dokie

do these work i mean they are like 1.50 and you just peel off and stick on they are already pre-glued.
any one have any experiance with patches like this..will it hold till you get home or will it hold for a couple hundred miles

Quijibo187

I find they work pretty good. I've had a couple that didn't stick, but that was probably due to my own impatience and not prepping the area quite right and applying pressure long enough before re-inflating the tire. I still have a tube in my MTB commuter that has one from 2 years ago, no troubles on it.

I usually carry a couple on long rides along side an extra tube.

FlatFender

I buy the little kit that they sell at Target. No problems with the stick-on patches what-so-ever

mikejavo

I bought them once, and never again. I used them all up on one tiny hole. Guaranteed to leak. These were from Park, and I'm pretty sure they were discontinued soon after, as I'm sure many people complained. Stick with rubber cement, you have a much better chance of keeping air in.

Even the tiniest leak will not keep a tire full 200 km.

Steev

Scabs are the brand I went with for my one and only experiment with glue-less patches. I found they held for a while, but eventually everyone of them failed. It seemed to be worst in the heat, I was parking my bike on the only available rack which would get full sun all afternoon.
To all the people that say it's poor preparation and technique, I never have failures with glued patches, they are a permanent fix for me.

FlatFender

I prefer glue patches, but in a pinch, I have had no trouble with the sticky patches

AfterThisNap

Yea, the first park ones sucked bad, but they have re-released their glueless patches with some 3M adhesive and they work very well.

I_bRAD

$1.50 for ONE patch? You could almost buy a tube for that!

The old fashioned ones with the black and orange (can't remember the brand) work great and are permanent. It only takes a few minutes to put one on.

CliffordK

I realize this is a bit old of a thread... but I thought I'd resurrect it.

The "Glueless Patches" or "Scabs" are now pretty widely distributed. It seems like any time I try them, they quickly fail, and are very easy to peal off.

I believe that "glue" type patches are much much preferable. However, it is always a pain when one finds the tube of glue one is counting on is dry.

What have other people experienced with scabs?

Johnny Mullet

I use the scabs to get me home and then do a proper repair with a glue patch.

dynaryder

I use Park Tool glueless patches for my clinic. Five years and I've never had anyone come back with an issue. I use them pretty randomly;one weekend I can do one or two patches,then go a month before doing another. If I used the glue-on ones,the little tubes of cement would def dry up between uses. I've used them on my own bikes without issues as well. Have to make sure the tube is clean to get a good bound.

Bill Kapaun

I've had them fail when blowing up the tube to find the hole on my next puncture.
I'll use my REMA patch kit for a permanent repair, although I've used the stick ons to get me home when the light is failing or it's so hot out the sweat is running in my eyes.

datlas 

This is the correct way IMO.

Shimagnolo

+1

And in my experience, in cold weather they won't even stick long enough to get you home.

FBinNY 

People have a broad spectrum of luck with glueless patches. I suspect (but don't know) that part of the reason for the great difference is how they prepared the tube in advance. Tubes have a surface layer that has the lase vestiges of mold release agent, plus tends to be weathered pretty well. Adhesion to this surface tends to be poor. But sanding for a NY minute to remove this and expose fresh rubber (butyl) brings up a surface to which the patches can bond to pretty well.

So the better you sand or scrape, the better you'll make out.

Jed19

I carry a little pillbox of the Park Tool USA glueless patch in my saddle pack as a last resort patch solution when I have used up my extra tube. I have never had an occasion to ever use them, but was told by a buddy that they do work.

JanMM

I've never had a Park self-adhesive patch fail, but (knock on wood) have had very few flats since I started carrying them with me in the last few years. (I always carry a tube, too.)

CliffordK

I've tried the Slime Skabs earlier, and the Bell Glueless Patches a few days ago, and I wasn't impressed, and have been disappointed in the widespread distribution of them. Perhaps I'll try the Park Brand glueless patches if I can find some.

You may be right about the surface prep, especially when using a solvent-free patching method.

dynaryder

This. I always give a good scuffing with the sandpaper,in an area wider than the patch. I've even been able to sand down mold lines and get the patches to stick.

CliffordK

For ordinary glue-type patches, I trim the seams and mold lines using a single-edge razor blade (which I try to remember to put in my patch kit).

JTGraphics

Lots of mixed opinions but for me I tried them and I can say I will not be buying any ever again, if that tells you something.

rekmeyata

Scabs are junk patches and I like glueless patches! I tried Scabs and they lasted about a week before I had a flat from the patch giving out. I've been using Park GP2 glueless patches for years with much success, but like glue on patches they won't work well either if you don't prepare the tube properly which is the reason a lot of cyclists don't like glueless patches because they failed in the preparation stage. When done right I've had glueless patches hold without leaking for 5 years on a regularly ridden bike, and over 10 years on a bike rarely ridden, I've had as many as 13 glueless patches on one tube.

To make a glueless patch work you have to prepare the tube the same as you would with a glue patch. You first must buff the tube with fine sandpaper (usually included in the Park kit) in an area larger than the patch will cover to remove the very top layer of the tube, but sand lightly because you could sand through the tube, you just want to take off the shinny appearance. Next peal the glueless patch off the paper backing with your thumbnail or fingernail from a corner being careful just to touch a very small part of the patch. Then place the patch with the center of the patch over the hole. Next press the patch on as hard as you can between your thumb and index fingers of both hands for 30 seconds and then repeat for each corner. When you have finished that look at the patch, if you see any frosty looking areas you'll need to press that area for 30 seconds.

I've been using glueless patches for over 15 years and never had one fail, I love these patches but cheap ones like the Scab will turn you off to glueless patches. Buy only the Park brand and you'll be happy...if you prepare the tube correctly.

Word of warning not related to patches. Tube manufactures in the pursuit of saving a penny a tube no longer put a reinforcement washer under the valve stem to prevent tearing of the stem off the tube. So to help you not to do that start thinking about getting a pump that uses a hose instead of directly connecting the pump to the stem. A lot of people can't use a direct connect pump correctly, and when the PSI gets high they start to rock the valve stem back and forth due to the amount of force needed to pump air into the tube, this in turn puts a lot of stress on the stem and they will fail. A pump that has a hose will prevent this since the hose flexes instead of the valve stem...as long as you keep the hose with some slack in it while pumping. Topeak RaceRocket HP and Lezyne Road Drive (Lezyne offers 3 sizes get the large size to make it easier to get to 100 or so psi).

CliffordK

I've never had a presta valve stem fail. I always try to make sure my stems are perfectly vertical by pinching the tire while slowly spinning the wheel before inflating. Much of my inflating is done with my old "frame pump" where I hold the pump head in one hand while pumping with the other.

The new deeper profile rims (not even real deep ones) should help hold the valve reasonably steady, so you might need to rip the valve in half to ruin it (or break off that screw thingy which doesn't destroy the valve, but is a pain).

However, that being said, I need to send my nephew a pump, and it will likely have a hose.

My new mini-pump is a bit of a pain, especially with higher pressures, and I may go back to the full sized frame pump.

rekmeyata

I've been using the old school pumps for 40 years and never had an issue either but I did buy three hose type of pumps over the last 3 years, the Topeak Road Morph G, Topeak RaceRocket HP, and the Lezyne Road Drive in the long version. All three of those will get to over 100 with no problem but I doubt if any except maybe the Road Morph will reach their claims of 160 psi.

You don't need a full size frame pump any more with the Topeak Road Morph (the G at the end means it has a built in PSI gauge). This pump is like a mini floor pump, it has a fold out foot peg and a fold out handle, it's very easy to use, I use this on my touring bike due to the higher volume of air and this pump takes a lot less pumping then other mini's would.