Do you patch tubes or toss them?
02-04-16, 11:49 AM
#1
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Do you patch tubes or toss them?
Of course I toss the splits or the ones leaking at he stem but the patchables I usually hang on a hook on the garage wall. Sometimes on a rainy day with nothing else to do I'll patch a batch of them. Keeps me from getting in the way in the kitchen.
02-04-16, 11:52 AM
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I patch em. I used to take the lazy way out but am trying to get better about that, lol.
02-04-16, 11:53 AM
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Patch um use um till the valves wear out.
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02-04-16, 11:56 AM
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Patch, patch, patch ... but sometimes that costs more than a new tube. I have one now with a slwo leak which won't even show up in a tub of water. So many patches and patches on patches it probably weighs more than a tire ... but something in me refuses to quit and cut it up into strapping.
02-04-16, 11:57 AM
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Both. I always take 2 tubes with me on rides. If I get a flat, I change the tube and then when I get home, I patch the tube if it's not on the seam. Yeah, I have patched tubes while out on the bike, but it's a lot easier to change the tube.
02-04-16, 11:58 AM
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I usually patch unless the tube already has too many patches. As to what constitutes "too many", I'm not all that precise but I probably will toss a tube after 3 patches or so.
02-04-16, 12:26 PM
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I patch them but I only get 1 or 2 flats per year. I used to save them up and patch 5 or 6 at a time but that takes so long that now I pretty much just patch the most recent leaker as soon as I get it home.
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02-04-16, 12:33 PM
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Road bike is tubeless. HA! HA!
Touring/commuting bike I will usually toss unless I am on tour, in which case I will save the tube and patch it if I exhaust the last of my two (or sometimes three, depending on the road surface) spares I usually bring. We are talking maybe 2 flats/year.
Touring/commuting bike I will usually toss unless I am on tour, in which case I will save the tube and patch it if I exhaust the last of my two (or sometimes three, depending on the road surface) spares I usually bring. We are talking maybe 2 flats/year.
02-04-16, 12:42 PM
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I will patch a tube once and replace the next time.
At the community bike workshop, if a tube is too bad to repair, we cut the old ones into various width elastic bands to help in the storage of parts. Hey, it's a charity and every penny counts!
At the community bike workshop, if a tube is too bad to repair, we cut the old ones into various width elastic bands to help in the storage of parts. Hey, it's a charity and every penny counts!
02-04-16, 12:54 PM
#12
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I replace and keep the old tube so that I can patch it... until I realize that I will never get around to patching the pile of flat tubes and throw them all out... if they haven't already been repurposed by that point.
Life's too short; I buy tubes at employee discount...
Life's too short; I buy tubes at employee discount...
02-04-16, 12:58 PM
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Patch until either:
a) Tube fails at the valve.
b) New puncture adjacent to existing patch. I've had no luck trying to overlap patches.
a) Tube fails at the valve.
b) New puncture adjacent to existing patch. I've had no luck trying to overlap patches.
02-04-16, 12:59 PM
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If I am at home when I notice a flat or can make it home, I'll patch it. If out riding and cannot make it home without, I'll use the spare I keep in my kit, patch the bad one when I get home and use as a spare.
02-04-16, 01:03 PM
#15
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It's mid-winter, and it's been a few years, so I guess it's time for this subject again. I've never ripped a tube at the base of the stem, so the tube is dead when I say it is dead. That's usually the 4th hole (three patches and it's gotten one more hole.) A few of my tubes are well over 10 years old.
02-04-16, 01:11 PM
#16
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Patch 'em. I only recently replaced the original six or seven year old tubes on my bike -- which had been patched three or four times -- and that was after one tube split because I neglected to seat the bead properly, and the other tube's valve stem was sliced by a burr in the rim (I've since deburred both rims).
If I still raced amateur crits and TTs and had a light enough bike to warrant it, sure, I might swap to new tubes for any perceived edge in weight and balance. But for my casual riding now, with 1,100 gr puncture resistant tires? Nah. Patch 'em and enjoy the sweet music of my squeaky cheapskate wallet. Ahh, the squeal of pennies being pinched.
If I still raced amateur crits and TTs and had a light enough bike to warrant it, sure, I might swap to new tubes for any perceived edge in weight and balance. But for my casual riding now, with 1,100 gr puncture resistant tires? Nah. Patch 'em and enjoy the sweet music of my squeaky cheapskate wallet. Ahh, the squeal of pennies being pinched.
02-04-16, 01:12 PM
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Patch.
02-04-16, 01:36 PM
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The plan is to just replace the tube when out on the ride, then patch later at home. The reality is that I do neither - I've had no flats since the summer of 2006 thanx to my Continental Touring Plus tires
02-04-16, 01:47 PM
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Patch, patch, patch ... but sometimes that costs more than a new tube. I have one now with a slwo leak which won't even show up in a tub of water. So many patches and patches on patches it probably weighs more than a tire ... but something in me refuses to quit and cut it up into strapping.
02-04-16, 01:48 PM
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Since i do not get that many flat over the years , toss them . Now the price of inner tube has gone way up I will patch them from now on .
02-04-16, 03:08 PM
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