Portland Design Works Shiny Object CO2 Inflator - Bike Tire Inflator, Bicycle Accessories

I bought this a few weeks ago and had to use it today on my weekend bike ride. Worked superbly! I took 2 cylinders in my repair kit and it was a good idea. I was able to top of air a few times to get to a location to replace the tube in a shady spot. One cylinder fills the tire (700 mm) about twice. Second fill is not quite 70 psi but is plenty to continue your ride. A person could ask why mess with this when you could carry a pump. That may be a good choice also but the convenience/speed are more important to me as I usually bike in very hot weather in the south. That pumping after changing a tire on a hot day makes this a far better choice for me. Plus I love the simplicity and size. I read all the reviews before I bought this and was concerned about sealing it on the tire and perhaps losing all the gas from the relatively small cylinder. It's not a problem! Screw the cylinder and as it gets almost all the way on you will hear a little hissing as it seats on the seal. Just screw it on quickly and it will work fine. Make sure the black valve is closed snug, that's all that's required. Then put the tool over your tube valve, you may need to press the valve stem at its base to make sure it doesn't push into the tire. The tool seals on to the valve itself once it's seated. Next crack the black valve slightly and the tire will fill quickly. Then simply close it snug and pull it off the tire. I'd never done this before and believe me it is very easy. I notice a lot of people complaining about the seal, or worried about it coming off etc. I had no problem with this so either they've fixed the problem or maybe they got a defective unit. Mine worked perfectly. If your concerned bring a spare CO2 cylinder and you'll most likely find you don't need it the first time you use this tool.Great product! Great price!!I hope htis helps.

I've tried some of the CO2 inflators where the cartridge is installed inside, but I never found any that I thought were really well made. So, for the last several years, I've carried three CO2 cartridges with the little aluminum adaptor that you use to directly connect the CO2 to the presta stem. You screw one end onto the presta stem, and the CO2 cartridge into the other end. Once the CO2 cartridge goes in far enough, it pierces the cartridge allowing the CO2 to flow in through the stem. These cylinders are small, and light, and that's why I carried them. But, they have two drawbacks, IMO...First, you only get one shot. Once you pierce the cylinder, it dumps everything at one time with no way to shut it off. And, once you pierce the cylinder, you still have to turn the cartridge a half or 3/4 of a turn to get it to bottom out...and you lose some CO2 while doing so, because it's also attached to your stem, and you're usually bent over on the side of the trail when you're using it.The PDW inflator addresses both of these problems. First, with the valve closed, you can thread the cartridge into the inflator while holding it in your hand...you don't have to have it already attached to the presta valve. And it's easy to get the cylinder fully threaded on after the cartridge is pierced, so you only lose a tiny amount of CO2 while doing do.Second, the valve works well. Its action is smooth, it allows you to vary the amount of gas that's being released, and it seals completely without having to tighten the valve an excessive amount. I've had to use it on the trail twice... once to air up a flat tire after putting in a new tube. And the other time, I used it to add a few PSI of air to a tire with a slow leak. The inflator allowed me to add air to the tire three times before the cartridge was spent, over the course of a couple hours.The device is nicely made, and has a quality feel to it. Yet, it's very small and light, and adds next to nothing to the weight you have to carry. I've since bought two more, one for my wife's pack, and a spare in case I lose one.

Since this is my first CO2 inflator, I performed a test run at home to ensure that I knew how to use this tool before requiring to do so on the trails and it works Great! Here are the results of my test run:1. I made sure that the Shiny Object release knob was in the closed position.2. The CO2 cartridge was very easy to screw into the inflator.3. I heard a very low "hiss" once the seal was broken as I screwed in the cartridge.4. I continued screwing in the cartridge until it was well seated but I did not over tighten.5. I filled a backup tube with a Presta valve as well as using a Presta Adapter with no issues either way.6. The CO2 cartridge does get very cold so the stitched leather sleeve works nicely to reduce the frozenness to your fingers / hand.Nice and compact, very well crafted and very functional for any cyclists requiring to perform a flat repair on the trail. Was going to purchase one of those hand pumps but heard too many negative reviews about them as well as hearing that you would need to acquire an expensive pump to meet your tires PSI requirements.I had no desires to spent a lot of money nor perform lots of pump-action on the trail during a flat repair so I opted to get this instead. Excellent decision and this tool will be one of those mandatory items for every trail ride we venture out on for sure.P.S. If I see you out on trails struggling with one of those hand pumps, I will definitely stop and share with you my CO2!

This is a nice lightweight inflator where the valve works perfectly and had never given me any roadside headaches. It is sturdy and well made. I have tried other inflators and in my opinion this one is the best at any price. As much as I ride and care for my tires, I do have to pull this out to do a quick flat fix several times a year. I have one on every bike I own. Just so you know I have some experience with this, I average over 6k miles a year for the past 14 years