Originally Posted by
njkayaker
No, all things don't always "add up". There is also not much reason to worry about tiny things if larger contributors are not being done.
There isn't any clear reason to expect that there would be any marginal gain at all related to having patches tubes.
It doesn't seem worth discussing the effect of patches without knowing what tires he's using.
I'll respectfully encourage you to dig a little deeper into the notion of marginal gains. If the type of glue used on a tubular tire can have a measurable impact on rolling resistance, it is entirely conceivable that a patch could impact rolling resistance. While there may well be an interactive effect with tire design, one would first need to determine the effect of a patch with all other variables held constant.
As to whether is it worth discussing, I can only note that you apparently decided it was worth discussing and opted to post an opinion.
BB