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How many times do you patch a tube before........

Old 07-17-16, 10:21 AM
  #1  
Rstyle
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How many times do you patch a tube before........

Throwing it away
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Old 07-17-16, 10:26 AM
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I might not be the best person to answer that because I don't get a ton of punctures. My short answer, however, is that I'll continue to patch an inner tube until I get a cut that's too close to the valve stem to patch.
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Old 07-17-16, 10:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Rstyle
Throwing it away
I just threw away a tube with 13. It was far too young.
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Old 07-17-16, 10:47 AM
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@ LBS we sell you a new tube and a Patch kit ..

Spare out of the seat bag , patch the punctured one when You have the time and a comfortable chair.

As a Child with a tiny allowance, advantage; learn How to make a good patch every time .

I was a Kid A Long time ago..
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Old 07-17-16, 02:01 PM
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First of all, I never patch and ride. I'll pull a tube out of my rescue, install and go, then patch at my leisure sometime later. Desperate roadside patching is for newbs. More directly to your question; it depends on the puncture. How big? Where on the tube? Was AirLock or Slime involved? I've thrown away tubes rather than waste a patch. I have tubes with 3 or 4 patches that get mixed right back into the rescue supply rotation. All depends. I don't think I have any with more than 5 or 6 patches.


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Last edited by Kedosto; 07-17-16 at 02:04 PM. Reason: Punctuation
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Old 07-17-16, 02:11 PM
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Until it can't be patched, of course.
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Old 07-17-16, 02:27 PM
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Ditto for until it can't be patched. But I haven't gotten a puncture since I switched to puncture resistant tires.
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Old 07-17-16, 03:21 PM
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0.

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Old 07-17-16, 03:31 PM
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Zero. Unless I'm out on the road/trail and my spare tube fails.
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Old 07-17-16, 03:37 PM
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until the valve falls off
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Old 07-17-16, 03:42 PM
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A patch goes on the spare tube if the spare tube gets a hole. When I get home, that tubes goes in the trash and a fresh tube goes in.

Because I carry pencil-thin Cannondale tubes in the saddle bag for emergencies. I treat them as temporary spares. That, and I pay $3-5 for tubes, so while I'm running tubes, patching them seems to be a waste of time.

Back on tubeless by September, can't wait.
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Old 07-17-16, 03:44 PM
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Patch it until the next patch would require overlapping an existing patch.
(Tried that and it didn't work.)
Or if it gets a leak next to the valve stem which cannot be patched.
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Old 07-17-16, 07:35 PM
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Usually up to 3. If it is a snake bite forget it, the holes often are too large and too close together for a successful patch.
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Old 07-17-16, 07:40 PM
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Twice, but I don't throw it away, I just retire it. I keep it at home for emergencies.
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Old 07-17-16, 07:48 PM
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Twice for me as well. It then gets retired to the emergency pile if it's a high quality tube. If not it gets thrown away.
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Old 07-17-16, 07:52 PM
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It's a Tube... Throw it away. They are cheap.
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Old 07-17-16, 08:00 PM
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a patch is way less expensive than a tube.

if it's patchable, it gets repaired.

and there are a lot of uses for unrepairable tubes, I don't throw them away.
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Old 07-17-16, 08:09 PM
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Boring troll needs better material.
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Old 07-17-16, 08:41 PM
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I pay $2.5 for a tube here in Cambodia, to cheap to patch a tube.
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Old 07-18-16, 07:49 AM
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Originally Posted by bwilli88
I pay $2.5 for a tube here in Cambodia, too cheap to patch a tube.
Stop and consider the statement "too cheap to patch" for a moment. I just threw away a tube that had 13 patches on it. That's 13 punctures or, using your experience as a guide, 13 tubes. At $2.50 each (US I assume), that's $32.50 that you've spent.

I buy patches in boxes of 100...Colorado is deep within the goathead zone of the US which means I get a lot of flats. With glue, it costs me less than $0.25 to fix a flat. I have 9 bikes in my garage and each wheel has tubes with patches on them. I also have a backup stock of tubes for each wheel size I have in my garage. And I have 3 different wheel sizes. So, roughly, I have 36 tubes in my garage. Most tubes have, on average, 3 patches on them with a few having many more. So I'll just say 5 patches per tube. If I could get tubes for $2.50 each, that's $450 in tubes for 180 punctures I would have had to shell out instead of about $45. Tubes, however, usually cost me about $5 per tube which means nearly $1000 in money spent on tubes.

I can buy a whole lot of bike bling for $1000.
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Old 07-18-16, 08:41 AM
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Originally Posted by Cheddarpecker
Until it can't be patched, of course.


+1


(For the quote, not for the number of patches!)
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Old 07-18-16, 09:07 AM
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Originally Posted by Rstyle
Throwing it away
Zero.

I throw it away and buy a new tube.
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Old 07-18-16, 09:57 AM
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
Stop and consider the statement "too cheap to patch" for a moment. I just threw away a tube that had 13 patches on it. That's 13 punctures or, using your experience as a guide, 13 tubes. At $2.50 each (US I assume), that's $32.50 that you've spent.

I buy patches in boxes of 100...Colorado is deep within the goathead zone of the US which means I get a lot of flats. With glue, it costs me less than $0.25 to fix a flat. I have 9 bikes in my garage and each wheel has tubes with patches on them. I also have a backup stock of tubes for each wheel size I have in my garage. And I have 3 different wheel sizes. So, roughly, I have 36 tubes in my garage. Most tubes have, on average, 3 patches on them with a few having many more. So I'll just say 5 patches per tube. If I could get tubes for $2.50 each, that's $450 in tubes for 180 punctures I would have had to shell out instead of about $45. Tubes, however, usually cost me about $5 per tube which means nearly $1000 in money spent on tubes.

I can buy a whole lot of bike bling for $1000.
Some people value their time more than $$$.
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Old 07-18-16, 10:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Wileyone
It's a Tube... Throw it away. They are cheap.
Originally Posted by bwilli88
I pay $2.5 for a tube here in Cambodia, to cheap to patch a tube.
Originally Posted by prj71
Zero.

I throw it away and buy a new tube.
Originally Posted by prj71
Some people value their time more than $$$.
Use your spare and then throw the bad one away when you get home.
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Old 07-18-16, 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted by Cheddarpecker
Until it can't be patched, of course.
same here. I have a few tubes in double digit patches.

I also find it much cheaper to patch. I have 2 bikes (1 commuter and 1 road bike) both take the same tubes. I carry a spare tube or 2 on the bike and swap when I get a flat. when I get home I hang the punctured tube on a hook with other bad tubes. Then when I feel like it I patch all the bad tubes at once (normally this is only 3 or 4 tubes). Double the seat bag on both bike to make sure they have their spares tubes. it is a good system that works for me and cost me very little in both time and money.

Last edited by Bolo Grubb; 07-18-16 at 10:09 AM.
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