Repair or bin?

[Sharky]

Always repair either at roadside or when I get home. Leave them hanging, inflated in the garage and if they keep the pressure put them back into service. If they have gone flat, use a bowl of water to check where the leak is and try again.

 

[GuyBoden]

Here's a nice(ish) inner tube belt:

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

How common are pinch flats in reality? I've never had one, either out on the road or self-inflicted during tyre/tube fitment. Mind you I've never run super-skinny tyres, always ones with a decent amount of air volume - for comfort reasons.

 

[marzjennings]

The maximum number of old ‘n’ busted tubes to keep around just in case is ONE. If this is your first busted tube, then keep it. Otherwise bin it or give in to your hoarding tendencies.

Pinch flats are a pain to fix and even when fixed rarely stay that way.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

View attachment 406741

London fashion waist coat.

Where is the 'dislike' button?

 

[Ajax Bay]

Bin or ‘up cycle’ a pinch flat, the tube is badly weakened by a pincher, it’s not worth the risk trying to patch it.

This ^

How common are pinch flats in reality? I've never had one, either out on the road or self-inflicted during tyre/tube fitment. Mind you I've never run super-skinny tyres,

Read on (last September) - on tyres 27mm wide.
The ride - an audax: an excellent ride with perfect weather. Enjoyed the Fosse Way gravel section, feeling suitably bold as the gravel got deeper at the NE end.
. . . I enjoyed a quiche and a pint of milk from Lidl Amesbury before cutting through the Woodfords to the lovely Wylye valley . . .onwards through Sutton Veny, Longbridge Deverill and Maiden Bradley to Alfred's Tower, above the Stourhead estate, and then:
The crash - at 199km when, descending the wooded Kingsettle Hill at speed (?40kph) my front tyre blew and braking on a deflated front tyre didn't do it, and I lost it (together with any memory after the action of braking and keeping as straight as possible). . . . Yeovil hospital - two days in ICU (punctured lung).
The sequel/analysis - having picked up my bike (and car! a month later once I could drive), and examined the evidence.
Drove to the hill (it's about 1:10): the scene of the accident - and slowly back down, recognising where my tyre had ‘blown’. Then walked it.
Apart from the front wheel my bike is relatively unscathed: saddle, LH pedal and LH STI badly scuffed. The inner tube has a major snakebite in it: 11mm on one side and 9mm on the other, which will have caused/allowed the near instantaneous deflation I remember. There is a significant dink in one side of the rim where the puncture was. And there is damage to the left hand rim edge for about a third of the circumference, consistent with the rim attempting to roll on the road surface before saying ‘enough’. There is damage to the tyre sidewall in this area too.
All this supports my ‘analysis’ that coming down the hill, on the drops (always go on the drops downhill – much ‘stronger’ position and better leverage for braking), fingers lightly on both brakes, I suffered a near instant flat. I do not know what caused the snakebite to the Continental Race28 tube. The tyre (Michelin Pro4 SC 25-622) was new on before London-Edinburgh-London and so had done about 2300km – I’d expect about 6000km from that make/model of tyre on the front. I had checked my tyres before the ride and the front was at 75psi (5psi more than the graph readout in Jan Heine’s BQ article: actual width 26.7mm, total load 85kg, front 38kg, rear 47kg). It is possible it had lost pressure during the 199km I had ridden. I checked the rear 31 days later: it was at 72spsi (same tyre make/model) - I had inflated it to 90psi before the ride). The road was clear and, having examined the surface by both driving up and down it and walking up and down the stretch where the flat occurred, the surface is good, with no potholes. The side of the road is a bank so I guess the only possibility is a largish stone: the sort of stone you can see and avoid as you ride down hills, I’d like to think. Maybe/clearly not this time.
The lesson - Check tyre pressures before each ride. Do a thumb check on each tyre at every stop (well, every couple of hours). Make sure you cross check occasionally with a second pump/gauge, ideally one which is well calibrated.

My posts describing/discussing the accident are here:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/t...challenge-chatzone.95264/page-84#post-4950192
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/t...challenge-chatzone.95264/page-85#post-4952273

 

[Paulus]

View attachment 406741

London fashion waist coat.

You might have to wear a strong deodorant to mask the rubbery smell of that

 

[Wixsteman]

This ^

Read on (last September) - on tyres 27mm wide.
The ride - an audax: an excellent ride with perfect weather. Enjoyed the Fosse Way gravel section, feeling suitably bold as the gravel got deeper at the NE end.
. . . I enjoyed a quiche and a pint of milk from Lidl Amesbury before cutting through the Woodfords to the lovely Wylye valley . . .onwards through Sutton Veny, Longbridge Deverill and Maiden Bradley to Alfred's Tower, above the Stourhead estate, and then:
The crash - at 199km when, descending the wooded Kingsettle Hill at speed (?40kph) my front tyre blew and braking on a deflated front tyre didn't do it, and I lost it (together with any memory after the action of braking and keeping as straight as possible). . . . Yeovil hospital - two days in ICU (punctured lung).
The sequel/analysis - having picked up my bike (and car! a month later once I could drive), and examined the evidence.
Drove to the hill (it's about 1:10): the scene of the accident - and slowly back down, recognising where my tyre had ‘blown’. Then walked it.
Apart from the front wheel my bike is relatively unscathed: saddle, LH pedal and LH STI badly scuffed. The inner tube has a major snakebite in it: 11mm on one side and 9mm on the other, which will have caused/allowed the near instantaneous deflation I remember. There is a significant dink in one side of the rim where the puncture was. And there is damage to the left hand rim edge for about a third of the circumference, consistent with the rim attempting to roll on the road surface before saying ‘enough’. There is damage to the tyre sidewall in this area too.
All this supports my ‘analysis’ that coming down the hill, on the drops (always go on the drops downhill – much ‘stronger’ position and better leverage for braking), fingers lightly on both brakes, I suffered a near instant flat. I do not know what caused the snakebite to the Continental Race28 tube. The tyre (Michelin Pro4 SC 25-622) was new on before London-Edinburgh-London and so had done about 2300km – I’d expect about 6000km from that make/model of tyre on the front. I had checked my tyres before the ride and the front was at 75psi (5psi more than the graph readout in Jan Heine’s BQ article: actual width 26.7mm, total load 85kg, front 38kg, rear 47kg). It is possible it had lost pressure during the 199km I had ridden. I checked the rear 31 days later: it was at 72spsi (same tyre make/model) - I had inflated it to 90psi before the ride). The road was clear and, having examined the surface by both driving up and down it and walking up and down the stretch where the flat occurred, the surface is good, with no potholes. The side of the road is a bank so I guess the only possibility is a largish stone: the sort of stone you can see and avoid as you ride down hills, I’d like to think. Maybe/clearly not this time.
The lesson - Check tyre pressures before each ride. Do a thumb check on each tyre at every stop (well, every couple of hours). Make sure you cross check occasionally with a second pump/gauge, ideally one which is well calibrated.

My posts describing/discussing the accident are here:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/t...challenge-chatzone.95264/page-84#post-4950192
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/t...challenge-chatzone.95264/page-85#post-4952273

Thanks for your advice I think I will upcycle the old tube. I hope you are back to full health and enjoying your cycling again

 

[Jody]

Repair the tube unless it has a big rip in it. Patched right it should last but would have to be proper patches with glue. Self adhesive patches are fine for small punctures and to get you out of trouble.

 

[Ianboydsnr]

I would repair it even if it’s just for the practice(do it in a cold shower for a realistic winters adventurers test),

It depends on how old the tube is, if it’s a few years old then a new one fitted and the old one chucked, I don’t like fixing punctures on the road, but will bring it home and fix at home, though I don’t get many punctures, so it’s just for the practice really, they end up in the bin or cut up after hanging about for a while.

 

[pclay]

I always patch my tubes, some of my tubes now have 3 patches on them. I've never attempted a snake bite repair though....

 

[Profpointy]

I always patch my tubes, some of my tubes now have 3 patches on them. I've never attempted a snake bite repair though....

Not a problem - if the "fangs" are close togethee one patch'll, two patches otherwise. As mentioned upthread I've only once had any patch fail, and that was a very optimistic try to be honest

 

[Ajax Bay]

I hope you are back to full health and enjoying your cycling again

Thanks and 'yes'. Have a 400k audax this Saturday . Same to you - enjoy the ride.

 

[ColinJ]

The only damaged tubes that I don't repair are:

• Ones with damage next to the valve
• Ones with massive holes in (only happened once or twice)
• Faulty tubes (I had a batch which all started splitting down the seams)

I've had a few quite a few snakebite punctures over the years and have never had a problem repairing them.

 

[ManiaMuse]

I repaired about 10 in one go at home once. Only 2 of them actually worked. If I'm repairing on the road I like the peace of mind that I am fitting a brand new tube that is going to work, in which case I'm not going to bother switching it to a patched tube when I get home because getting tyres off rims is a faff as it is.

I guess I was doing it wrong or wasn't patient enough, but I usually don't bother with the hassle and just buy a bunch of new tubes instead (usually discounted if you buy x number online).