Patch or replace inner tube emergency

[youngoldbloke]

I like the Red Bontrager levers - easily seen in the long grass, although I seem to carry them only for other people's benefit. Somehow I've arrived at the happy situation where the tyres I'm using allow me to take them off and put them back without levers - Lithion 2s on Aksiums, Mavic Yksion Comps on Aksiums and GP4000s on Ksyrium Elites - all folding. I don't have much of a problem with the Gatorskins (folding) I use on Aksiums either. I find CO2 most helpful in the winter, in the rain, when it's really cold, and I just want the tyre hard as quick as possible. However you always need to put a little air in the tube to start - either by mouth or with the mini pump - I rate the small Lezyne ones.

 

[KnackeredBike]

I'm surprised at the prevalence of tubes vs repairs. 90% of the time I can find the puncture, get that 20cm section of tube out, repair, and be on my way much more quickly then having to remove the wheel. Not that either are particularly arduous and I carry both in case of an unrepairable tube.

Though thanks to Gatorskins I very rarely need either. Ironically the last time I got a puncture I'd just popped out without anything, and had a hour walk home.

 

[postman]

I always carry two spare tubes.Then repair at home.

 

[froze]

I'm surprised at the prevalence of tubes vs repairs. 90% of the time I can find the puncture, get that 20cm section of tube out, repair, and be on my way much more quickly then having to remove the wheel. Not that either are particularly arduous and I carry both in case of an unrepairable tube.

Though thanks to Gatorskins I very rarely need either. Ironically the last time I got a puncture I'd just popped out without anything, and had a hour walk home.

That is the way I've been doing for 35 years...when possible of course which is most of the time. I had some old guy taught me to fix flats with the wheel still on the bike when I was 12 years old, but that was on a floppy fitting tire on a single speed bike, this method most people never heard of doing, so I'm surprised to find someone here that does it that way too. If I can fix a flat without removing the wheel I can fix the tube faster than someone else putting in a new tube; in fact I would dare to say that even if I have to remove the wheel and the tube to fix it I still think I can fix it in about the same time it takes another person to put in a new tube because of the time it takes to roll the old tube up tight enough to get the air out so it will fit back in the bag. Anyway it's real easy to fix a flat that way especially with fold up tires or sloppy fitting MTB tires, simply remove about half of one side of the tire with the hole in the middle of the half, pull out about a third of the tube, patch, check the inside of the tire for anything stuck in it, then stuff the tube back in and mount the tire. Just practice this method and I know some of you will adopt it. If you have to take the wheel off no problem, take it off and remove about half of one side and do the same thing I just mentioned.

But I alway try to fix the tube first because I can usually locate the penetrating object in the tire or the hole, and since I always index the tire I know exactly where the hole in the tube is should I have to remove the tube. Like I said in my other post I do carry a spare tube, but I only use it if for some reason I can't find the leak or the tube some how got destroyed.

 

[screenman]

As above. With the caveat to not be a knobhead and discard the CO2 canister by the road

Sick of the sight of them littering all over the place these days

That is seldom down to cyclist.

 

[johnnyb47]

I just carry a couple of spare tubes to be honest. If I get a puncture I will repair it back at home if the tube is salvageable. I never bother with tyre levers as my tyres are quite easy to take off by hand. I find if you break the bead all the way round the rim and compress the tyre as much as you can towards the centre of the rim it effectively makes the circumference of the tyre slightly bigger allowing it to be pulled off the rim much easier.

 

[mjr]

Glue isn't expensive but why bother with glue at all when my success with glueless has been the same as glue on patches?

Because it's almost always rubber solution rather than glue, so a patched tube is almost as good as new - just slightly thicker in that spot.

Whereas some ready-glued patches use actual glue instead and so you can peel the patch off, or it'll peel itself off inside the tyre if you're unlucky.

So glued is usually more reliable if you've time unless you've tested your ready-glued ones.

 

[Celticdog]

grass stuffed into the tyre works wonders. It's the Alf Tupper school of cycling

 

[froze]

Because it's almost always rubber solution rather than glue, so a patched tube is almost as good as new - just slightly thicker in that spot.

Whereas some ready-glued patches use actual glue instead and so you can peel the patch off, or it'll peel itself off inside the tyre if you're unlucky.

So glued is usually more reliable if you've time unless you've tested your ready-glued ones.

Except for small thing, in over 20 years using glueless patches I've only had three fail, my very first one because I didn't prep the tube right, then I tried a cheap Skab brand of patches which I was stupid enough to try another when the first one failed.

Once I tried to peel a glueless patch off a 5 year tube and the patch tore the tube with pieces of the tube attached to the patch...not really something you can just peel off.

I even once due to a forum discussion that glueless patches won't hold to high pressures, which was my argument that they could because I use them on road bikes, but regardless I decided to test a glueless patch to the ultimate test. I put a hole in spare tube that had an old glueless patch on it, and then patched it, installed it on a tire and rim and stuck the rim in a large trash can with an air hose connected to it with a remote trigger all of which connected to my compressor, I proceeded in putting in 240 psi, yeah me too, I was surprise the tire didn't blow off the rim or the rim didn't break, I kept that pressure on for a week, the patch never failed, I then let the air the air completely and put it back in my seat bag to be used as a spare, I had that tube and used it for 5 years after that. I once had as many as 13 glueless patches on one tube and none ever failed. I did find out that glueless patches don't work with latex tubes, they'll hold for about 2 to 3 days.

The only glue on patch I've used (besides the Skab tube patch) that fails by coming undone are tire boots, they last about a week, but at least you can get home with them so I always carry one.

Like I said before and I stand by what I said, I had just as much success with glue on as I've had with glueless. I'll never go back to glue on. I only buy either the Park brand or the Specialized Fatboy ones which I don't think are made anymore, or the 3M brand which invented the glueless patch and they're not made anymore either but sold the rights to Park and may have also sold the rights to Specialized but I can't confirm that. I can't bring myself to try other brands because I don't want to find that the patch doesn't work.

Due to another forum debate someone mentioned they used the black Gorilla tape, so I tried it, it held for about a day.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Doesn't seem like gorilla tape works in its miraculous fashion unless you use a heat gun, which I have no ambition to try on a bicycle tube, but it sure works wonders on torn vinyl seats such as on a riding lawn mower. I have tried the Park Patches but went back to Refrema Tip-Top, for unknown reasons. I have had few problems with either, except the cement dries out on glue-on patch kits rather readily.

 

[froze]

except the cement dries out on glue-on patch kits rather readily.

This is why I switched from glue on patches, living in California the glue once opened would only be good for about a month in the hot upper desert area. Having said that I do buy new glueless patches at the start of every season and throw away the old ones, I'm not sure if the adhesive on a glueless patch (unused) is good for more than one season but they're cheap to buy so to be safe I just replace them to make sure I get fresh adhesive.