Do you put patched tubes back in your saddlebag?
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To add to the experiences brought up, I quit carrying spare tubes. When I carried some, I never used them, as patching a tube on the spot added minimally to the whole recovery operation. You anyway spend time examining what happened to the tire. Moreover, I ride bikes with tires in the range 16-29", rotating at times even during a day and remembering what tube to fetch is just too much - the patches are always the same and packed, in my case, together with the pump and ready for grabbing.
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Not only do I have a patched tube in my saddlebag, but I use Park Glueless patches because they hold up for the life of the tube inflated or not.
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FWIW, I've had a few new, never flatted, tubes, split down a seam. Because of that, I'm more confident in previously patched tubes. Like @andrewclaus, I think, I keep spare tubes in an old sock to prevent rubbing a hole in the stored tube.
And like Racing Dan I don't see much difference between glues. (I'm still working on a box of 100 Rema patches, although I may have to buy another box next year.) IME the difference between stick and don't stick is surface preparation. I've done a couple rush jobs with Rema patches and glue that failed, so there's nothing magic about Rema's chemistry if the mold release isn't sanded or grated off the site patch. Also FWIW, same is true of other glues as well. So sand, change direction, sand some more, and make sure there's nothing shiny where the patch will seal before moving on to gluing.
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https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-Standard-Presta-Bicycle-Inner-Tube-700c-x-25-32c/34038251
A lot of people think it's below them to buy stuff from Walmart. But the tubes are pretty good... at least the plain jane basic normal tube is. Don't know anything about the extra thick sealant filled tubes and don't currently want to know anything about them. And the tubes are a reasonable weight, 110 grams, compared to lighter tubes I have to pay much more for.
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No reason a properly patched tube should not be just fine. And BTW I roll the tube just like the new one that comes out the the box. That way there is no "fold" where the patch is.
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That might not break the bank but it is money spent that might be used elsewhere. There also the waste to consider.
And like Racing Dan I don't see much difference between glues. (I'm still working on a box of 100 Rema patches, although I may have to buy another box next year.) IME the difference between stick and don't stick is surface preparation. I've done a couple rush jobs with Rema patches and glue that failed, so there's nothing magic about Rema's chemistry if the mold release isn't sanded or grated off the site patch. Also FWIW, same is true of other glues as well. So sand, change direction, sand some more, and make sure there's nothing shiny where the patch will seal before moving on to gluing.
If I had to use a cheap patch kit, I wouldn’t trust the patch job. I don’t trust the patches at my local co-op since they went to rubber cement system. I trust Rema and will only use that for my own personal use.
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I think part of the problem is that it is easy to make panic assessments once out of our comfort zones. So, if you do not believe in patched tubes then why carry one except in a lack of alternatives. If you believe in patched tubes then why would you not carry one.
If you get a puncture then you have a higher chance of getting a second, because pointy things like thorns tend to gather in the same localities, and removing the source of a puncture is not a precise science. So why put a new tube at risk if you could have a patched one with you, assuming you believe in patched tubes?
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Not terribly hard to find:
https://www.wiggle.com/lifeline-road-inner-tube
https://www.wiggle.com/lifeline-road-inner-tube
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If you get a puncture then you have a higher chance of getting a second, because pointy things like thorns tend to gather in the same localities, and removing the source of a puncture is not a precise science. So why put a new tube at risk if you could have a patched one with you, assuming you believe in patched tubes?
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Many of them are not. If the problem is with the rim it will be at the same spot. If you mount the tire with brand name over the vent and there is a problem with the tire than you have not identified and fixed, it will be the same spot again. On another angle, even those cases with embedded shards of glass or thorns are most often progressing events where the puncture could be stopped if the tire were examined soon enough. There was a period when tire wipers were used.
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Not terribly hard to find:
https://www.wiggle.com/lifeline-road-inner-tube
https://www.wiggle.com/lifeline-road-inner-tube
Looks exactly like the kits I get from the local auto parts store, albeit under a different name.
https://www.wiggle.com/lifeline-puncture-repair-kit
Last edited by Racing Dan; 12-30-20 at 03:35 PM.
#64
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I don't get to obsessive about it, but I do watch certain items for times when they are offered at a good price. Currently the tubes I use are $3.96 at Walmart. Though they have been as much as $4.98. I wonder though if Bell is getting out of the plain butyl tubes with no sealant. Seems more and more of the offerings are extra thick puncture resistance and sealant filled tubes. Even though I don't use a lot of them, I consider them a consumable and always have a handful on the shelf. Maybe I need to get a half dozen more.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-Standard-Presta-Bicycle-Inner-Tube-700c-x-25-32c/34038251
A lot of people think it's below them to buy stuff from Walmart. But the tubes are pretty good... at least the plain jane basic normal tube is. Don't know anything about the extra thick sealant filled tubes and don't currently want to know anything about them. And the tubes are a reasonable weight, 110 grams, compared to lighter tubes I have to pay much more for.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-Standard-Presta-Bicycle-Inner-Tube-700c-x-25-32c/34038251
A lot of people think it's below them to buy stuff from Walmart. But the tubes are pretty good... at least the plain jane basic normal tube is. Don't know anything about the extra thick sealant filled tubes and don't currently want to know anything about them. And the tubes are a reasonable weight, 110 grams, compared to lighter tubes I have to pay much more for.
Specialized, Vittoria, Michelin, and Continental are the best for lighter weight road bike tubes; but for thorn resistant tubes the only one that I found worth anything is Bontrager, the rest are all poor quality, I use those in my wife's bike. I buy Specialized Turbo Ultralight road tubes exclusively only because I can get them locally, while they cost $8 a tube, the bike shop has a deal that if I buy 3 I get the 4th one free, so the end cost is $6 a tube, not including tax; and since these tubes are Specialized and Specialized has price-fixing on all their stuff I can only assume that if buy those tubes in any store in the US you can get that same deal.
I will say there are a few tubes that are actually worse than the Bell, tubes like Sunlite and off-brand ones you can buy on Amazon.
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Many of them are not. If the problem is with the rim it will be at the same spot. If you mount the tire with brand name over the vent and there is a problem with the tire than you have not identified and fixed, it will be the same spot again. On another angle, even those cases with embedded shards of glass or thorns are most often progressing events where the puncture could be stopped if the tire were examined soon enough. There was a period when tire wipers were used.
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I use to live in the Mojave Desert of California where goat head thorns were all over the roads. When I first moved there I averaged a flat a day sometimes 2 flats in a day, they were indeed quite random where they would enter a tire. So if they're getting a flat in the exact same spot then there is something else going on that isn't random like a thorn would create, more than likely there is a tiny bit of a thorn still sticking through the tire that the poster never found.
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Wow did this simple question really take off
I put the patched tube back in the bag. I squeezed all the air out and foldrolled it up and the patch isn't bent or creased. It held air without leaking for over 2 days sitting out in the garage.
I've never carried a patch kit before, but I think I'm really coming around on the idea.
I put the patched tube back in the bag. I squeezed all the air out and foldrolled it up and the patch isn't bent or creased. It held air without leaking for over 2 days sitting out in the garage.
I've never carried a patch kit before, but I think I'm really coming around on the idea.
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Nope. Didn’t say I wanted 30 tubes. I said that if I replaced tubes instead of patching them, I’d need 30 tubes. But even at $3 each, the math doesn’t work. That $106 worth of tubes ($90 plus $17.95 shipping) versus $18 worth of patches. I’m still ahead but almost $90.
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Last edited by cyccommute; 12-30-20 at 06:47 PM.
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For me, patch kit plus spare tube is belt and suspenders. I've had flats where I couldn't find the hole, and have also had stem failures. Everybody's got their own experience and what works for them. For instance in Wisconsin, a vital item in the sag bag is bug spray.
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That isn't what he said.
He said thorns have a tendency to collect in certain areas so you run a chance of getting a second flat in that geological area. Which is true. I once rode over a 20 foot stretch of road getting 2 flats at the same exact time on each of the 2 tires. Thorns gather in the same area.
He said thorns have a tendency to collect in certain areas so you run a chance of getting a second flat in that geological area. Which is true. I once rode over a 20 foot stretch of road getting 2 flats at the same exact time on each of the 2 tires. Thorns gather in the same area.
Many of them are not. If the problem is with the rim it will be at the same spot. If you mount the tire with brand name over the vent and there is a problem with the tire than you have not identified and fixed, it will be the same spot again. On another angle, even those cases with embedded shards of glass or thorns are most often progressing events where the puncture could be stopped if the tire were examined soon enough. There was a period when tire wipers were used.
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That isn't what he said.
He said thorns have a tendency to collect in certain areas so you run a chance of getting a second flat in that geological area. Which is true. I once rode over a 20 foot stretch of road getting 2 flats at the same exact time on each of the 2 tires. Thorns gather in the same area.
He said thorns have a tendency to collect in certain areas so you run a chance of getting a second flat in that geological area. Which is true. I once rode over a 20 foot stretch of road getting 2 flats at the same exact time on each of the 2 tires. Thorns gather in the same area.
When I used to live in the UK they would trim the hedges with a tractor-based cutter, and if the hedge had a lot of blackthorn it did happen that I got more than one puncture on the same lane.
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I have as much experience with flats as most and far more than many. When I say that I’ve had 30 patches on a tube, that’s just the most I’ve had on one. I have many tubes with many patches. I live in an area where goatheads are everywhere. I even got a goathead flat in November...after Thanksgiving! But seldom do I get more than a single flat at a time. Even here in the middle of the bullseye of goatheads, I only carry a single tube as I seldom need more than one. I have had instances of getting more than one puncture but those are rare. I also help patch a lot of flats at my co-op...most of which are goathead related...and seldom do I have to patch more than a single puncture. Yes, there can be a lot of things that can cause flats in one place or another. Seldom do you get more than one.
Take a look at the expert advice in the tire directional thread. Who is the real peanut gallery?
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Interesting...
#75
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I ran into such a situation on a Senegalese coast. At the top of the crisis, I had 3 flats during one day in kevlar reinforced tires, which gets me wonder where relying on a spare tube would have got me . I did not appreciate, in particular, how small and well hidden the broken off tips of the goathead thorns could be. I recovered by changing my riding habits and avoiding road shoulders that ventured into grasses. I also started examining the tires twice a day and removing any thorns that were starting their progress towards the tubes.