I'd like to carry a small reliable hand pump to air up after leaving trails where air down is beneficial. Also to air up in case of flat. I'm not a fan of the CO2 units. Any of you guys have a pump you carry and like. Thanks.

 

I found that any hand pump which is small & light enough to easily pack will take forever to get the pressure back up. I prefer to have an electric pump back at the truck, and/or carry a small can of aerosol flatfix for tube failures.

 

I carry the small Slime 12v pump that plugs into battery tender port.


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I carry a mountain bike hand pump. No 12V, no CO2, KISS. Yes, it takes a lot of pumping to get a tire up to pressure but it's doable. The only issue might be getting the bead to seat.
It's packed in the MC pack right now so I won't check which make/model. Some sort of Blackburn. I'll try to remember to post the detail next time it sees daylight.

 

ol' klx, I use a mountainbike pump too. Those who've used a small bike pump and had trouble with volume and pressure difficulty, I'd say you were using the wrong pump. Topeak makes the Mountain Morph...the one about 12" long with a fat tube. It has enough volume to minimize the time to fill a tire...have you seen the size of some of our mountainbike tires these days?. It has a mechanical advantage design to ease the amount of effort needed, and it has a fold out foot and T-handle to further ease pumping effort. The beauty of a good, small, bike pump is that it is light, and it always works. I think the little 12V pumps are great for road bikes and/or where you don't have as big an issue with the extra weight. I have to carry a minimum of some tools and small parts as it is for true off roading, so the 12V pump is just not on my list.

 

Yes, they rival the size of our MC fronts.
Check out the Surly Moonwalker. Rivals our MC rear tires.

 

I'm interested to know why you all aren't fans of the CO2 units. I carry one, with three cartridges, but have never needed it (knock on wood).

 

Scott, I've used CO2 carts for motorcycles and bicycles both over the years. When the replacement of the tube goes relatively without issue, a couple of air carts are sufficient. If you run into any difficulty, you'd better have more carts. A small plastic container of self-sticking patches can get you by if you run into a problem while installing a new tube. On the bike pump...I always go back to the point that it always works and is available over and over again.

 

I'm interested not just for flat repair, but for a more regular basis of airing up after for the ride home after air down trail stuff. I am getting into some stuff on occasion that is suited for the "air down". But at some point I have a 10-25 mile ride home on hard pack that is suited to higher pressure and lower wear, etc. Once 1 of those little CO2 cylinders is done, if you're not back in business after a flat you may as well grease it up and use it for a suppository, IMO!

 

CO2 cartridges cause global warming, dontcha know.