Punctured tubes; repair or bin

[AlanW]

Always carry two, plus a small piece of leather cloth.

Repair tubes at home, but only twice, maybe three times, then bin 'um.

 

[MacB]

I'm about to embark on repairing 4 tubes, the boys have been unlucky this week. Previously I've just binned tubes, only had two though as we've been lucky. So, I know basically how to patch, did a lot when I was a kid, but with a pretty poor success rate if I remember rightly. Any guidance, here's what I'm thinking:-

Identify puncture
make sure area is clean, dry and use scrapey pad to rough up, including removing the ridge seam if it's part of the intended patch area
apply glue and spread out in thin layer
allow to dry
apply patch and some chalk over top to avoid it sticking to inside of tyre
allow to set and then inflate to check

question, how much air does the tube need when being repaired, plus any other bits/tips I've missed

 

[AlanW]

question, how much air does the tube need when being repaired, plus any other bits/tips I've missed

I deflate mine as much as possible.

Plus, using talc instead of chalk leaves your hands smelling quite nice.

That said, its a bugger trying to grip the tyre to roll it back on afterwards. B)

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Repair and Repair. Always at home. Hopeless in the rain so always spare tubes with me (1 or 2). Never inflate repair until 24 hours have passed. 100psi on unset glue = leak.

 

[MacB]

well I've just done 4 and all seems ok though the last took me ages to find the puncture, had to resort to a bowl of water in the end. Even then it took a fair bit of air from the track pump to find it. A couple of them meant patches went over the seam. I did try to get this right down but was worried about sanding too hard. Does a bit of the ridge left matter a lot?

 

[Dan B]

I have something like 5 or ten hanging up in the kitchen waiting for me to get around to patching them. Honestly, it's getting to the point where you can identify our flat by the queue of rubber fetishists trying to get in

 

[Matthames]

On the side of the road I just replace the tube and repair the old one when I can get back home and can use a bowl of water to find the hole. That is unless I can identify where the hole is at the side of the road due to a large pointy object sticking out of the tyre.

 

[Hacienda71]

Repair, would be a waste to throw them out. I do chuck them if the puncture is near the valve though and you cant get enough patch all around the point of puncture.

 

[Garz]

Repair - bin on the third puncture - if old - just bin

This.

 

[Davidc]

I've said bin but have been known to repair them. I find that the glue goes hard once opened, and that means buying a new kit, complete with patches - so a new tube looks cheaper.

I carry a repair kit when going any distance. Over half of my 20ish punctures in the last 10 years happened on one 15 mile ride and I only had the usual 2 tubes in my bag .....

I do find plenty of uses for the old tubes, so the rubber doesn't go to waste.

 

[rich p]

I'm a binner but I've been inspired by this thread to repair 2 recent punctures and I felt like I've saved the planet.

 

[lazyfatgit]

Repair if practical. I dont faff about with big holes. Generally after 3rd repair tube gets retired.

Depends on the weather and timing whether i repair or replace at the roadside. I always carry 1 tube and a repair kit.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Always repair. Some of my tubbes have patches on patches. I rarely repair them by the roadside; usually I carry a new tube.

 

[Davidc]

Reading these posts I wonder how many punctures other people get. Am I just luckier than most?

I reckon that in the past 10 years I've had about 20, and have ridden on average about 4000 miles a year, so that's about 1 for each 2000 miles.

They do have bus like habits, and all come along together. I can go a couple of years with none, and then get one every couple of months for a while, or even, as mentioned above, 10 on one short ride. (That was where something had dropped little shards of metal all along the road).

 

[MacB]

Not unusual, I've had 2 in 5k miles and they were on the same ride and on slickish 23mm tyres. I've had none with the M+ tyres yet, the kids do seem to get more though, no surprise there.