tankist

Am I the only one who has this problem? The old Rema patch kit where you needed to wait 5 minutes to press the patch worked just fine. But the new one named "High Speed Repair" does not actually glue. I follow the instructions to the tee - buff the area around the hole with sandpaper, apply and spread the cement, detach the patch from the foil and press it tightly. Then I wait a few minutes, pump the tube a little bit and can see that the patch starts detaching from the tube. Tried a few times with different tubes - the same failure all the time. If I try to remove the patch I can see in some areas it is stuck to the tube, but in most it is not. What am I doing wrong? Where can I buy the old Rema cement? I don't mind waiting 5 minutes if it works so much better.

CliffordK

I rarely pump a tube up outside of the tire, especially without waiting a good long time (> day?)

I've mixed glues and patches of different brands without issues, so you could try a local bike shop, or even Department Store to look for something that will work.

It looks like the Rema patch kits and glue are available from a thousand online sources.





Will this be the "New Coke" Debacle?



Will companies ever learn?

Part of the reason REMA has been so popular for so long is that they've been selling a good solid product for decades.

It has even outlasted those new glueless quick patches.

fietsbob

Slow Patching is better than Quick patches.. They're just to get you home ,

if you did not choose to bring a spare tube..





/...

79pmooney

My on-the-road routine is apply a regular REMA patch as per instructions, inflate the tube by mouth, put back in tire and inflate to full pressure. That routine has been working for 40 years. (Well I learned the mouth trick relatively recently, used to use a couple of pump strokes but the oral approach is much faster and I never over-inflate.)

Ben

Crankycrank

Hmmm, if the instructions say to wait a few minutes after applying the patch then I can't see any advantage over the old style kit where you wait a few minutes for the fluid to dry before applying the patch. What am I missing here?

tankist

It looks if I wait a minute between spreading the glue and applying the patch it works much better. I guess their instructions for quick application are wrong. To compare, instructions for Park Path Kit VP-1 clearly say - spread the glue and wait until it is dry. And VP-1 works good.

Crankycrank

Here's Rema's official video on how to apply the patch from your same kit. (Actual patching instructions start at 40 sec.) This sounds the same as the instructions from the pre-"high-speed" label. I'm guessing this is just new labeling to get customers who might switch to glueless patches to stick with Rema.

bikeman715

as the video above point out it best to put the tube back into the tire before adding air . as with any glueless patch , with the tire holding the patch in place . if you add tire to the tube outside of the tire and the tube doesn't keep it shape the patch will fail .

tankist

The old Rema instructions explicitly stated to wait 5 minutes between spreading the glue and applying the patch. And it worked really well - the patch was bonded to the tube. You could pump air in the tube outside of tire and the patch would hold. With new Rema I had a flat because the patch failed even inside the tire - similar to what I had with glueless patches.

bikeman715

As with glueless patches , and these you must place the tube back into the tire before you add air or they will not hold .

philr

I ran into this over the weekend on day two a a long ride. Stuck on the side of the road with rema "high speed repair" patches peeling off the tube no matter how I applied. I read and re-read the new instructions. The patch wouldn't even stick well enough to remove the clear/cellophane bit. I finally patched with someone else's classic rema tiptop (which I've been using with great success for 20 years).

Earlier today I sat down and burned through two patch kits on an old tube trying to make it work. Eventually I've concluded that it works reasonably well if:
1. Sand as usual, remove rubber dust
2. Apply vulcanizing fluid as usual
3. Rather than using the mysterious rubber side of the sandpaper just smooth the vulcanizing fluid into a thin, but not too thin, layer with your fingertip making sure to spread wider than the patch all around.... the rubber side of the sandpaper would "peel" the rapidly drying vulcanizing fluid off no matter how thickly I applied it so dirty finger is best. Maybe I just need better skills with the rubber pad but it seems to get in the way.
4. Allow it to dry to the touch (like not tacky against the flat of a clean fingernail), less than a minute or so
5. Press & stretch as usual ensuring that the orange edges "smear" into the vulcanized tube surface before peeling off the clear stuff

After all this I'm still skeptical that this new formulation will have the lasting power of the original, we'll see.

Geekage

Is this glue any different from the old stuff, or are the instructions different, but you should still just do it the old way?

I mean, it doesn't say "new" or anything. I figure it's like the marshmallows, apple juice, whatever, that add to the label, "gluten free!" when they always were.

zacster

This is why I just bought an 8oz can of the old Rema cement. It always just works. With the brush in the can it is easier to apply too. It goes on nice and even, and you can make sure it covers the entire patch area, even if you goof with the patch. I also bought a box of 100 patches and I put the sandpaper from the last kit that I bought into the box. Now I just ride with 2 tubes in my seat pocket as spares for quick changes on the road, and patch the tube at home.

I even got lucky, well as lucky as you can get with a flat, the last time I had a flat. I was down the street from the Rapha store/cafe in Soho NYC on Prince St. I popped a spare tube in, pumped up the tire to make it rideable, and then went to the store and pumped it up hard and had a coffee while watching some TdF video, and I patched the tube when I got home with beer in hand. If you're going to get a flat, at least make it worthwhile!

Andrew R Stewart 

Or two tubes and enough compressed gas for that second flat Andy

philr

It's not clear. It's always labeled "SVS VULC" now and has slightly different warnings than the fluid from my older patch kits but it isn't clear. I just left a message for someone at Rema to give me a call to discuss because I bought a 36 pack of these things and want to make sure that they were manufactured recently (their website says it has a 4 year shelf life) and to see what I can find out about any changes to the fluid. Saying you have to wait 5 minutes for decades then suddenly saying you don't have to wait at all would seem to indicate a change of some kind.

For those touting the preference for just carrying another tube... this is a poor option for on the road repair of loaded touring, loaded cargo bikes, and anything with a solid axle in the back from fixed to igh. Patching is a fast, inexpensive, environmentally sound, and super convenient approach that has just worked for a hundred years or so... Rema has been doing this since 1922 or 23 I think. Would be terrible to see an old standby like this disappear.

cecu

out of curiosity, as I understand patches are only temporary (to get you home), so why carry a patch kit instead of a spare tube?

Cheers

zacster

Not true. When I use a Rema patch applied correctly it is permanent and can be used as if new.

Moe Zhoost

I've done only two patches with this new "high speed" kit, and both have succeeded exactly like I would expect from any Rema product. I do have to admit that I hadn't read the instructions and so did not recognise that they were a no wait system so I used them as if they were the old style. I hope my experience was not an anomaly because I bought a bunch of these kits.

Wilfred Laurier

Traditional patches, the ones with separate 'glue' (or cement or vulcanizing fluid) are a permanent repair. If installed correctly, the patched area is probably the strongest part of the tube.

"Quick' patches (or glueless) are temporary repairs, although many people report having them last for a long time (mot me - they almost always fail on the first ride for me).

I had a lot of flats last year (probably around 20), and in each instance I either patched the hole or replaced the tube with one that had previously been patched. None of my flats were caused by a failed patch.

cecu

Thanks for clarifying that, if that's the case I might give it a try myself

cheers

noglider 

I ride with tubes that have as many as eight patches. Others report they've hit 30 patches per tube. Good patches work great.

cecu

Thanks.

do people generally replace the tube and take the punctured one back home to repair or do they repair it on the road?

the last couple of punctures that I had I could not find where the leak was coming from while out on the road, so unless it is an obvious leak it would be hard to find while out riding..

zacster

I started taking my tubes back home to repair since I now have my patch kit in bulk. I carry 2 spares with me.

79pmooney

I patch on the road. For one, now it is done,nothing more to do. A second reason is that I have a really good marker to help me find the culprit in the tire or rim. (I've had a lot of flats from the tiny steel wires from radial truck tires. They are often near impossible to find but knowing exactly where to look helps a lot.)

Ben

noglider 

I almost never patch on the road. I carry a spare, use that, and bring the punctured tube home to patch. I toss it in the needs-patching pile and grab a patched tube from the pile of patched tubes and put it in my tool bag. I patch a batch of tubes every few months.