a caravan!

  27. Fuck the Chuck! I can see that that Lezyne is way compact. I already love it and I don’t own one.

  28. @Blah

    Pump.

    As for how many tubes and patches: one tube, one pack of six Park adhesive patches.

    Of course, I haven’t got a puncture here at home on #1 in almost exactly a year.

    One year anniversary must be in a few weeks. I am surely tempting the gods by even mentioning it.

    You have imposed the Curse of the Flat upon yourself. Sorry!

  29. Wanna make a buttload of dough? Figure out a way to make threaded CO2 cartridges than can be placed securely *inside* the seatpost. Voila: no EPMS, no pocket clutter, but *no rattling* either.

  30. Pump.

    Compressed gas is a secondary power source like battery powered shifting; both sap the V.

  31. I love this debate.

    I used to like CO2 because I could never get to 120psi on a mini pump.

    Then, after a small disaster involving three punctures on one ride, I switched back to the mini pump.

    Now, however, I vary it depending on the ride and the conditions.

    The aim of the Velominatus is self-sufficiency. For that reason, one must carefully select the appropriate tools before each ride based on form and function. Misplaced loyalty to either CO2 or mini pump, when the circumstances dictate one over the other, is, in my opinion, contrary to that aim.

  32. @mcsqueak

    I use Co2 because it’s fast, but I do always have a worry in the back of my mind that I’ll somehow bungle two cartridges then be stranded. I do want one of those tiny pumps… the Lezyne carbon drive would fit the bill nicely.

    Too small a pump is a study in frustration. I have the lezyne, alloy version and I think it might be a smidge bigger, but the hose coupling is what really makes them worthwhile. I’ve used smaller pumps without that hose, and the volume and time it takes to pump a tyre is ridiculous. Can get close to 90-100 psi, or close enought with the Lezyne for it to not be an issue.

    FWIW, I train with a pump and race with chucks. If i go through two cartridges in a race I’m properly screwed anyway so may as well jump in the van.

    I also get a kick out of looking like I’m hunched over a bike, my back to oncoming traffic, looking like I’m furiously masturbating over the dismembered wheels and frame of a bike while pumping up a tyre by hand.

  33. Pump – burns more cals, thus achieving climbing weight quicker! And if in a group ride, have to chase down group Souplesse style.

    I ride around on freakin heavy wheels, 2kg’s+, so on race day, put in the light wheels and you go faster!

  34. @RedRanger You’re a man after my own back pocket, that’s identical to my set up. I pinch SWMBO’s hair ties and thread a back door key onto that, then use it to hold the bundle together. Grab one thing, a banana and out the door.

    One small difference in I use pedro’s levers since I’m a meathead and break other tyre levers very easily.

  35. A zefal pump. I’m kidding.

    Like @a stray velo, I carry neither.  His answer eloquently sums it up. Besides, I’ve only flatted twice in the last 12 months, but if I do I exercise Rule #5 and simply remove the tires completely, grit my teeth, and pedal home on the wheels. 

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