cyccommute 

Most don’t. Most patch kits can’t.

HelpSingularity 

I am looking right now at an 8 oz. can of "Slime" brand "Rubber Cement".
"For Use With Patches and Plugs".
I think I purchased it from a local "Napa" auto parts store for 6 or 7 bucks a few years ago.
I have patched about a dozen or so tubes and it seems to work just fine.

njkayaker

You are supposed to use appropriate patches. (Some people above are talking about using cut-up tubes.)

https://slime.com/pages/vulcanizing-patches-plugs

Kapusta

I keep patching them until I get a puncture that can’t be patched well, like it is too close to another patch.

I’ve run tubes with ~10 patches on them.

cyccommute 

And therein lies the problem that so many have with patching tubes. “Rubber cement” is rubber suspended in a solvent. It will make a patch adhere to the tube on contact but that adhesion will decrease with time and flexing of the tube. The vast majority of these kinds of patch jobs will fail within a relatively short period and the rest will fail in the long term.

Rema, on the other hand uses a 2 part systems with a “vulcanizing fluid” that contain one chemical and patches that contain another chemical that catalyzes a reaction that forms bonds between the patch and the tube. The patch becomes part of the tube as the system cures and is thus a more permanent fix. Rubber cement is the JBWeld of patching. Rema is the welding of patching.

biker128pedal

Yes.

njkayaker

You are supposed to use appropriate patches with the mentioned Slime product.

https://slime.com/pages/vulcanizing-patches-plugs


https://slime.com/collections/patches-and-plugs/products/tube-patch-kit

Daniel4

Patching tubes on the road? No, not any more. Too much anxiety as you rush to do a bad job.
I carry a spare new tube. Then when I get home, I patch the old one and re-install it. That way, I'm not risking any punctures on a new tube but risking new punctures on an old already punctured, but patched, old tube.

jadmt

the park vp-1 tube says vulcanizing fluid. I pulled the chemical safety sheet on both rema and park and they are different but similar. the patches look similar except the rema's edges are serrated vs smooth. I wonder how they compare long term. I have had good luck with both.

prj71

I carry a spare tube and swap it out instead of patching. If the spare tube gets punctured I use these. Easy, Quick and no mess. And contrary to what others here may think...they work just as good as the old fashioned patches that require glue.

https://www.parktool.com/en-us/produ...patch-kit-gp-2

pdlamb

FWIW, the benefit of a silver Sharpie over chalk is that I can mark it when I get home and it stays marked until I collect enough leaky tubes to make fixing them worthwhile -- often months.

Do you bring patched tubes or new tubes for your support missions?

xroadcharlie

I tried patching a tube on the seam last year. It didn't work. so I bought a new one. Perhaps with more patience it would have been fine though.

Last month I got another flat, from a construction staple. I put a new tube in, but plan to try patching this one, it's not on the seam. Only this time I'll put an honest effort into it.

Flip Flop Rider

never

HelpSingularity 

I only use "Rema Tip Top" brand patches. I don't remember one ever letting me down IF the tube is properly prepped and proper procedures followed.
The brand of "rubber cement" for tube patches does not seem to matter that much.
That's just been my experience over the last 50 years.

cyccommute 

The difference is N-Ethylcyclohexylamine that is in the Rema and not in the Park. I can’t find the old SDS for the patches I saw long ago but I’m fairly sure that the chemical in the patches is Zinc diethyldithiocarbamate or something similar. The amine promotes the thiocarbamate to form sulfur linkages in the vulcanizing fluid/patch interface. That makes new rubber linkages. These are missing from the Park patch kit.

adlai

Those things exactly are the ones that don't work at all for me. Maybe for a lower psi tire they can work, but not at 110 psi

tempocyclist

I've patched a few times using those Park Tool pre-glued patches.

Have had one failure where it "slow leaked" all the way home and I had to top the tyre up a few times (likely user error in patching) but every other time they've been fine. I don't go into triple-digit psi though!

Like above, I carry one spare tube, so the patches only come out at the roadside if I get a second flat.

HelpSingularity 

I too carry one or two spare tubes so I can patch at home.
I've never used the glueless patches but with conventional patching I know that the prep is most important:
First I clean the hole area with a household spray cleaner and dry with a clean cloth.
Next a little abrasion with the sand paper (or similar)
Then a thin coat of "rubber cement", wait 1 to 5 minutes until it kinda looks dry.
Apply "Rema" brand patch and then smoosh it down good.
I've put the tube directly on the wheel and pump it up and rode away.
Back in the olden days of yore with the skinny, skinny tires I even pumped them up to 130+ psi.
Never had an issue excluding problems around the valve stem.

daviddavieboy

I am going to assume this is similar to the old Velox kits. I always had fantastic results with those but my supply is running out and the prices are crazy locally and on Ama zon. Have you tried the Tip Top patches on latex tubes ?

noimagination

Yes, I patch tubes.
In theory, there's no limit on the number of patches, as long as I'm not patching a patch - if that happens, the tube gets re-purposed.
Practically speaking, however, by the time a tube has had time to accumulate 3-4 patches or so, it's getting worn out anyway. When a tube starts leaking around the valve, it gets used for other purposes.
Patches themselves, if done properly, last pretty much as long as the tube lasts. The only patch I've ever had fail was one I did by the side of the road in a hurry. My fault.
My Dad taught me how to patch tubes when I was around 7 years old or so (I remember the patch kit he had - it was one of those old Schwinn kits in a cardboard tube with red lettering) and I've been patching tubes ever since. My Dad was not interested in patching our tubes (hard to blame him when he had 4 kids - and we didn't want to wait around for him to get home anyway), so we always patched our own tubes when we were kids.

easyupbug 

Amazon has the very nice tool pouch size Park Tool VP-1 vulcanizing patch for $6, that works out to $1 per patch. I find that very reasonable.
https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-VP-...72376402&psc=1

Kapusta

I don’t overthink what patch kit I get, as literally every one that uses separate glue/vulcanizer/whatever (as opposed to the quick glueless patches) has lasted and held indefinitely. Park, Rema, Nashbar, and several others I can’t even remember.

fishboat

I agree..it always floors me a bit when these "tube patch" discussions come up and the debate goes on, and on, and on.. it's just an inner tube and a patch. I typically use Park tube patch kits, though have used many others over the years. If you get a flat, pull out the tube, find the puncture(and what caused it), use the patch kit the way it was intended to be used, reassemble the tire, pump up the tire, and continue the ride. Really not complicated. In 45+ years of riding, and getting a flat occasionally, I've never had a patch fail. Fixing a puncture in a sew-up is pretty much the same, though those were fixed at home, and carrying a spare tire is needed when riding them(many years ago...).

..people do love to make mountains out of mole hills.

ok..now we can get back to something really difficult..like lubricating a chain

cyccommute 

No, not on latex.

cyccommute 

I’ve seen lots and lots of failures on everything but Rema. My local co-op cheaped out a few years ago and the number of failures on our patched tubes went from a few (mostly operator error) to many that simply wouldn’t stick. Many of them came off when the tube was folded for storage. If the tube were put into a tire, the patch might hold better but that’s not a problem I’ve ever had with Rema. As the old saying goes: “The most expensive tool is the one you buy twice.”