Originally Posted by
August West
I can confirm the Lezyne patches don't last very long. I've used Park in the past but had developed couple of very slow leaks a month or two ago and had some Lezyne patches I thought I'd try since my tube of glue had dried up. Both leaks were discovered at home so the area was meticulously prepared before applying the patches. Within a week or two I came out one morning to find I had a flat. Pulling the tube and putting it in a sink of water I found the Lezyne patch leaking badly. Luckily I was able to peal the patch off and apply a regular glue patch which worked fine. I pulled the other tube I'd patched with the Lezyne, pealed off that patch and repatched it with a glue patch. I haven't had this issue with Park but very limited experience. Got rid of the Lezyne patches in my road patch kit and will stick with Park for emergency road repairs if I get a second flat after using my spare tube. At home I prefer glue patches.
And when I do have to use my spare tube on the road I always pull it out when I get home, patch the tube that had the puncture, put it back in the wheel and put the unpatched tube back in my road repair kit.
I don't know why you are not having success with glueless patches, a lot don't so you're not alone, but quite a few do have success. I prepare a tube to accept a glueless patch the same way I prepare a tube for a glue-on patch, nothing is different. What I do is when I squeeze the patch onto the tube I do it with all my strength between my index finger and thumb for 60 seconds, then I do the corners, then I look at the patch, if I see any hazy areas on the patch, which are usually the sides or corners, I repress those till the hazy look is gone, and that's it. I know that the glueless patch instructions say 30 seconds of squeezing is all you need but I do it for 60 seconds that seems to work better I think. I also don't clean the tube with alcohol, I tried that and for some reason, the patches won't stick long, not sure why that is.
Your last paragraph is why I fix on the side of the road because I don't want to go home and do the work all over again as you do, and others! I have more important things to do with my time, and time is money.