Strengths: Easy to use, uses 12 or 16 gram cartridges,lightweight, stuffs into your jersey pocket very easily.
Weaknesses: It is possible to run out of co2. You have to use the inflator correctly or it will not work and you will loose air (read the directions). Cold- I don't know if this stuff would work in really cold weather.
Bottom Line:
I've always had problems with pumps in general. The Rolf wheels on my other bike (Klein) uses long stem valves and I've snapped valve stems using frame or mini pumps and I've been stuck on the side of the road. The answer for me was co2. The Superflate is easy to use and you can control the amount of air going into your tube. It works like a gas station air hose, just press on and inflate. You can use one hand to inflate, not two, like some other co2 inflators (such as my old Serfas). My Superflate came with 2 16g cartridges, but I lost my under seat bad while on a ride and never used them. The 12g can be found in places such as Kmart or Wallmart in packs of 24 for around $.50 per cartridge. The 16g are expensive (around $4.50 per cartridge). I've never had problems finishing a ride with a 12g. I use a Torelli Mini pump (very small, about 6 inches) to mount my tire with about 30 pounds and finish off with a 12g c02. This is a good product for co2 users. The bad side it is possible to run out of c02, but I pack my Torelli as a backup (better than nothing).
Favorite Trail: the single track near the nuke silo on mulholland
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$16.00
Similar Products Used: pump, mouth
Bike Setup: 00 supercal + mg60 stem
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Rob
a Cross Country Rider
from MS
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2000
Strengths: Everything.
Weaknesses: It is, theoretically, possible to run out of CO2 carts. However, the one time I came close, I ran out of patches first.
Bottom Line:
This evening a buddy e-mailed me asking "what new frame pump should I buy?" This is (in part) what I sent back:
OK, your're going to initially hate my technoweenie advice on pumps, but hear me out and maybe you'll agree. Go with a Superflate or an Ultraflate CO2. The reasons for this are too long for one paragraph, so I'll spell it out in a numbered list: 1) the unit's about a lot cheaper, about 2/3 the price of a pump. 2) the CO2's for these are $8 for 25 in Wal-Mart. That's $0.32 each, cheaper than most patches, so cost is not a big setback here. 3) the chuck fits presta and Schrader equaly well, *no adapter needed* 4) the whole thing fits into a seat bag or camelbak, 100% out of the dirt and grit. I have *never* used a pump off-road where I didn't have to first pull it apart and wipe the crap out before it would work; on the other hand, I've never had a CO2 leak from crud. Which brings us to: 5) the things are rugged, far tougher than most pumps. 6) finally, these things inflate fast. No small point when the yellow flies are attacking your lycra.
One more tip, aimed at the previous reviewer who're worried about a fresh CO2 cart getting popped when it's stored in the inflater. Flip the thing around, so it's in the inflater the wrong way. The top can then be screwed in loosly, and the whole thing's safe untill it's needed.
It's darned seldom I come across something this good. I reccomend this thing without reservation, and wonder why the heck anyone even bothers making frame pumps anymore.
Similar Products Used: Trek mini-pump, numerous loaners from friends, Ultraflate, Silca frame pump
Bike Setup: Trek STP 200, near stock but with some SRAM goodies.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Dave
a Racer
from Knoxville, TN
Date Reviewed: December 1, 1999
Strengths: Small, Inflates Quickly
Weaknesses: O ring seal broke after 2 weeks
Bottom Line:
Nice for the first 2 weeks until the O Ring Seal broke causing the CO2 to leak out, had hard time with customer service trying to get another replacement quickly so I could use it for a race5 for the speed of air pressure, 1 for product life and customer service
Submitted by
Jim
a Cross-Country Rider
from Seattle, WA
Date Reviewed: October 8, 1999
Strengths: small, pumps tire fast
Weaknesses: have to buy new cartridges and carry the wasteful metal cartridges around. difficult to regulate air.
Bottom Line:
Its is a good product if you only plan on getting one flat. It takes two cartridges to properly fill one tire. Don't plan on being able to help yourself or your friends if your having a bad day (i.e. too many flats) Also the pump itself is nice and small but then you have to carry around those CO2 cartidges making it total volume greater than and more awkward than that of a frame pump. I give it a few stars because it pumps your tire fast and Does what its intended to do. But I recommend getting a frame pump instead.
Submitted by
Mark Gates
a Cross-Country Rider
from Powell, TN
Date Reviewed: September 20, 1999
Strengths: much, much easier than pumping, compact
Weaknesses: gets your stem and hands too @#$%in cold, easy to accidently hit trigger
Bottom Line:
I got this pump from a mail order place for a good deal, with 8 free cartridges. It fits nicely in my saddle pouch, and it's very easy to use. I don't care what the hard-core riders say, i'd much rather spend several seconds inflating a tire rather than several minutes. Of course, when you use this thing it about freezes both your stem and hand off. Also, I wish they could put some sort of trigger lock on the thing; whenever I put it in my saddle pouch, i'm afraid that something will depress the trigger, wasting a cartridge (which do deplete quickly.) Overall, it does what it's designed to do, and saves me a lot of work...sounds like 5 chilies to me...
Get this! It inflates a road tire in 2 seconds (although you should partially inflate it to check that the tire's seated). It does take 2 or 3 cartridges to fill my mountain tires, though.
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross-Country Rider
from ST. LOUIS, MO
Date Reviewed: July 7, 1999
Strengths: Lightweight - minus CO2 cartridges. Fast inflate, cheap CO2's if unthreaded
Weaknesses: 18 bucks is a little steap, cant fit threaded cartridges in holder - can get really cold and burn you
Bottom Line:
if you are tired of giving your tires a hand job this is the ticket. Super fast inflation, easy to control air by trigger. Works with all CO2 cartridges (threaded/threadless) Best to go to gun/sports shop and pick up a gross of 16g co2 cartridges for about 10 bucks. Much cheaper than bike shop threaded models. Overall very pleased, won't carry a pump again!