Punctured inner tubes, save or bin?

[Alembicbassman]

Second ride out with new tyres fitted (Schwalbe City Jet) on the MTB. Rode some trails, nothing too nasty, just grit and hardpack, got puncture.

Fitted fresh tube in the field, puncture was a tiny 'nick' and only visible under water (bubbles). I have put a patch on it.

Just taking a poll of who patches and who chucks.

Tubes are about £4 a pair from Lidl etc... Patches work out cheaper though.

Lesson learned, stick to the road and keep off towpaths with City Jets.

 

[corshamjim]

In two years of commuting 8 miles a day on M+ tyres I've not been faced with that decision yet!

I'm sure I'll eventually get a puncture though. Given that my tubes are 2 years old now I'll definitely replace them (with the spare tubes I also bought a couple of years ago ).

 

[Cubist]

I usually repair the punctured tube and refit it as soon as I get home. That way the spare in my pack is unpatched and I know I can trust it.

Why bin them just 'cos they're patched? Four pounds is a point of beer in that Lunnun.

 

[ohnovino]

It's the bin for mine.

There's few things more annoying than spending time carefully patching a tube and refitting it, only to discover a tiny leak a few miles down the road. I'd rather blow a whole two quid on a new tube.

 

[Furkz]

i bought some specialized ones from evans for £2.50

 

[marzjennings]

Or neither. Converted the wheels to tubeless on the mountain bike. So far no punctures in a month, which for me is a record. I usually get at least one puncture a month.

Before tubeless I used to chuck the tyre after the third patch (ish).

 

[Herzog]

Bin - life's too short to patch tyres.

 

[Alun]

Replace them by all means, but don't bin the old ones they might come in handy

 

[dellzeqq]

I used to bin them, but these fancy new self-adhesive patches are so quick and mess-free I can fix the tube in seconds and move on.

 

[rualexander]

Binning a tube because its had a puncture suggests more money than sense. Fixing a puncture is simple and quick, just carry a spare tube and do the repair at home.

 

[martint235]

I just don't have enough faith in my puncture repair ability plus I alway run my tyres at around 140psi (I'm sure someone will tell me this doesn't matter) and I don't want another flat 10 miles down the road so i do tend to bin them.

That said, I did take patches on the Wootton Bassett ride cos I've only got space to carry two spare tubes and I have managed two punctures on a ride before.

 

[byegad]

I bin 'em.

When I was a boy I repaired tubes with no issues. (1950s and 1960s)

Somehow over the years my patches have become less secure and in the last ten or so years I've had patches lift after three minutes, three days, three months and three years. So now I replace with a new tube every time.

 

[Adrian_K]

I usually repair the punctured tube and refit it as soon as I get home. That way the spare in my pack is unpatched and I know I can trust it.

Why bin them just 'cos they're patched? Four pounds is a point of beer in that Lunnun.

+1
although for this weekend's pinch puncture I had two holes an due to my incompetance after the fourth failed attempt at repairing, I lost patience and binned the tube.

 

[Fnaar]

I keep them so that I can hang them up the shed and look at them from time to time, thinking "I must repair those tubes sometime"

 

[Crackle]

I can't understand why anyone would bin a punctured tube. Is it just puncture apathy, ability? If you can't fix a puncture, you really should persist and learn, otherwise you could find yourself with a long walk one day, if you couldn't be bothered, well pffftt, you've more money than me then.

Some of my tubes have had 5 or 6 patches, rare these days as tyres are so much better, so I don't think I've more than one on the odd tube now but previously the time to ditch was when I had a few in the same place and the inner tube was badly distorted in one spot when you blew it up to check.

I can fix a punture in the rain, in the mud, without taking the wheel off (from the days when QR was not common on cheaper bikes), a split near the valve (you need to carry a sheet of puncture rubber), pretty much anywhere if necessary and it's come in useful many times. These days I do carry a spare tube, so it's faster to swop out and repair at leisure, unless of course you forget and then you swop out a punctured tube for a punctured tube. Me? No of course I haven't done that