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Check The Glue in Your Patch Kits!

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Check The Glue in Your Patch Kits!

Old 10-11-20, 09:46 AM
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Lemond1985
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Check The Glue in Your Patch Kits!

For those of you still running regular inner tubes. I had a flat 20 miles out, and one spare tube. When I saw that the glue in my PARK Patch Kit was completely dried out, I knew I had no choice but to turn around. Got at least two more flats on the way home, until my hand pump could no longer keep up with the leaks. Guess who had to walk about a mile in road shoes with SPD-SL plastic cleats?

Don't let this happen to you. Carry a sealed unopened tube of patch glue if at all possible, and check the tube often if you don't.
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Old 10-11-20, 10:22 AM
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crn3371
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I wonder if adhesive patches might be a better choice for roadside repairs?
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Old 10-11-20, 11:12 AM
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mcours2006
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None of the small tubes of glue in my kits have any left. I replaced them with bigger 50mL tubes.
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Old 10-11-20, 01:24 PM
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August West
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Had a flat last Sunday for the first time since I started riding again 18 months and 5060 miles ago. Just swapped out tubes but since before going out I was debating taking a recovery day anyway I just decided to head home after that and called it a day. When I got home I went to glue a patch on the punctured tube and of course the glue in my kit I keep in the garage was empty. I carry Park and Leyzne stick-on patches on the bike so just used one of the Park and it worked fine. Put the repaired tube in a spare wheel and a week later it is holding air no problem. I think I'll just stick with the glueless patches. I know a lot of people hate them but I've never had a problem following the directions in the pack. Probably a good idea to get a fresh pack once a year as I'm sure they age as well but the patches and glue were the same age and the patches were still good while the glue had vanished.
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Old 10-11-20, 01:52 PM
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I got me a bunch of single use tubes from China a while back and only carry non-opened glue with on the road. So far I've never popped one open that wasn't still good and they're going on 4 years since I got them. I think I paid like a buck for 20 of them with free shipping, that was before things went crazy. Can't even find them anymore.
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Old 10-11-20, 02:00 PM
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My kit in the seat bag consisted of both adhesive patches and glue on patches. Probably both about 5 years old. Typically I just replace the whole tube which I also carry. So recently when I finally decided to take time and patch, I found the adhesive patches too dried up to make me believe they'd work. And the glue for the glue on patches dried up. So again I wound up changing the tube entirely.
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Old 10-11-20, 02:58 PM
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I carry the Park adhesive patches and replace them after a few years. I haven't bothered to check if the old ones are still sticky but that might be interesting to know. I may still have a pack of old ones....
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Old 10-11-20, 03:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Lemond1985
For those of you still running regular inner tubes. I had a flat 20 miles out, and one spare tube. When I saw that the glue in my PARK Patch Kit was completely dried out, I knew I had no choice but to turn around. Got at least two more flats on the way home, until my hand pump could no longer keep up with the leaks. Guess who had to walk about a mile in road shoes with SPD-SL plastic cleats?

Don't let this happen to you. Carry a sealed unopened tube of patch glue if at all possible, and check the tube often if you don't.
This is normal, You can get away from these problems by either replacing the patch kit glue once a year or more easily, getting glueless patches. I haven't had any problems with the glueless patches failing to adhere though I haven't tried fixing a flat with them in the rain.
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Old 10-11-20, 03:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Bigbus
I got me a bunch of single use tubes from China a while back and only carry non-opened glue with on the road. So far I've never popped one open that wasn't still good and they're going on 4 years since I got them. I think I paid like a buck for 20 of them with free shipping, that was before things went crazy. Can't even find them anymore.
It doesn't matter in the least whether you open the tube of glue or not. Either the carrier leaks out through the crimp at the bottom of the tube or through the metal tube itself since I have an entire box of patch kits that I bought to hand out to people and they are almost entire worthless now. Since the disappearance of the carrier is so slow, one trick is to get a large size of Rema glue that is about 4 ounces. This lasts damn near forever. But I'm still liking the glueless patches because they don't have any carrier to begin with.
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Old 10-11-20, 03:56 PM
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Originally Posted by RiceAWay
It doesn't matter in the least whether you open the tube of glue or not. Either the carrier leaks out through the crimp at the bottom of the tube or through the metal tube itself since I have an entire box of patch kits that I bought to hand out to people and they are almost entire worthless now. Since the disappearance of the carrier is so slow, one trick is to get a large size of Rema glue that is about 4 ounces. This lasts damn near forever. But I'm still liking the glueless patches because they don't have any carrier to begin with.
So what you're saying is that it's time to invest in some glue-less patches. It would be my luck to get a flat the next time I'm away from home base and the glue is dried up in the tube. 4 years and I think I still have a handful left, but I guess I got my monies worth out of what did work haha. I won't be throwing them away until I have a replacement on hand though... Thanks for the advice,
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Old 10-11-20, 04:12 PM
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I don’t understand this “inner tube” fetish. Tubeless tires. Done. No need for patches, glue and whatnot.
Next thing you know, someone will be yammering on about “rim” brakes...
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Old 10-11-20, 04:55 PM
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One trick I learned on Bike Forums was to squeeze the tube of Rema glue until the glue fills the top before screwing the cap back on, to make sure that there's no air in there to harden the glue.
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Old 10-11-20, 05:18 PM
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In other news, water is wet.
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Old 10-11-20, 05:43 PM
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In my experience, once opened a tube of glue goes by quickly. So glad to be running tubeless.
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Old 10-11-20, 05:52 PM
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I remember when I discovered this... I passed a cyclist, stranded with a flat tire on a trail that would have been a long walk. My patch kit, for some reason, had two mostly-used tubes of glue in it, so I gave him one along with a patch, but I didn't have time to stick around and help. When I got home I discovered that my remaining tube of glue was completely empty, and I really hope the same wasn't true of tube I left with the guy I tried to help.
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Old 10-11-20, 05:55 PM
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I learned that lesson when I was a long long way from home or help. A sharp stone used up my first tube, a piece of glass the second. Third was a snakebite, leaving me with patching. My glue had been previously opened, and had dried out. I ripped the tube of glue in half, and found just enough gooey stuff in the middle to make the repair.

These days I carry an unopened tube of glue.
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Old 10-11-20, 05:58 PM
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Originally Posted by RiceAWay
It doesn't matter in the least whether you open the tube of glue or not. Either the carrier leaks out through the crimp at the bottom of the tube or through the metal tube itself since I have an entire box of patch kits that I bought to hand out to people and they are almost entire worthless now. Since the disappearance of the carrier is so slow, one trick is to get a large size of Rema glue that is about 4 ounces. This lasts damn near forever. But I'm still liking the glueless patches because they don't have any carrier to begin with.
Rema glue? wow, they come in giant bottles, but found the slime brand very cheap on Amazon , 6 bucks.

https://www.amazon.com/Slime-1050-Ru...H8663QCYSQQQ7Z

thanks for the suggestions. now to find some deals on glueless patches just in case.

Last edited by Duo; 10-11-20 at 06:11 PM.
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Old 10-11-20, 06:54 PM
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A few weeks ago, I squirted some Stan's sealant into the tubular tires on my fixed gear bike. I was out riding yesterday and got a front puncture. Sprayed sealant all over for about 30 seconds, then stopped. Only lost about 20 psi (90 down to 70); didn't feel that my gimpy shoulders could pump it any higher, and didn't feel like blowing a CO2 cartridge for that little pressure loss, so I kept riding. No problems; worked fine, got home fine, etc. Topped it back up to 90psi for today's ride, did the same route (34 mile loop), and it held up fine.
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Old 10-12-20, 04:50 AM
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I too have found that the "usual" patch glue (ex: like in Slime kits) dries out quickly. I've had some success keeping opened tubes in a zip lock plastic bag but still.... I recently wanted to patch a e-bike tube (26 x 4.5) for the grand kids to use swimming. I dug out a previously opened small tube of Rema vulcanizing fluid from who knows when. Probably found it out on a trail years ago. I was suprised that it was still liquid. And it worked just fine. I now wonder if the Rema fluid is fundamentally different from the other rubber cement type products. I'm going to bin the other stuff and stock Rema kits now.

As suggested. You can buy large cans of the Rema fluid so it must last well once opened.
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Old 10-12-20, 05:33 AM
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Tubes.

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Old 10-12-20, 06:50 AM
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Originally Posted by JohnDThompson
A few weeks ago, I squirted some Stan's sealant into the tubular tires on my fixed gear bike.
I didn't know sealant worked on tubulars.
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Old 10-12-20, 06:56 AM
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To me, this seems like the way to go. Unlimited tire pressures, using ultra high performance tubulars that the pros use, quick sealing, no mess other than gluing the tire on initially.

It's possible that a slightly different sealant might be needed for the higher pressures, but that seems like an easy problem to solve.

Last edited by Lemond1985; 10-12-20 at 06:59 AM.
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Old 10-12-20, 12:49 PM
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Originally Posted by bruce19
I didn't know sealant worked on tubulars.
The Stan's label explicitly mentions use in tubulars, and it seems to work. Who am I to argue?

The only issue I can think of is that some tubular tires don't have a removable valve core, which makes it a bit trickier to get the sealant into the tire.
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Old 10-12-20, 02:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Prowler
I too have found that the "usual" patch glue (ex: like in Slime kits) dries out quickly. I've had some success keeping opened tubes in a zip lock plastic bag but still.... I recently wanted to patch a e-bike tube (26 x 4.5) for the grand kids to use swimming. I dug out a previously opened small tube of Rema vulcanizing fluid from who knows when. Probably found it out on a trail years ago. I was suprised that it was still liquid. And it worked just fine. I now wonder if the Rema fluid is fundamentally different from the other rubber cement type products. I'm going to bin the other stuff and stock Rema kits now.

As suggested. You can buy large cans of the Rema fluid so it must last well once opened.
it could be different, or perhaps the tube is built different and more air free. the 8 oz. glue bottle will prolly last longer and the cheaper 8 oz Slime would be much better at 6 bucks than the Rema at 18 my guess.

good question though, anyone know if there is any differences in the glue brand? my experience has been the little tubes just dry up sitting around.
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Old 10-12-20, 02:44 PM
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I just ordered a 3-pack of glue tubes, based on this thread.

I just did a quick survey in our garage. I think we have about 9 bikes.

Of the six tubeless tires set up (all on mountain bikes) in our garage, three have lost most of their air pressure in no more than a week and a half. For those with tubes (road and old mountain bikes), all are rideable (although in some cases a top-off might be warranted). I am still not convinced that tubeless (at least around here) is more trouble than putting up with a very occasional puncture or pinch-flat on a tubed tire.

Last edited by Cyclist0108; 10-12-20 at 02:53 PM.
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