Why are there more patches than cement?
06-01-20, 02:16 PM
#27
Banned
I remember buying Rema patch kits in these convenient green plastic boxes. Overtime, I’d see different brands, at the LSB cash register, sitting there like candy at the grocery store checkout. Needless to say, I’d pick up a patch kit, knowing that the cement was probably dried out In my current kit.
Well with time on my hands I decided to repair a few punctured tubes. I discovered I had stashed a bunch of patches in a little Tupperware container and repurposed the little boxes for small parts. I figure I typically have 4-5 patches left over per box with dried out cement, and a current surplus of 40 patches
I searched the Forum, and the cement issue has been discussed. I don’t think my leftovers are excessive, instead it’s a conspiracy. I think I‘m getting a value, but the manufacturer is stiffing me on the cement. An extra tube of cement is 20 cent less then the price for kit with 7 patches (on Amazon).
Anyways, any recommendations on alternative uses for these patch or toss them?
Well with time on my hands I decided to repair a few punctured tubes. I discovered I had stashed a bunch of patches in a little Tupperware container and repurposed the little boxes for small parts. I figure I typically have 4-5 patches left over per box with dried out cement, and a current surplus of 40 patches
I searched the Forum, and the cement issue has been discussed. I don’t think my leftovers are excessive, instead it’s a conspiracy. I think I‘m getting a value, but the manufacturer is stiffing me on the cement. An extra tube of cement is 20 cent less then the price for kit with 7 patches (on Amazon).
Anyways, any recommendations on alternative uses for these patch or toss them?
Do you squeeze all the air out before you put the cap back on?
...
06-01-20, 02:31 PM
#28
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06-01-20, 02:47 PM
#29
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It's not the air getting in that is the problem. It's the solvent getting out.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
06-01-20, 02:54 PM
#30
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This is an easy answer to the "powder tubes or not?" perennial question. Leave the cellophane on until it falls off -- any glue has dried out fully by that time.
06-01-20, 03:07 PM
#31
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Why if you dig a hole in the ground the dirt never fits back in the same hole. Another mystery of the universe.
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06-01-20, 03:56 PM
#32
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I bought this.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/401841106201
In theory, it will show up and I can keep my patch kit fresh. It's definitely on a slow boat, but it's nothing important.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/401841106201
In theory, it will show up and I can keep my patch kit fresh. It's definitely on a slow boat, but it's nothing important.
06-01-20, 06:23 PM
#34
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Thread Starter
Hey... Wait a minute... I’ll resell one tube plus 6 patches for $2.00, on the other forum, and recoup some money!
06-01-20, 06:39 PM
#35
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06-01-20, 08:19 PM
#36
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Ok, 5 for $2 & change plus shipping (no free patches?) LOL. I guess I saw one big Rema cement for $2.20. I hope they are the toxic kind that melts rubber then dries fine.
Hey... Wait a minute... I’ll resell one tube plus 6 patches for $2.00, on the other forum, and recoup some money!
Hey... Wait a minute... I’ll resell one tube plus 6 patches for $2.00, on the other forum, and recoup some money!
06-01-20, 08:20 PM
#37
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Yup. I've bought those conventional patch kits with a small tube of cement and the usual assortment of patches. Kept 'em unopened in a storage bin along with the usual assortment of new boxed tubes and patched tubes, etc. When I needed the patch kit months or a year or so later the cement was always dried out. Never opened, no apparent damage. The quality of the crimp on the end of the tube probably matters but these were patch kits that had never been opened or handled by me, other than to purchase them and store them for later use. Didn't matter what the brand was.
If I buy any more cement it'll be a container of Rema or similar quality vulcanizing cement. The little tubes are a waste of money. I have an old jar of ordinary contact cement for crafts work and it's still viable, because the threaded lids can be sealed properly.
If I buy any more cement it'll be a container of Rema or similar quality vulcanizing cement. The little tubes are a waste of money. I have an old jar of ordinary contact cement for crafts work and it's still viable, because the threaded lids can be sealed properly.
06-01-20, 08:41 PM
#38
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If glues dries out on you and you don't trust those self-adhesive patches, see if you can find vulcanization kit. I think that's the name for it.
I used it on my bike when still primary school age, my father used it on his motorcycle. It consisted of shallow cups filled with some substance that burned without flame. You sanded the tube and put a patch on the hole, on the patch you put this cup and fastened the cup to the patch and tube by a screw on clamp like device. Then you applied match to that substance and while it did the job, it was smoking, which always prompted my father to also have a smoke. When it cooled off, you released the tension and if you were lucky, the patch stayed on the tube... just kidding, it was fused to it.
I used it on my bike when still primary school age, my father used it on his motorcycle. It consisted of shallow cups filled with some substance that burned without flame. You sanded the tube and put a patch on the hole, on the patch you put this cup and fastened the cup to the patch and tube by a screw on clamp like device. Then you applied match to that substance and while it did the job, it was smoking, which always prompted my father to also have a smoke. When it cooled off, you released the tension and if you were lucky, the patch stayed on the tube... just kidding, it was fused to it.
06-01-20, 08:56 PM
#39
Senior Member
I just bought a big can of cement a couple of years ago, about a year after I bought a big box of patches, Rema of course. It'll last me for years. It does surprise me however how many tubes I can go through, although I'm taking care of 7 bikes regularly in my house (4 are mine of course). I carry two spares with me at all times on whichever bike I'm riding but no longer carry patches. That may be overkill but I'd rather be safe than sorry. And this year my usual SAG wagon is no longer an option. I always relied on the NYC subway to be my ride home of last resort, but I'm not willing to use it now with Covid. I never actually used it for mechanical issues anyway, but I've taken it when I've been on very long rides for the last 10 miles home.
06-01-20, 09:29 PM
#40
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If glues dries out on you and you don't trust those self-adhesive patches, see if you can find vulcanization kit. I think that's the name for it.
I used it on my bike when still primary school age, my father used it on his motorcycle. It consisted of shallow cups filled with some substance that burned without flame. You sanded the tube and put a patch on the hole, on the patch you put this cup and fastened the cup to the patch and tube by a screw on clamp like device. Then you applied match to that substance and while it did the job, it was smoking, which always prompted my father to also have a smoke. When it cooled off, you released the tension and if you were lucky, the patch stayed on the tube... just kidding, it was fused to it.
I used it on my bike when still primary school age, my father used it on his motorcycle. It consisted of shallow cups filled with some substance that burned without flame. You sanded the tube and put a patch on the hole, on the patch you put this cup and fastened the cup to the patch and tube by a screw on clamp like device. Then you applied match to that substance and while it did the job, it was smoking, which always prompted my father to also have a smoke. When it cooled off, you released the tension and if you were lucky, the patch stayed on the tube... just kidding, it was fused to it.
06-01-20, 11:29 PM
#41
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Nice 
I talk about Europe and I would have noticed if it was American. 'We' may have copied it then, likely it came to Europe with the US army and was then manufactured locally. But who knows how it was, this 'technology' probably dates to the times when rubber tubes were invented and might have existed even prior to that, maybe as long as the rubber was invented.
I talk about Europe and I would have noticed if it was American. 'We' may have copied it then, likely it came to Europe with the US army and was then manufactured locally. But who knows how it was, this 'technology' probably dates to the times when rubber tubes were invented and might have existed even prior to that, maybe as long as the rubber was invented.
