Puncture Repair Patches

[G3CWI]

My off-road commute together with the adjacent landowners cutting hedges, means that i get through a lot of patches. I have favoured Skabs for a while but they are costing me a fortune - each puncture recently has been two (or even three) thorns.

I rather wondered if there was anything special about patches? For work I have little vinyl labels made with a permanent adhesive. I am tempted to try one as a patch. Has anyone else here done this? Successful?

The labels cost 3.4p each compared to 33p for a Skab. They are also bigger so, cut in half, each label should do 2 punctures.

 

[Tim Hall]

My off-road commute together with the adjacent landowners cutting hedges, means that i get through a lot of patches. I have favoured Skabs for a while but they are costing me a fortune - each puncture recently has been two (or even three) thorns.

I rather wondered if there was anything special about patches? For work I have little vinyl labels made with a permanent adhesive. I am tempted to try one as a patch. Has anyone else here done this? Successful?

The labels cost 3.4p each compared to 33p for a Skab. They are also bigger so, cut in half, each label should do 2 punctures.

I would have thought vinyl won't stretch enough to work properly. When you inflate the inner tube it expands to fill the space inside the tyre. Being rubber, it's good at that, but the patches need to be able to do it too. But 33p for a patch? Blimey, that's what I call ridiculous. Buy some real, unglued patches and a tube of glue. I had a bag of 200 Rema Top Tip ones from somewhere on Ebay for the price of a pint, or thereabouts.

 

[G3CWI]

I would have thought vinyl won't stretch enough to work properly. .

Ahh - of course. I thought I must have missed something obvious.

A quick look on eBay shows that 30 - 50p per self-adhesive patch is normal - seems a lot.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Self-adhesive is rubbish. Get real patches with a tube of solution.

Another disadvantage of a vinyl patch is the sharp edge. The edge needs to be feathered. On something like vinyl that's harder than butyl (especially in the cold), the edge will abrade right through the tube. This can be seen with vinyl tyre liners which cause more punctures than they prevent.

 

[G3CWI]

Self-adhesive is rubbish.

Interesting that you should say that. I have never had any problem with Skabs (used for many years). I did have some self-adhesive patches ages ago from Aldi or Lidl and they were indeed rubbish. Maybe I am getting what I am paying for?

 

[the_mikey]

I have used Park Tools puncture patches which are essentially a thin, flexible plastic-like patch with some adhesive, they work in the short term, but having always had difficulty getting them to stick to the tube I've never had the balls to use them as anything but an emergency patch. I have much more confidence with the traditional vulcanising patches with the little tube of cement.

 

[Pale Rider]

I know a couple of mountain bikers who like Skabs because they are a bit thicker than some other patches.

Seems unlikely to me you will do much better with any other type of patch.

I'm sure you've thought about this, but wouldn't it be worth looking at tyres which are more puncture resistant?

Cut thorns are one of the hardest things to guard against, not least because they have the habit of jumping up and attacking the thinner sidewall of the tyre.

Slime tubes is another consideration.

I've read several accounts of mountain bikers picking eight or 10 thorns out of their still-inflated tyres, so slime tubes might be effective in your circumstances.

 

[albal]

Go conventional .I never use anything but Rema tip top. They are the best.

 

[e-rider]

self-ad patches like Park Tools seem to last about 6-12 months before they fail - they cost about 45p per patch. Normal patches with glue solution make a more permanent fix but they also cost about 40p per patch and are more hassle on the side of the road.
That's the deal. A new tube costs about £4.
your choice!

 

[Tim Hall]

self-ad patches like Park Tools seem to last about 6-12 months before they fail - they cost about 45p per patch. Normal patches with glue solution make a more permanent fix but they also cost about 40p per patch and are more hassle on the side of the road.
That's the deal. A new tube costs about £4.
your choice!

40p a patch? You're going to the wrong shop. First hit on ebay fave me 100 patches plus glue at 12.75p per patch. As for ease of use, fit a new tube at the side of the road and do the patching at home in the dry.

 

[HLaB]

I have used Park Tools puncture patches which are essentially a thin, flexible plastic-like patch with some adhesive, they work in the short term, but having always had difficulty getting them to stick to the tube I've never had the balls to use them as anything but an emergency patch. I have much more confidence with the traditional vulcanising patches with the little tube of cement.

I've never had a problem with them long term until I last used them. LOL a day after my last patch and after a good ride when I was cleaning the bike the tyre suddenly went down There a good back up for that occasion when I run out of tubes and have the vain advantage of not looking like a patched tube

 

[e-rider]

40p a patch? You're going to the wrong shop. First hit on ebay fave me 100 patches plus glue at 12.75p per patch. As for ease of use, fit a new tube at the side of the road and do the patching at home in the dry.

it must be a big tube of glue if it's enough for 100 patches - that vulcanizing solution dries up after 2 months as well

 

[HLaB]

it must be a big tube of glue if it's enough for 100 patches - that vulcanizing solution dries up after 2 months as well

That's what I found the tube unless left unsealed at home would dry up or leak and dry up sooner, so I don't carry it any more and carry a couple of spare tubes instead and for that occasion when I run out of spare tubes there's Park's patches

 

[robjh]

Anyway tried this Weldtite rubber strip? You just snip off the size that you want. I wonder if it would be good for narrow road bike tyres, where I find that some patches are too wide to apply easily to the tyre without trimming

 

[Tim Hall]

it must be a big tube of glue if it's enough for 100 patches - that vulcanizing solution dries up after 2 months as well

Two 10g tubes according to the ad. Whether that's enough I don't know, but supplying two tubes will help with any drying up problems.