Nachoman

I've had some really bad luck with my tyre patches lately. Their just not working. Obviously pilot error but either way to answer the question, NO I don't trust tire patches. I prefer new tubes.

Velo Dog

FWIW, this never made any sense to me. I know a lot of people do it, but all you save is the few seconds it takes for the glue to dry. You still have to demount the tire, find the hole, remount the tire and reinflate. Then when you get home you have to do it right.

znomit

Its not the time its the carrying.

Spiduhman

incidence of brand new tube failing/faulty > road tested tube that's been punctured and (properly) patched failing at the patch

digibud

Patches are 100% reliable if you do it correctly. You MUST scuff the entire area up where the patch is going to be applied. You MUST apply a reasonably thin layer of glue to the tube and you MUST let it dry for a few minutes per the directions on the patch kit. A properly done patch will last indefinitely if my multi-year old tubes are any indication. I used to carry no tube at all until I ran into a tiny steel shard I could not find and got flat after flat until my patch kit was used up in one ride. THAT was frustrating. Now I carry a kit and a new tube.

pallen

+1 I've pulled out new tubes with faulty valves or manufacturing defects that result in cracks in the rubber that leak. I have never had a patched tube fail yet.

WC89

No trust. Haven't used patches since teenage years (I'm 50) and had no luck whatsoever! I was probably not doing something right So, happily been stuffing 2 tubes in my bag for about 33 yrs.

mmmdonuts

It does to me. I can do a better and cleaner job with the permanent patches after I get home. Much easier to slap on a temp patch when I'm hot and sweaty or freezing cold than trying to mess with cleaning and scuffing and gluing, etc. It's not a huge deal but I prefer to get rolling again as quickly as possible. It is so infrequent that I lack practice and it takes me too long to do a roadside repair.

Until this post. I'll probably get a bunch of flats now...

1FJEF

Sure I trust a patched tube enough to ride on it, but a spare fresh tube never hurts.

pallen

I carry a spare tube and patch when I get home. The patched tube becomes my new spare.

Genaro

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is testing the tube after you've repaired it. I like to do the old "water dunk" after it dries to make sure its good to go. Just inflate the tube and dunk it in sections into a bucket of water and watch closely. Quality control at its finest.

pallen

I usually air them up and leave them overnight to see if I can detect any air loss.

hhnngg1

+1. It's pretty good test.

Stuka

I'm gonna be the black sheep... I do not own any glue-ons. I have had only good experience with the Park self-sticks. For awhile I was running Michelin Pro3 Race and they picked up every sharp object within 50ft of the bike. I was patching all the time, but never re-patching. I had only one bad patch, ever, and it was user error that caused it to wrinkle.

Grain of salt and all that.

Shinjukan

I like this tip. But here's a question: What should one do if they found out that they didn't patch it thoroughly and that there's a leak? Should they rip the patch thereby risking making the whole thing worse?

Somebody also suggested using Acetone on the area around the hole before applying the glue (or the glueless patch) and then the patch. The idea behind it was to thoroughly clean the area around the hole from any powder-like substance that came with the tube that enables it to slide easier when mounting to the tire.

mmmdonuts

At some point you have to find the balance between time, effort, and cost of a new tube.

spock

Self-adhesive ones have failed on me multiple times. Cold-vulcanizing ones, never.

pallen

Yep, I have never had a patch not work, but I have had a tube with more than 1 hole. If I can find the second easily, I'll patch it as well. If my tube is still losing air after that, I would probably toss it and get a new tube. Luckily, its never gone that far for me.

jrobe

A new tube is $4-5. I wouldn't even waste my time patching one much less thinking about whether I could trust it when I am 50 miles from home.

Shimagnolo

And I don't waste time removing a wheel on the road, when I can just pop 12" of one bead, pull out the spot where the puncture is, slap on a patch, pop the bead back in place, and inflate the tire.

Shinjukan

Guess you're a pro 'coz you know exactly which part of the tube on your wheel where the leak is and just pull 12" of that area. If you do it this way and the debris that caused you to flat is still inside your tire, guess what will happen soon?

hhnngg1

I felt this way for awhile, but there are weeks where you just get multiple flats that even this 'trivial' cost is easiliy fixed with patches.

I'm pretty experienced at tube changes now (probably have had over 30 flats in the last 5 years) but I still encounter the following regularly:

- Repeat flats, often from a small metal shard left in the tire
- Repeat flats, sometimes from a pinch/twist in the tube when inflating
- Repeat flats, just due to dang bad luck

My flats seem to happen in clusters, like 2-4 in a single month, then zero for the rest of the year.

Those $6-7 tubes seem like a total waste when you quickly re-flat them. However with a patch, it's no big deal. Just wait til you've got 4-6 tubes with flats, and patch 'em all at once for $2. That'll save you like $24 for 15 minutes of work, and it's fun no less. That's pretty good return for any job. The more tubes you patch at once, the higher the monetary yield.

I do admit that when I go through no-flat times (I had nearly a year where I didn't flat once), I start questioning even spending time on a patch. I wouldn't patch if I only had 1-2 tubes to deal with. But when you get like 4+ accumulated, it makes a lot of sense.

Phantoj

I used to test my patched tubes, but I do not believe in the practice any more. I think the over-expansion of the tube during testing results in a shear stress to the "cement" before the patch has had time to fully bond. If you do a good job, and if you cover the hole, you can be confident that the patch will hold, no testing required.

On the other hand, if you immediately install the tube in the tire, that should (IMO) help squeeze the patch onto the tube and bond it better.

I don't generally patch at the roadside, but I save my tubes and patch them at home. It's a useful skill to learn, and I think it's enjoyable...

Shimagnolo

You really think you can't find a puncture w/o removing the entire tire, and you really think you can't reach into a tire where you have pulled off one bead???

Phantoj

If you are a "patcher" you can check the tire for debris while you wait for the cement to dry (what else are you going to do?)