Newbie question and patching

[MollyJ]

I have a road bike, Trek Madone. When I get a flat, they just sell me a new inner tube and I have some inner tubes as part of my flat kit.

DH is "old school" and wanted to teach me about patching.

Is patching skinny, road bike tires practical? Or does our disposable society just discard because we can?

[OakLeaf]

Carry a patch kit and know how to use it. The number of flats you will have on any given ride is the number of spare tubes you have, plus one. ;)

Stick-on patches are quickest, simplest and most compact for the road. I'm told they're not as reliable as the old-school patches though - I've never had a glued patch fail [touch wood].

If you have enough spare tubes to get you home, then use the glue type to patch them. It's a whole lot easier to find small holes and patch them when you have access to a pail of water and clean towels! Let the glue cure overnight before you fold them back up for your seat pack. When you pack it up, use extra powder, since any excess glue will be even stickier than the tube itself.

[TsPoet]

Carry a patch kit and know how to use it. The number of flats you will have on any given ride is the number of spare tubes you have, plus one. ;)


I agree!
I disagree with the stick-on patches being quicker, they really aren't, they are just sold that way. I highly recommend simple - IMHO the best patch kit is this one
http://www.rivbike.com/products/show/einstein-s-patch-kit/10-048
I now just buy the smallest patches I can find and glue - don't even need a kit. Read the instructions and let the glue dry until tacky, put the patch on, and you are good to go. the only patches I've had fail were the ones that I put on next to the puncture instead of on it - I hate to admit it, but I've done that more than once. If you aren't sure exactly where the tiny hole is, put water (or spit) on the area, a little air in the tire, and watch it fizzle. soapy water works the best, if you are home.

[MomOnBike]

Agreed. Learn to patch a tube. It's not hard, and you look so competent.

I find patching tubes relaxing and enjoyable - I tend to grab DH's flat tubes from him and start patching before he even knows quite what is happening.

That said, sometimes old tubes can sure make good shims and rubber bands. All you need then are some scissors.

[Velocivixen]

@Mollyj, you asked if patching skinny, road bike tires is practical. You don't patch the tires, you patch the tubes. I presume that's what you meant. I think that when you're out on the road and just need to get home, replace the entire tube. Once home, you can find the leak, assess, then patch the tube if you want.

[MollyJ]

velocivixen, I did mean tubes...my brain sometimes thinks tire when it means tube but I know the difference. ;) I'm kind of impressed with the response here. DH will be gratified.

[Crankin]

Maybe I am playing devil's advocate, but I don't know anyone who patches tubes. None of my friends are racers (except SheFly), so that's not the reason. I, for one, would not want to use a tube that had a hole in it...
I've had 4 flats in 10 years. I carry 2 tubes and I could carry more if I needed to. The one time I had an issue, it was the tire that actually was cut; but we had planned wisely and had about 6 tubes, so even though it took 2 of them to figure out it was the tire, I was prepared.
I keep a supply of tubes at home, so I am not always running to the computer to order more. But, I've had very little need to do this.

[nscrbug]

I'm with Crankin on this one. I would not feel comfortable using a tube with a patched up hole in it. Maybe it is wasteful and considered not being "green", but I've never not made it back home on a replacement tube. I'll stick with replacing over repairing my tubes. JMO. And FWIW, I also do not know anyone personally, that patches their tubes after a flat.

[OakLeaf]

I think one of the tubes I've been running for the past couple of thousand miles has three patches.

I have tens of thousands of miles in my lifetime.

I've had professionally installed plugs in car tires fail, twice. I have never had a patched bici tube fail.


Whatever your usual routine, it's one of those things you need to have and know how to use, because there will come a time when you need it. Same thing with a pump. Even if you prefer CO2, you can only carry so many tubes and so many cartridges. After you run out of those, 20 miles from anywhere, an hour and a half drive from anyone who knows you, and outside of cell range, do you want to fix your tube the old fashioned way, or do you want to walk?

[MomOnBike]

OakLeaf sez:


After you run out of those, 20 miles from anywhere, an hour and a half drive from anyone who knows you, and outside of cell range, do you want to fix your tube the old fashioned way, or do you want to walk?

This is precisely the reason my father insisted that I learn to patch a tube before he'd let me learn to ride a bike. It's a safety issue as much as anything.

Also, a properly patched tube does not have a hole. It has a patch that is probably more airtight than the original tube.

[Eden]

I carry a patch kit - since I only carry one tube. I have patched flats and I have ridden the tubes with absolutely no problems. They don't feel funny, nor are they more prone to re-flatting. The smallest patches you can find work the best with skinny road tubes.

[lph]

I patch! Out on the road I switch tubes, because it's faster. But once I'm home I patch, and that's my new spare. I do 3 patches before calling it a day. I also don't patch if a new patch ends up overlapping an old patch, that's too bulky for me. I've never had patches fail. But I like the old-fashioned glue+vulcanized rubber ones.

I learned a handy trick recently to keep track of where the hole is, btw. Once it's located draw a BIG cross over it with a felt-tip pen, instead of a little circle or something. When you sand the tube down a little and especially once the glue is on you can't see details around the hole, but you can still follow the lines you drew and estimate.

[TsPoet]

I'm with Crankin on this one. I would not feel comfortable using a tube with a patched up hole in it. Maybe it is wasteful and considered not being "green", but I've never not made it back home on a replacement tube. I'll stick with replacing over repairing my tubes. JMO. And FWIW, I also do not know anyone personally, that patches their tubes after a flat.

LOL. I live in tackweed-central. No one here rides without patched tubes. I have set myself a 5-patch-per tube limit rather arbitrarily. I have never had a patch (that was done right) be the cause of another flat - it's always another tackweed that does it.
I couldn't afford the ~20+tubes/year. Especially since I have 5 different wheel sizes on my 4 different bikes. (My velo has a 26" and 2-20" wheels, my commuter has a 26" and a 24" tire, my 'racing' bike has 2-650s, my trike has 16" tires all around)

[Owlie]

I don't patch my tubes, because all but one flat have been in places impossible to patch. I should probably pick up a patch kit next time I'm at the LBS (or with my next TE order), just to be on the safe side...I just need to find somewhere in my seat bag to put it!

DBF doesn't patch his tubes (he says it's not practical), but I think the real reason is that he rides in groups and is pretty much guaranteed to have someone to bum a tube from.;)

[marni]

sometimes I patch, sometimes I don't. I do know however that three shot tubes can be gathered at one end, wrap the ends firmly with tape, braid the three tubes the enitre length, fasten the ends with tape and the other end. Makes a perfectly portable, light and extremely flexible clothesline for when you are out on a tour. I tend to make up two or three at a time and give them to people who I know are going out on a bike trip.

I also chunk one up in pieces of various lengths and then split them and carry a selection as light portable flexible boots. That being said, I ride with a pump, co2 cartridges and two spares. I am also pretty fanatic about wiping and checking my tires, rims and brake pads after every single ride so have only had a couple of flats in all the years I've been riding.

but patching is a good thing to know how to do. One more step to not being dependent on someone or something else.

[badgercat]

If DBF and I replaced the tube after every flat, we wouldn't be able to afford to eat. :eek: These little buggers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribulus_terrestris)--goathead, punctureweed, whatever you like to call them--are a plague, here. We use the "traditional" glue kits, and if you take the time to do them right, they work just fine. I think it's a very good thing to know how to do.

I'm also of the "spare tube on the road, then patch at home" mindset, but I do always carry a patch kit just in case (even on my relatively short commute), since I never carry more than one tube on a normal ride. I'll confess that I'm not particularly good about doing it right when I get home, though, and since I often don't have anything to mark the hole with, I forget where it was, and then it sits....... and then I buy another tube. :o

And since you asked specifically about skinny tires, my commuter tires are 700x28, and my road bike has 700x23.

[OakLeaf]

since I often don't have anything to mark the hole with, I forget where it was

That's what the pail of water is for! It's so much easier to find the hole at home than it is out on the road. When you're on the road, you have to listen for the hiss, sometimes over traffic noise, and if the puncture is small you may really have a hard time hearing it. At home, you can dunk the partially inflated tube into a pail of water and watch the bubbles come out. That's really the only way to find a slow leak.

But there's another trick worth mentioning here. When you install a tube, line up the label of the tire with the valve stem of the tube. Then when you find the offending object in your tire, you'll have an idea of where to start looking for the hole in your tube.


I run 700x23s on my road bike too. Back in the day, I had 21s on my race bike. But that's actually the same size tube, usually.

[badgercat]

That's what the pail of water is for! It's so much easier to find the hole at home than it is out on the road. When you're on the road, you have to listen for the hiss, sometimes over traffic noise, and if the puncture is small you may really have a hard time hearing it. At home, you can dunk the partially inflated tube into a pail of water and watch the bubbles come out. That's really the only way to find a slow leak.

But there's another trick worth mentioning here. When you install a tube, line up the label of the tire with the valve stem of the tube. Then when you find the offending object in your tire, you'll have an idea of where to start looking for the hole in your tube.

I get the water idea... too often I just don't get around to doing it. :o The tire-label trick is a good one, and has come in handy for me before.

[smilingcat]

This lil'o granny is of old school.

I do carry a spare tube and a patch kit. I throw away the tube when I have about ten or so patches. Those new very thin stick-on-patches are not very good.

The trick to the old fashioned patches is to make sure you scrape and clean the tube with a sandpaper to expose fresh rubber/butyl around the hole. Apply very thin layer of glue and let it DRY!! then apply the patch.

Guys used to mock me for having tubes with so many patches.

You can't tell your when you ride.

Spare tube should be carried in a zip lock bags with talc powder. Talc powder coated tubes are much easier to install and less likely to have a twisted tube inside the tire casing.

[tzvia]

It always seems that I am always a tube short- I carry one, and get two flats, if I stuff a second tube in my pack or rear pocket, I get three flats...

So one tube and a patch kit it is. Personally, I think the 'peel 'n stick' ones are a waste of time and will cause grief later on. The glue will dry and the patch will leak. If you patch it and store the tube as a spare, it will leak when you go to use it. If you then try to re-patch it, removing the patch will tear the tube and now you have nothing. Yea all this happened to me- nothing worse than filling a tube and riding 100 yds only to stop again with a flat caused by a bad patch.

The vulcanized rubber patch kits with the glue work. The patch is basically 'melted' to the tube and it's as strong or stronger than it was before. It will last as long as you care to use the tube. Rough up the tube with the little sandpaper that it comes with, apply the glue and wait for it to dry tacky (don't touch it), then apply the patch and hold it down for a minute. The patch has a piece of paper on the 'top' side, don't remove it- just put the tube back on the rim and use it again, saving the spare for those times the tube is too badly ripped to patch. I also carry a 'tire boot' which is a 2" square of pliable plastic, to place on the inside of the tire over a gash, to keep the tube from protruding through a rip in the tire so I can ride home.