Harhir

Most patch kits using rubber cement only come with few patches. I know you can buy patches in bulk on ebay or Amazon but most of them do not have great reviews. Can Anyone recommend set a of patches which will stick using standard rubber cement?
I tried making my own using cut offs from an old inner tube but that did not work either. The cement was from a freshly opened tube but the patch could be peeled of easily after a couple of hours.

Thanks

masi61

Rema TipTop come in 100 count boxes at a good price. They work great. Which patches are you referring to that do not get great reviews?

Davet

The Rema TipTop brand is arguably considered the Gold Standard in bicycle tube patches. Buy the kits or patches by themselves but buy good stuff. It’s no fun being on the side of the road because of cheap crap.

cyccommute 

Nope. There is not a patch out there that will stick worth a damn with “standard rubber cement”. Nor is making your own patches going to work all that well. Both aren’t even worth the time to try.

If you want to do it right, use Rema TipTop and only Rema TipTop. That patches and vulcanizing fluid. Rema is a system that uses chemistry to make a bond that is far more permanent that just using rubber cement and bits of rubber. Rubber cement is just a contact adhesive. Rema makes new chemical bonds because the fluid has one component and the patch has the other. Put them together (dry) and they start reacting.

Rema patches come in kits for on bike use or in boxes of 100. Much as I hate to drive business to Amazon, you can get boxes of 100 F1 (25mm) and F0 (16mm) there for around $18. The F1 is good for 35mm and larger tubes while the 16mm works very well on narrower tubes. You can get 8 oz cans of vulcanizing fluid for about the same price as well but unless you are doing dozens of patches per week, I’d suggest against that. A can of vulcanizing fluid can do 200 to 500 patches, depending on how thick you put on the fluid. The can is likely to dry out before you use it up in a home situation.

You can also buy 5g and 10g tubes. They cost more for the same amount of fluid but they are sealed and last longer over time. Once the seal is punctured, the fluid can dry out if you don’t cap it tightly but it’s a lot less costly than forgetting to cap the 8 oz can. The 5g tubes, by the way, are what are in most on-bike kits.

On use: Do not rush the job. You can’t let the fluid dry too much. If you don’t have to fix the tube on the road, do it at home and let the fluid dry. I’ve forgotten about a patch job for several weeks and the patch adhered to the tube just as well as if I’d left it for 20 or 30 minutes. On the road, make sure that the fluid is completely dry before putting the patch on. It may take 5 to 10 minutes but don’t rush it. If any solvent remains, the patch won’t stick.

pdlamb

I've also had good luck with Rema patches, bought in bulk. I've use Rema, Slime, and even Elmer's rubber cement, and can't tell the difference between them over many years and many, many patches. The key is preparation -- sand the mold release off the tube in the area, apply the glue and let it dry. It's easiest to replace the tube on the road and patch the leaky ones at home.

ironhanglider

Vulcaninsing fluid (patch glue) will evaporate faster in higher temperatures. I have a small fridge in my garage/workshop that is primarily for the storage of patch glue and throat lubricant.

Cheers,

Cameron

Bill Kapaun

You can make the tube of REMA glue last much longer if you squeeze the air out before capping. Waste a drop or 2 of glue doing this. It still beats leaving a semi to solid "plug of glue" in the opening and wasting a lot more.
I keep my opened tube + a spare tube of glue just in case. When patching at home, I use the opened tube and haven't had a problem yet over several years.

cyccommute 

Not in my experience. The solvent in the glue evaporates when the tube is open. As long as the cap is on tight, the solvent has no where to go. The only times I’ve had problems is if the cap isn’t tight.

There really is no need. The vulcanizing fluid doesn’t cure because of oxygen. Keeping air out of the tube does nothing. If anything, sucking a bit of air back in the tube so that the top seals better might be beneficial.

Andrew R Stewart 

I always shake my head at this topic. Patch kits are so cheap compared to the cost of not riding

Having said that and while agreeing with Stuart's posts most of the time I will say that one can make their own patches from pieces of old inner tubes. The piece needs to be dealt with just like the tube prep before applying a patch. Cleaning, applying glue and letting it dry. I've done this a few times over the years, mostly to show it can be done as the prepared "patch" won't like being stored or packed away for future use. The "patch" will have a step of thickness along it's edge that will more easily roll up in use. Think of the cheapest old time patch kit patches and add more crudeness. It takes more time and glue. So whay one would do it as the regular method is beyond me. But I guess when you're at the side of the Silk Road and have run out of good tubes and patches yet still have lots of glue and time this would get you up and riding for a while. Andy

Harhir

Thanks everyone. I am going to order some stuff from Rema then. I have used them in the past as well. I just wasn't aware that there is much of a difference.

dprayvd

Just for fun, here's some rema not holding a 2mm rimside split, front wheel. Ten days of 70 pounds in a 32. Layed-up some fresh velox when I placed the patch. It let go when I was jra slow and level. This failure-type has happened before and for me is a known rema weakness/flaw--and I should have doubled the patch (rema does this quite well when properly prepped.) Flirtin' stupidly with disaster. Glad I wasn't descending.

Technique: clean tube with chemical buffer on paper napkin, apply two layers rtv glue (allow each to fully dry as cycco advises), place patch, thouroughly roll (stitch) patch with end of screwdriver handle. If you're gonna double the patch, repeat all steps on the initial patch for placing the secondary patch.


Also, the buffer I use.


Also, a wrap or two of plumbers teflon on the threads of the gluetube gets a good solvent-saving seal.


ymmv

Bill Kapaun

Rimside? Looks more like a failure of the rim strip on a double wall rim.

dprayvd

^
Just so. The initial defect certainly was a split from the spokehole dimple from the previous velox strip. Not a deep dimple, but there nontheless allowing for the localized "stretching." And the tube is a decently thick Kenda from around Labor Day, so not old. The offending rimstrip--being some years in place--was replaced due to the dimpling (and its overall age-induced no-longer-very-soft-feeling edges,) and the fresh velox strip is affixed drumhead tight. When I placed the patch I let it remain c-clamped for a day just to be sure of the cure.

This failure is a failure-mode of rema getting some of the tube's inner-talc contaminating the rtv's bond along the border of the split and allowing some extended surface area of the patch to assume full pressure load. Remas cannot handle this, and this is the outcome. Pinhole/goathead punctures don't much exhibit this problem, ime. I'm not going to patch splits in future. Too much risk/too few teeth.

Otherwise, rema is rather foolproof, although they do not prefer extended periods of low relative humidity.

Here's a pic of a bone-thin Specialized 28-38 tube that dimpled like mad; never failed rimside, but didn't remain when I saw this. This is a 3-year rear tube (got lucky somewhat with this) with a few patched goathead punctures that was replaced along with the front in September (again, fresh tight af rimstrip placed att). Same Kenda tubestock back there, but no failure yet. Yet. Time has come to get back to having the "secure" thickness of the puncture-resistant tubes, I say.

Moe Zhoost

This is exactly what I do. Squeeze the tube until a blob of glue appears at the opening then cap up. Although I've never dated my open tubes, I'd guess that they may still be good after a year.

I, too, recommend Rema TipTop. I've used their patches and glues for 50 years with nary a problem.

zacster

I'll just agree that Rema is the only way to go. I've bought bulk patches and cement. I keep a tube in my bike bag but I've used the can of cement for all repairs since I got it. I always carry a spare or two on the road and there is no need to patch on the road unless I'm helping someone else out with a different tube size.

It just isn't worth it to try anything else IMHO.

Barry2 

I patch on the road. After all, you have to find the hole in order to check inside the tire for the cause still sticking through.
Else the new tube gets holed as well.

Barry