Patching tubes

If you want to be really ghetto/green/thrifty, take that old tube your going to junk and use it as patches. Cut an appropriately sized piece out of the old tube and round the corners. Then clean it and rough up the back side like the area of the tube you're going to patch. Hit both the tube and the patch with glue and follow the directions above.

I use those MEC glueless patches. Far faster for my impatient ass, fits in my wallet (I ride sans bag), and at $5 for 12, far cheaper than buying 12 tubes, not to mention more portable.

Plus they take 100PSI+ without complaint, what more could I ask for?

I use those MEC glueless patches.

translink ordered thousands of glueless patch kits with their logos on them. gave them out at events for a few weeks in the summer of 2008 before getting enough feedback to realize they didn't work. at all. just fell right off. so they donated them to the vacc :shhh:

the park ones i've used worked great

tire maintenance:

Always carry a spare tube [HTML_REMOVED] a patch kit cuz waiting for the glue to dry COMPLETELY to fix a tube during bug season or riding with buds who don't want to wait can suck so you swap the spare tube in ,you still got yer backup patch kit in case something goes sideways and rather than leaving your garbage in the wilderness …TAKE IT HOME

thro that dead tube in the dead tube box ,when you got a half doz dead tubes use the kit in your seat bag to patch all your dead tubes while in the comfort of your shop while having a drink,leave them aired up to be sure of the fix

Now is the time to replace the patch kit in your seat bag with a new patch kit so you don't get stuck with a tube of dried out glue that has been rattling around in the seat bag for 2 years

the reason patches don't stick or don't work IMO is plain and simple …people don't know how to fix a tire properly

You gotta let the the glue dry completely before putting the patch,sez it right on every patch kit cuz its a contact type glue , if the hole is on a seam or too near another hole or a snake bite needing multiple patches consider junking the tube or using the tube for for bungies or sft but there is no reason why you can't use a tube with 6 patches on it if the tube holds air and patching at home will make for a much better more enjoyable job if you are sniffing them glue fumes after a couple of beers

when you change a tire get in the habit of ALWAYS putting the tire logo at the valve stem the reason is that sometimes a nail or thorn in the tire casing could be putting holes in the tube SO if you always mount the tire with the logo at the stem you know exactley where the tire was on the rim when the tube was punctured which makes it easier to find what is puncturing the tube

I carry two tubes when out on a ride, a new one and a patched one. The fresh one if for me when I flat, and the patched one is to hand out to flatted ridding buddies or strangers on the trail, Plus I'm covered if I double flat (hack alert!). When I get home with a punctured tube it moves down the food-chain to the friend tube zone.

I use those MEC glueless patches. Far faster for my impatient ass, fits in my wallet (I ride sans bag), and at $5 for 12, far cheaper than buying 12 tubes, not to mention more portable.

Plus they take 100PSI+ without complaint, what more could I ask for?

They only offer a temporary solution to get you home. They use and adhesive which breaks down over time, where the actual patches use a vulcanising compound that will effectively melt the tube and patch together.

my best was 5 patches on BMX tube before i got a new one (ran out of patches)

Spare tubes 2 of them on every ride. Nice getting the first beer at the pub purchased fro ya because you had a spare to give.

If you light the glue on fire and blow it out do this a few times once it doesn't want to bust into flames, careful not to heat every thing up. The glue will be ready in under 30 seconds or less. The flaming tube patch is a skill I learned from the Crow.

Park patches. Work fine for big MTB tubes; such for road bike tubes.

They only offer a temporary solution to get you home. They use and adhesive which breaks down over time, where the actual patches use a vulcanising compound that will effectively melt the tube and patch together.

I hear that a lot but the same ones stay on my tubes for months at a time. They come off eventually, but it takes much longer than a ride home. Maybe it's because I run a really high pressure so it stays put? Who knows. But they work perfectly for me.

Rather wasteful. Patches are easy to apply, and often the patched area is stronger than before.

I used to patch them, but its always in the back of my mind - "is that patch leaking?".

Peace of mind for me. :)

I have been lucky and in that last 8 months I have not flatted. (knock on wood).:shhh:

Funny side story. I once helped someone out in WBP by offering a tube that had a few patches on it, and the guy refused it because it was patched. Packless WBP riders are funny.

I think my record is 14 patches on a tube. The thing looked like a patch work quilt.