To Patch or Not To Patch
 

I'm a tube patcher. I have a small puncture smack dab in the middle of this field of ribs, see photo. I realize that I would need to sand the patch area smooth for a successful patch. The tube is a Continental brand (700x25-ish). The rib field only occurs in a small section, so statistically a puncture in that region is small.

1. What's the likelihood of a successful patch on the ribbed section of this tube?
2. Any idea why this feature exists? I assume it's an artifact of the manufacturing process, but yet not all tubes have this.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...40031f242e.jpg

The low likelihood of a patch sticking there wouldn’t be worth the trouble to me. Try it and see; maybe use it for an emergency spare, but I’d be wary of depending on it for more than that. There are plenty of uses for old tubes, or your local shop can recycle it.

So many ribs like that are, of course, a royal PITA but if you want to try, just fold the tire so the rib is on the edge of the fold and sand away at the area needed. Much easier and faster than trying to sand the tube on a flat surface.

The right patch kit will make the repair work better. Don’t mess with anything other than a Rema patch kit.

Sand the ribs down as much as possible, use a fair amount of vulcanizing fluid, and rub the patch well after you attach it. It should work very well. I’ve done this on a number of tubes…although, thankfully, there are too many tubes like this.

Might work but I'd just put a new tube in. Not worth the time and trouble if it failed. Even if it didn't, I'd always be wondering if it would. That's just me tho.

I am not.

Since we are both in Southern California, you can have my Pirelli RoadTube 700 x 23C-30C (60 mm stem); I even marked where the pinhole is.

I agree with cyccommute on the rema patches. I have also patched tubes like that before. There was an American tube company in the 1980s named Carlyle that used rubber in their tubes. I had a tube with a large # of patches that didn't leake. Schwalbe makes a tube that holds air longer called Air Plus the secret ingredient is rubber.

I use a single edge razor blade to trim ribs.Way faster than sanding them down

I tried the razor trick, and sliced the tube. Oops!

Just grab a bit of coarser sandpaper (40 or 60 grit) and sand across the ribs.

No one has answered what the ribs are for. Its ribbed for her pleasure !!

Something like this could make the difference between success and failure on a "difficult" patch.
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7...&gclsrc=aw.ds&

Agreed. Rema patches and vulcanizing fluid make for a reliable repair. I can't say the same for other brands, or mixing brands. A patch roller can help seal the patch on a ribbed tube. Roll parallel to the ribs, between the ridges:

And work from the middle out to the sides.

I don't think I've ever had trouble with ribs like that. Just sanded them as much as possible and burnished the edges of the patch well. Even if it fails, you lost 1 patch and a few minutes of time.

That's a lot more trouble that I go to -- or maybe it's just in a different part of the repair. I spend my attention sanding the tube down, don't care too much about the glue, and I've never used (or owned) a patch roller. Rarely have I had a patch fail; the last one was when I didn't see the Michelin wire and a few miles down the road the wire poked right through the patch and the tube. Can't blame the Slime patch cement for that failure! (The ones I patched with Elmer's rubber cement over 3-5 years also held with no problems.)

To recap: sand the tube until it's lost all the glossiness on its surface. I use Rema patches because no one else sells packs of 100 that I know of. Put enough glue or cement on, and let it dry. Press the patch on, and I'll roll a thumb out from the middle to the edges. It's a good way to spend an hour on a cold or rainy weekend afternoon if you replace tubes on the road and save the leakers until you've got a half dozen or so to go through.