Tube or Puncture Repair Kit?

[ufkacbln]

Partners

My wife has arthritis and finds punctures dificult.

If on her own she uses the Brompton or Birdy and if the worst happen gets a taxi or bus home. We also have a couple of "dropoff points" where we can leave the bike if required. Friends or local shops.

Personally I tend to think you all wimps - what is the weight of a tube compared to other kit!!

I tend to hav a small bag in the bottom of my pannier, and carry a spare for my front wheels (406), trailer (305), rear wheel (559) and my wife's bike (700c) I also carry a PRK, as I tend to fix punctures at the first opportunity. YOu can alos bodge - the 305 will interchange withthe 406 in an emergency, and the 559 / 700c likewise.

On tour I quite often sit in a beer garden mnding a p*ncture.

This is actually an up-side to p*nctures! They are an ice-breaker - I have had many wonderful conversations and learn't a lot from older "gentlemen of the road" who offer to help and then reminisce.I had a wonderfl convertaion in Liverpool with a guy who remembers trying out an old "Velocar" recumbent in the early 20s

Finally:

30 miles from home is where the mobile phone to the wife is deployed to either bring another wheel or for a lift home!

The final option is to phone somebody else's wife!

 

[gavintc]

I have a tiny little under saddle bag. In it I can just get a tube, a couple of levers, a small tube of glue and a couple of patches. I have needed to use the patches only once when I was out of mobile phone reception and had already used the spare tube.

 

[ashbyalien]

another vote for both, repairing is better than walking in cleats!

 

[Mr Phoebus]

Both, the quicker you can get back on your journey the better.

 

[trio25]

Also both, although I managed to squeeze four tubes in last week before the legbreaker challenge, I wa warned it would be puncture central. I'm sure carrying all those spares was why I didn't puncture.

 

[littlered]

I'll heed all your advice and now carry both

 

[Tynan]

wow

a puncture repair kit with tyre levers weighs about nothing and takes up about nothing in size

I do carry and old patched tube in case of serious damage to the tube but otherwise, patch it every time

I've been stopped twice by people with flats that didn't even carry a pump, what can you do with people like that

 

[Brock]

Definitely a puncture repair kit, and if it's a long journey possibly one spare tube. It's normally pretty easy to locate and fix a puncture with a glue on patch without having to remove the wheel, let alone the entire tube.
A spare tube is a relatively heavy thing to carry, and it can only replace one puncture, I really don't understand the reluctance to patch.

 

[alfablue]

Always take both unless its just a short ride to the shops - I am happy to patch but I have had trouble patching in the p*ssing rain, and was late for work on that occasion - since then I have taken both. Swapping out the tube is about 5 minutes faster, then repair tube at home. Having said that, punctures have been unknown to me in recent years due to tyre choice and correct pressures (apart from one valve coming adrift due to improper fitting of valve hole reducer). With all the other gear I carry an extra tube is no big deal.

 

[beanzontoast]

Nowadays, I carry both. I'm averse to roadside puncture fixing, so use the spare tube to get me going again quickly and (nowadays) fix the punctured one when I get to my destination and can take my time (and thus hopefully not make a total pig's ear of it )