# Puncture - repair it or new inner tube??



## skt71 (30 Sep 2014)

Posted in the welcome mat a few weeks ago, and been enjoying my cycling since, on a Carrera tdf from Halfords. Had to replace the tyres a few weeks ago, as I'd flat-spotted the back tyre, and it was wearing through,. Replaced them with Continental Ultra Gator Skin tyres, and have been amazed at the difference in the last few rides.

Out yesterday, and unfortunately got a puncture. Have tried fixing it tonight twice, but I seem to being having problems getting the patch to properly stick and the orange bit to form a nice seal. It's a recurring problem of mine - fixed punctures, then tyres deflated a week later and finally went went through six patches last time, before I gave in and bought a new inner tube.

Feel pretty stupid asking, but, can anyone give me some advice on fixing punctures, and applying the patch??

Or, is it just easier to spend £4 on a new inner tube???

Thanks


----------



## vickster (30 Sep 2014)

I've never repaired one. You can get 5 tubes from Halfords for a tenner (indeed £9 if a British Cycling member),,,life's too short!


----------



## TissoT (30 Sep 2014)

Buy new Tubes ...


----------



## Hugh Manatee (30 Sep 2014)

Roughen up the tube with a bit of sandpaper before applying the glue. You have to let the glue go almost dry before you put the patch on. I then use a pump (or rolling pin if at home) to make sure all the edges are stuck down. The idea is that the glue sort of melts the orange part of the patch.

Don't forget to sand a little bit of chalk over the repair. It'll stop the tube sticking to the tyre. Flour works OK if you're at home!


----------



## Sharky (30 Sep 2014)

I always repair my inner tubes. One of those skills you need to be able to do when you are miles from home and already gone through the two spare inner tubes you've been carrying.

I also used to repair my "tubs" in the old days as well.

Must be lots of guides on the web, but 
- find the hole , sometimes using a bowl full of water, sometimes you can run the tube next to your lips.
- rough up the area with sandpaper
- apply rubber solution to tube and leave to dry, then apply the patch.
- use the chalk powder to take away any glue left on tube.
- check the inside of the tyre for any flints that could still be there
- test the repair by using the bowl of water. Sometimes, there is more than one hole in the tube.
- inflate and leave overnight to make sure it's ok.
- then refit to wheel

Good luck
Keith


----------



## MMMMMike (30 Sep 2014)

As per Keith's reply. I carry a spare tube or two depending on distance to be ridden. And repair the punctured tubes when I back home. I carry self adhesive patches and co2 canisters' etc. for if I run out of spares. Again I pretty much follow Keith's method of repairing.


----------



## Paulus (30 Sep 2014)

As above from MMMMMike, I always carry a couple of good tubes and repair them at home if I get a puncture out on the road. it is much easier to do it at home than on the roadside in the rain.


----------



## Jenkins (30 Sep 2014)

Try the glueless patches such as Park or Topeak as they seem to work better for me - and you don't have to carry the glue to fix flats while out and about.


----------



## rb58 (30 Sep 2014)

I repair mine too in exactly the same way as above. But I save them up until there's a job lot to do.


----------



## cyberknight (30 Sep 2014)

Sharky said:


> I always repair my inner tubes. One of those skills you need to be able to do when you are miles from home and already gone through the two spare inner tubes you've been carrying.
> 
> I also used to repair my "tubs" in the old days as well.
> 
> ...


The highlighted bit could be the problem , with gators you need to also check the outside for any embedded bits of glass /grit in any small cuts as they can cause recurring punctures if you don`t get them out .


----------



## Dave 123 (30 Sep 2014)

As stated, rough up tube, let the glue go tacky

THEN

If I'm at home I put some form of weight on the patch to make sure it sticks.


----------



## Nigelnaturist (30 Sep 2014)

I am really surprised, not had one on my front in over 8,000 miles, I had two pinch punctures on the rear after hitting stones hard, one so hard it dented the rim, these usually leave two small holes where the tube has been pinched against the rim, and resembles a snake bite. The last took a chunk of rubber off the tyre, but it was still ridable.


----------



## Sharky (30 Sep 2014)

Nigelnaturist said:


> I am really surprised, not had one on my front in over 8,000 miles.


 
Hope the PF hasn't heard you
Cheers Keith


----------



## Nigelnaturist (30 Sep 2014)

@Sharky  forgot about her, seriously though the track to the house is strewn with all many kinds of debris broken glass ect, they even bounce over twigs pretty well (providing they are not branches, avoid them the bike being a pretend road bike)


----------



## Mongoose (30 Sep 2014)

I think you've been unlucky with the Ultra Gatorskins. I had 5 punctures in the first two weeks of owning my TDF. Switching to Gatorskins is the only bit of good advice I've ever had from Halfords! Mine have been good for over 2,000 miles now. I never managed to fix a 700c tube while out and about and even found it difficult back at home.10 tubes for £27 on eBay helped me to make up my mind. Much quicker and easier to change the tube than fix the puncture.

The Gatorskins have been very faithful to me to date so I generally only carry one spare tube and hope I don't face an expensive taxi ride home.


----------



## Mongoose (30 Sep 2014)

They were Continental Race 28 tubes (at least I think they were unless they were of the Chinese variety )at £2.70 each!


----------



## slowmotion (30 Sep 2014)

I quite enjoy repairing tubes, but only back at home. What do you good people do when the smallest patch is a larger diameter than the squashed width of the tube when you have it deflated? That always stumps me.


----------



## Colin_P (30 Sep 2014)

Cut the patch in half or into quarters.

As for repairing tubes, once you have gone to the bother of taking your wheel off, removing the tyre and tube, it only takes a few minutes more to patch it.

I think the back tube on my hybrid is currently running with six patches on it !


----------



## PK99 (30 Sep 2014)

It's too much faff patching out on the road, so i put a new tube in but take the holed one home. When i have enough to warrant a "patching session", I say "sod it" and bin the lot.


----------



## Cubist (1 Oct 2014)

Spread the glue over an area larger than the patch to make sure no corners or edges can lift, use chalk or talc to stop it sticking, and put it straight back in the tyre. The pressure of the inflated tube presses the patch against the tyre and save having to weight it down.


----------



## Gravity Aided (1 Oct 2014)

Tube repair and bottom bracket overhauls are what winter is made for. Wheel building and truing too.


----------



## screenman (1 Oct 2014)

We always noticed on club runs that the person who got the punctures also happened to have patches on the tube he changed or fixed. Maybe just coincidence. Along with changing a tube should the evil thing happen I also change my tubes once a year at least.


----------



## PK99 (1 Oct 2014)

one point wrt use of sandpaper "to roughen" the tube surface. Not strictly true the real purpose is to remove the releasing agent that prevents the tube sticking to the mould in the manufacturing process.


----------



## youngoldbloke (1 Oct 2014)

Helpful hint - when I find the hole in the tube I mark it with a cross using a ballpoint pen. Make the cross bigger than the patch you will be using, and the area you will be abrading with the sandpaper. Then you will be able to judge where to centre the patch when you stick it down.


----------



## KneesUp (1 Oct 2014)

screenman said:


> We always noticed on club runs that the person who got the punctures also happened to have patches on the tube he changed or fixed. Maybe just coincidence. Along with changing a tube should the evil thing happen I also change my tubes once a year at least.




It could of course be that the person in question had worn or thin/lightweight tyres, thus making punctures more likely. 

I abhor the approach that says 

'of course it can be easily and cheaply repaired at home with minimal equipment and be safely used for a long time, but sod it, they're dead cheap because they're made by people getting a pitiful wage and shipped half way around the world in bulk - and it's not like there is a finite amount of natural resources - so I'm going to throw away this serviceable item so it can lie in the ground for hundreds of years and use another'

Repair them - they're designed to be repaired.


----------



## vickster (1 Oct 2014)

When they go for me, they go big style and I end up with a hole the size of a £2 piece or bigger, not repairable anyhow!


----------



## KneesUp (1 Oct 2014)

vickster said:


> When they go for me, they go big style and I end up with a hole the size of a £2 piece or bigger, not repairable anyhow!


Wow - what are you doing to them? I've never seen that.


----------



## vickster (1 Oct 2014)

Most recently, rode over an enormous chunk of metal. Time before, tube after being changed just lost air and then went pop at side of road (possibly overinflated but the pump read 100psi). Rode over a brick at speed, did both front and rears!. Somehow managed to pinch tube between tyre and rim

This all in the last year. Before that, no visits for around 5 !


----------



## KneesUp (1 Oct 2014)

vickster said:


> Most recently, rode over an enormous chunk of metal. Time before, tube after being changed just lost air and then went pop at side of road (possibly overinflated but the pump read 100psi). Rode over a brick at speed, did both front and rears!. Somehow managed to pinch tube between tyre and rim
> 
> This all in the last year. Before that, no visits for around 5 !



Aha - I tend to avoid riding over obstacles I can see - that'll be the difference 

A brick?!


----------



## Dan B (1 Oct 2014)

I'm in the "replace tube at roadside, patch old tube at home" camp. One other reason for doing it this way is to reduce the number of part-used tubes of rubber cement that I have to throw away because they go gunky and unusable after opening.


----------



## Diggs (1 Oct 2014)

Unless it's the valve damaged, I will change tubes (checking tyre) and patch mine when I get home.
The only one I've struggled to patch is this one.


----------



## KneesUp (1 Oct 2014)

Diggs said:


> Unless it's the valve damaged, I will change tubes (checking tyre) and patch mine when I get home.



Even I don't patch if it's near the valve - I threw one away last week (well, I kept it to use as padding under my bar tape, but I retired it from inner-tube duties) because there was a tear in the bit where the valve attached - I think because I was missing the little securing nut on the outside.


----------



## raleighnut (1 Oct 2014)

Diggs said:


> Unless it's the valve damaged, I will change tubes (checking tyre) and patch mine when I get home.
> The only one I've struggled to patch is this one.
> View attachment 57875


I think that's a gonner


----------



## Dan B (1 Oct 2014)

I throw the nuts away: I don't think they serve any purpose


----------



## KneesUp (1 Oct 2014)

Dan B said:


> I throw the nuts away: I don't think they serve any purpose


I read that on here somewhere so I did the same, and within two weeks I had a tear near the valve. Could be coincidence if you don't have the same problem.


----------



## Diggs (1 Oct 2014)

KneesUp said:


> Even I don't patch if it's near the valve - I threw one away last week (well, I kept it to use as padding under my bar tape, but I retired it from inner-tube duties) because there was a tear in the bit where the valve attached - I think because I was missing the little securing nut on the outside.


Yep so many other uses, bar padding, chainstay protectors, offcuts for protection/grip for light fittings.
People like @beer_babe on Twitter use them to make some nice kit too


----------



## youngoldbloke (1 Oct 2014)

KneesUp said:


> I read that on here somewhere so I did the same, and within two weeks I had a tear near the valve. Could be coincidence if you don't have the same problem.


I use michelin tubes - smooth unthreaded valves so no nut - no problems. And while you're at it throw the dustcaps away too once youv'e put the tube on the wheel.


----------



## vickster (1 Oct 2014)

KneesUp said:


> Aha - I tend to avoid riding over obstacles I can see - that'll be the difference
> 
> A brick?!


Yes I think so, hard to avoid at 20mph when the kerb is one side and heavy traffic the other...it may also be that I simply didn't see it (at all/in time)!


----------



## Gravity Aided (1 Oct 2014)

Dan B said:


> I throw the nuts away: I don't think they serve any purpose


I think the nuts hold the valve stem where it should be. The Presta valve seems more delicate in all respects than the Schrader, so I figure a little insurance may go a long way.


----------



## youngoldbloke (1 Oct 2014)

Gravity Aided said:


> I think the nuts hold the valve stem where it should be. The Presta valve seems more delicate in all respects than the Schrader, so I figure a little insurance may go a long way.


They are really not necessary. As I said I use Michelin tubes, both butyl and latex, and neither have threaded stems or nuts. The valves seem to know their place - the hole in the rim !


----------



## Dan B (1 Oct 2014)

Gravity Aided said:


> I think the nuts hold the valve stem where it should be. The Presta valve seems more delicate in all respects than the Schrader, so I figure a little insurance may go a long way.


100psi of air inside the tube will quite effectively hold it against the inside of the tyre wall, and if the tube can't move the valve isn't going to go wandering off either :-)

I've heard stories of tyres shifting under emergency braking causing the tube to slide round so that the valve rips, which I guess is a possible failure mode and I suspect more likely at lower pressures: I'm not sure in this case if having the valve secured in the valve hole is going to make it more or less likely ... do you think it would anchor the whole tube or it would just cause it to stretch and rip? I guess both are possible


----------



## Peteaud (1 Oct 2014)

If i am out and its nice weather, then a Park or Topeak instant patch. If its wet, new tube and repair old one later at home, with said instant patch.


----------



## screenman (1 Oct 2014)

KneesUp said:


> It could of course be that the person in question had worn or thin/lightweight tyres, thus making punctures more likely.
> 
> I abhor the approach that says
> 
> ...



My life may depend on my tyres and tubes, like most on here I often hit 40mph downhill and I want to be sure I have quality rubber underneath me.

I have never as far as my memory goes back thrown out an old tube, I use them for may things.

These people on pitiful wages, they are grateful for any wage, personally I wish they were paid more, but you only have to read this forum to see a lot of people buy on price alone, I am not one of those people.

As for wasting resources, how many go into your puncture outfit, patches, glue, tin,etc. You have me very wrong.


----------



## Nigelnaturist (1 Oct 2014)

screenman said:


> My life may depend on my tyres and tubes, like most on here I often hit 40mph downhill and I want to be sure I have quality rubber underneath me.
> 
> I have never as far as my memory goes back thrown out an old tube, I use them for may things.
> 
> ...


Pays the same pitiful wages but to others, the only thing that can't be recycled is the glue as that is used. It goes use, re-use, recycle.


----------



## Gravity Aided (1 Oct 2014)

Dan B said:


> 100psi of air inside the tube will quite effectively hold it against the inside of the tyre wall, and if the tube can't move the valve isn't going to go wandering off either :-)
> 
> I've heard stories of tyres shifting under emergency braking causing the tube to slide round so that the valve rips, which I guess is a possible failure mode and I suspect more likely at lower pressures: I'm not sure in this case if having the valve secured in the valve hole is going to make it more or less likely ... do you think it would anchor the whole tube or it would just cause it to stretch and rip? I guess both are possible


I'm betting on it anchoring, although I've never seen such a situation come up either. I'm of the opinion that a tube can do a whole lot of stretching. If Michelin chooses to have their tubes without threaded stems, that is their choice. They are not mine. But I do like their tires quite well, both bicycle and auto.


----------



## screenman (2 Oct 2014)

Nigelnaturist said:


> Pays the same pitiful wages but to others, the only thing that can't be recycled is the glue as that is used. It goes use, re-use, recycle.


3

You reuse patches?

I must admit I woke up this morning wondering why I put that last line up, I blame it on a too long day at work for by a hard swimming session, and of course old age.


----------



## Nigelnaturist (2 Oct 2014)

screenman said:


> 3
> 
> You reuse patches?
> 
> I must admit I woke up this morning wondering why I put that last line up, I blame it on a too long day at work for by a hard swimming session, *and of course old age*.


I think we all suffer that from time to time, no I don't reuse patches but like tubes they can be recycled.


----------



## Svendo (2 Oct 2014)

slowmotion said:


> What do you good people do when the smallest patch is a larger diameter than the squashed width of the tube when you have it deflated? That always stumps me.


I don't buy kits with a variety of patches as I only run 23mm tyres. I get a job lot of tip top f0s off eBay.
My other tip is to use a pair of the GFs Kirby grips (hair pins with one side wobbly) to mark the hole and hold the tube with the hole in the middle. Get them dead even and you know exactly where to put the patch even when the hole has disappeared under the dried glue.


----------



## Nigelnaturist (2 Oct 2014)

Svendo said:


> I don't buy kits with a variety of patches as I only run 23mm tyres. I get a job lot of tip top f0s off eBay.
> My other tip is to use a pair of the GFs Kirby grips (hair pins with one side wobbly) to mark the hole and hold the tube with the hole in the middle. Get them dead even and you know exactly where to put the patch even when the hole has disappeared under the dried glue.


At the rate I have punctures I will be dead by the time I use that lot, or I will need to find more stranded cyclists with punctures


----------



## cyberknight (2 Oct 2014)

Another option for small tubes is to buy a patches as a sheet and cut them to the size you want , 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weldtite-...sure_Cycling_BikeLocks_SR&hash=item1e8cee3fa1


----------



## Colin_P (2 Oct 2014)

Svendo said:


> I don't buy kits with a variety of patches as I only run 23mm tyres. I get a job lot of tip top f0s off eBay.
> My other tip is to use a pair of the GFs Kirby grips (hair pins with one side wobbly) to mark the hole and hold the tube with the hole in the middle. Get them dead even and you know exactly where to put the patch even when the hole has disappeared under the dried glue.



That is very clever.

The kits these days seem to not include any sandpaper, chalk and most importantly a bit of yellow crayon. The bit of crayon I have now is down to the nub so hair clips are the way forward!


----------



## Nigelnaturist (2 Oct 2014)

@Colin_P The kit the OH got me from Aldi a while back has chalk ect.... and quite a few patches, only used one to help a cyclist the other day to repair a rear tube, though as didn't have spanners (who does on a modern bike) had to do the tube with the wheel in place, having done this and getting the tyre pumped up, checked the front and found it woefully soft, so attempted to inflate that and the valve came away from the tube, nothing I could do about that so he ended up walking home anyway.


----------



## Profpointy (2 Oct 2014)

tea cups are so cheap in bulk I never bother washing them, just get a new one out of the box. It gives work to 3rd world potters.


----------



## screenman (2 Oct 2014)

Profpointy said:


> tea cups are so cheap in bulk I never bother washing them, just get a new one out of the box. It gives work to 3rd world potters.



Good idea, they have lots of uses, much the same as an old inner tube.

You know this green bit you talked about earlier, is your internet connnection etc. solar?


----------



## youngoldbloke (2 Oct 2014)

Colin_P said:


> That is very clever.
> 
> The kits these days seem to not include any sandpaper, chalk and most importantly a bit of yellow crayon. The bit of crayon I have now is down to the nub so hair clips are the way forward!


Or a ballpoint - see my post above.


----------



## Colin_P (2 Oct 2014)

youngoldbloke said:


> Or a ballpoint - see my post above.



I'd have to obtain one of those nice blue pens from argos so it would fit in the puncture kit box


----------



## youngoldbloke (2 Oct 2014)

Colin_P said:


> I'd have to obtain one of those nice blue pens from argos so it would fit in the puncture kit box


Ah, yes - I'm one of the replace with new tube on the road, repair at home faction. Though I carry patches etc 'just in case' (and I've got an almost new yellow crayon!)


----------

