JoeTBM 

Vigil Honor member here Lodge #4

JoeTBM 

https://www.schwalbetires.com/recycling/

JoeTBM 

Link to program

https://www.schwalbetires.com/recycling/

Biker Pete 

Patch kits are super cheap. I also patched a pinhole in a TPU tube using their supplied patch kit (RideNow).

striker65

I use those peel and stick, find it helps to clean the area with alcohol before applying the patch.

SpedFast

Yes, we should all carry alcohol on our rides. Just for emergencies you know

13ollocks

A sort of sewing circle with added solvent inhalation to spice things up.....

13ollocks

All these years, I thought that was what the second bottle was for...

Frkl

Wait, so you don't patch if you have gotten a flat, but are suggesting preemptively patching with huge patches, before you get a flat?

You are joking right?

So i will suggest that you should just go ahead and replace the tire and tube after the flat, since might as well address all the possibilities and produce as much landfill as possible in the process.

downtube42

All that plus $20 boot/emergency fund, presta/shraeder adapter. On the tubeless bike, add sealant, tubeless valve stem, plug kit. Occasionally a spare tire.

I don't carry a spare left crankarm and bolt, though I did see one fall off a bike at PBP last year

rydabent

I use the glueless patches. If done right they last a long time. I have one tire that has a glueless patch that must be 3 years old this year. I wont trash a tube unless it has about 3 patches.

It depends on where I am at, if I patch on the spot, or put in a new tube, and patch at home.

ScottCommutes

Just getting back into it myself. Signing my kid up for boy scout camp today (before the price goes up). Got a summer job myself on the cub scout side of the camp with my two younger ones as the ranger. I was involved from about age 7-30, then took about 20 years off.

I carry two tubes and a patch kit and a pump.

noglider 

Yes, I patch a lot. I save my punctured tubes into a batch and patch them all once or twice a year. I like Rema patches best, but no-name patches that look similar are OK. I found out the hard way that Rema vulcanizing fluid is far better than anything else, so it's the only thing I use. I tried rubber cement, and it's not very good. I'm sure it's been years since I patched on the road, but I still carry a patch kit when I ride, on the off chance I get two flats. I normally carry one spare tube. In that patch kit is a little squeeze tube of vulcanizing fluid. At home, I patch with a can of the stuff, and the can has a brush built into the cap. I avoid opening the squeeze tube, because once it is open, the remaining liquid dries out after a few months.

Some people have succeeded in patching their tubes many times. For some reason, the most I've had on a tube is eight patches. After that, something goes wrong, such as a hole near the valve stem or a big rip in the tube. Still, that's pretty good.

grumpus

If you're going to carry one spare tube you might as well carry two, because one pothole can pinch-flat two tyres. I'll try the Topeak FlyPaper patches.

noglider 

You might be riding with too-low pressure if that happens to you. I've been riding for a lifetime, and I've never pinch-flatted two tires at once, and when it did happen to one tire, I blame myself.

cyccommute 

Pinch flats are a symptom, not a problem. Yea, the tire goes flat but if you have put the proper amount of air in the tire to prevent the tire from bottoming out on the rim, pinch flats aren’t a problem. Tubeless users make the mistake of saying that they can’t experience pinch flat, which is true. But if you run too low a pressure, the tire can still bottom out on the rim and, instead of pinching the tube, the rim gets bent. Now you’ve traded a 25¢ problem for a $200 problem.

choddo

I thought I’d done this recently and I don’t even run particularly low pressures. 80psi on a 25mm. Hit a pothole so hard the tyre was flat inside 30 metres. Couldn’t get it to stay inflated. Had to borrow a tube from my son to get home. Could see where the air was escaping and there was a small deformation in the rim. Once I’d got it home and redone the tyre from scratch it was fine though. Lucky.

cyclomath

I certainly could, especially knowing that my bicycle is rarely lighter than 20kg (~45lb) with both rack and handlebar bags full with spare parts, tools and clothes, so another tube would make little to no difference. However, there is the question of at what number of spare tubes to stop and, for me, the answer is one. While two punctures on one ride does happen, it happens very rarely and usually on tours when my bike weighs about gazillion kilos (~2.2 gazillion pounds). Also, if I happen to get two punctures, I am almost certainly pissed enough that sitting extra 15 minutes to patch a tube and calm down is not a bad thing.

My punctures almost exclusively come from thorns and sharp stones and stone chips, because I go from pavement to dirt with reckless abandon.

zacster

I used to patch out on the road but now just carry two spares. I bought a box of Rema patches and a can of Rema cement and I'll just patch them in batches at home. It's lasted me many years already. Those tiny tubes in the patch kits always dry out once opened.

SpedFast

I quit carrying a patch kit and now just carry a single spare tube. I leave the patching till I get home. And yes, I have carried my bike over my shoulder quite a few miles when I failed to find the culprit in the tire that caused the first flat.

grumpus

I didn't say I'd done it, just that it could happen. TBH I don't recall using both spares in a single ride, other than giving them to less prepared clubmates. I have had a snakebite or two, probably from running too little air or mis-timing a kerb, so mea culpa.

Amt0571

I usually patch and keep the spare tube in case I have another puncture that is not repairable with a patch. The exception is when I'm commuting to work. If I puncture when commuting, I replace the tube and patch it later at home to avoid arriving late.

Timberwolf

I patch, but change the tube on the trail. Patch at home, reinstall the old tube and fold the new and stow for the next event.

If I e=get another puncture the same day, I haven't so far, I repair the old tube and then replace the punctured tube.;

It works for me but YMMV.

2_i 

Adding to this thread, I ride 3 different tire sizes regularly, swapping one bike for another. My wife rides another fourth size, and I am normally expected to provide service. When I still tried to carry a spare tube, it usually turned out to be the wrong size. For me, carrying tubes makes no sense. The pump and patch kit are always the same .

Ryan_M

Interesting read! I use whatever off-brand stick-em-on patches if it's a small hole while I'm out on a ride. I do carry a spare tube but if a patch gets me home then I still have the tube if something worse happens during the ride. The intention is to replace the tube when I get home - which I never do. Probably have tubes that have been on a patch for years and no problems.