How good are patches?

[tiltmaniac]

Patches are great, but I wouldn't expect the glue to work if it is raining and everything is soaking wet.
Anyone here had success patching a tube in the rain (or snow)?

I've done it a couple of times, including one fantastic time in the dark in the rain under tree cover on a bicycling trail. Seriously dark.
I didn't try to get it wet, and worked. I didn't investigate beyond that. It may have been luck, or it may have been chemistry.

 

[bladderhead]

I never know with patches. Sometimes they work and sometimes not. I never had any trouble replacing the front wheel of my Silvio, so I always take a spare tube, and patch the old one at home and pump it up leave it for an hour to see if it goes down.

It is years since I have had a slow puncture. These days the air comes out faster than I can pump it in. Every puncture I have had, for years.

 

[ed72]

Patches are great, but I wouldn't expect the glue to work if it is raining and everything is soaking wet.
Anyone here had success patching a tube in the rain (or snow)?

I have but it isn't easy.

I had about 20 flats on one 90 miles stretch in the rain on the Trans Am Bike Race.

 

[jond]

Yes trust patches not self adhere type though . Don’t necessarily trust tube glue has not eveparated.

So two tubes one patch kit two tubes glue small piece of tyre for a slashed tyre and I’m relatively confident.

Having two wheels of different size is a royal pain.

So is a hole in tube over a proud seam. Lots of rubbing required.

 

[ed72]

I would not trust the Park self adhering patches forever, but I have made it across the USA on them. Will surely get you home on a routine training ride. They dry out and crack and eventually develop slow leaks. Just follow the instructions and be aware of their limits.

I just changed pumps. I now carry this little beast on my bike. It pumps much easier than any I have had and it has a gage built in. I still carry cartridges just in case my screwed up left arm and hand are not working that day but this pump is a beast for such a little thing.
Lezyne Micro Floor Drive HP Mini Pump

 

[bladderhead]

It is indeed a beast. When I first got mine I pumped the tyres so hard they burst. Great pump.

 

[ed72]

It is indeed a beast. When I first got mine I pumped the tyres so hard they burst. Great pump.

And it is wicked light. Kind of pretty too.

 

[DavidCH]

I use patches on the mountain bikes but not on any bikes that are pumped up more than 80 psi... just not worth the hassle.

 

[LarryOz]

It has been my experience that patches work great until they fail!
i.e. Use them to get home and install and new tube on/or tire as needed.
As fast as we go on these bikes, no one wants a blow-out at high speed and the accompanying road rash that goes with it!

 

[velocio]

It has been my experience that patches work great until they fail!
i.e. Use them to get home and install and new tube on/or tire as needed.
As fast as we go on these bikes, no one wants a blow-out at high speed and the accompanying road rash that goes with it!

Hi LarryOz,

Can you expand a bit on your "experience that patches work great until they fail!" What were the circumstances of your "properly applied patch in service and working well for a while then failed" experience? In 30+ years of serious cycling I've not experienced or seen a properly applied vulcanizing patch that's been in use a while suddenly "fail". What would be the source for that happening, given that the vulcanizing solution in patch kits isn't glue, it literally fuses the patch to the underlying tube, making the patched area thicker, stronger and less failure prone then even the original tube wall. I've certainly seen a poorly applied patch leak, usually when the patch spans a tube seam, but that can usually be detected even before the tube is reinstalled in the tire.

Can you also expand a bit on your caution against patched tubes for fear of "a blow-out at high speed and the accompanying road rash that goes with it!" I'm accustomed to "blow-out" meaning a catastrophic, near instantaneous loss of pressure in the tire, rather than a slow leak. Is that your understanding of a "blow-out" as well? I've only ever seen a blow-out when something (screw, nail, bit of glass,... ) went through both the tire and tube wall, creating a path for high pressure air to rush directly from inside the tire to outside. How would that happen assuming a properly applied patch could spontaneously decide to begin to leak? I'm really interested in understanding the mechanisms that lead from a (claimed) patch failure to a "blow-out", since I'm also not fond of road rash!

Cheers and safe riding!

-Jack
Raleigh, NC

 

[ed72]

ditto on 40+ years of cycling and never had a patch blow out

i'm not tossing a $15 tube

tires? i don't run them down too far before putting a new one onto the bike

 

[trplay]

Tire repair is a major concern for Team Moose. I just repacked my Vendetta and here's what I carry with me for just tire repairs even though I am a tubeless evangelist:
Extra tire, Three tubes, 4 tire removal sticks, 3 ea. co2 cartridges, Co2 pump, hand pump, tire boot, 4 valve core removers, presta/shrader attachment, mini tool for knife and pliers. Assortment valve extenders and tubeless valves, dyna plug, extra dynaplugs, Park patch kit, glueless patches, stans sealant, extra valve stems, muc off for clean up and making the rim slippery.

BTW patches work, I've had as many as 8 patches on a tube. In fact, all three of those tubes in the photo have been patched. I'll probably add one more new tube to the kit this week. One thing about patches from the little blue kit in the photo. The little tube of glue is good for one road fix. The next time you go back for the tube expect it to be dry. This leaves you with 8 or so more patches and no glue. I have a large can of glue at home. When I flat on the road I replace the tube and then fix it at home using the large can of glue. This saves the small tube of glue in the blue kit for emergencies. Worst case scenario. Use a knife to cut your tube at puncture and then tie both ends in a tight knot. Insert tube and pump up. Head home carefully.

 

[Bill K]

Tire repair is a major concern for Team Moose. I just repacked my Vendetta and here's what I carry with me for just tire repairs even though I am a tubeless evangelist:
Extra tire, Three tubes, 4 tire removal sticks, 3 ea. co2 cartridges, Co2 pump, hand pump, tire boot, 4 valve core removers, presta/shrader attachment, mini tool for knife and pliers. Assortment valve extenders and tubeless valves, dyna plug, extra dynaplugs, Park patch kit, glueless patches, stans sealant, extra valve stems, muc off for clean up and making the rim slippery...

Wow, I don't have that much tire repair stuff at home much less on the bike!
But I know what it's like to be 50 miles from your car and use your last tube, so maybe the peace of mind would be worth it.

I can't speak for Larry, but I think he has said that he uses latex tubes. That probably explains the difference.

 

[Bill K]

Worst case scenario. Use a knife to cut your tube at puncture and then tie both ends in a tight knot. Insert tube and pump up. Head home carefully.

Even worse case scenario: pack the tire full of grass clippings, small tree branches, your spare socks, your unused sweater torn up into strips, whatever you can find to keep the rim off the road. Then ride really slow and really carefully.

 

[ed72]

Wow, I don't have that much tire repair stuff at home much less on the bike!
But I know what it's like to be 50 miles from your car and use your last tube, so maybe the peace of mind would be worth it.

I can't speak for Larry, but I think he has said that he uses latex tubes. That probably explains the difference.

I used to carry that much junk when I rode tubeless. I also carried a Kool Stop tire jack. Three CO2 cartridges and that beast just to seat the tubeless tire. Too much of a PITA, I gave up on tubeless especially flatting all the time on Schwalbe Pro Ones and Compass tires.

I ride with latex tubes. My spare tubes are always butyl. I repair the latex tube at home.

I also never have the problem of the glue tube drying out, just put the cap on really, really tight. Nonetheless, I carry the Park instant patches just in case and put the spare valve core in that little case. Just went out to the bike and checked, glue is still good. It fixed one tube a few months ago.

 

[trplay]

I used to carry that much junk when I rode tubeless.

LOL, "that much junk". All I can say is one mans junk is another man's treasure.

 

[DavidCH]

Hi LarryOz,

Can you expand a bit on your "experience that patches work great until they fail!" What were the circumstances of your "properly applied patch in service and working well for a while then failed" experience? In 30+ years of serious cycling I've not experienced or seen a properly applied vulcanizing patch that's been in use a while suddenly "fail". What would be the source for that happening, given that the vulcanizing solution in patch kits isn't glue, it literally fuses the patch to the underlying tube, making the patched area thicker, stronger and less failure prone then even the original tube wall. I've certainly seen a poorly applied patch leak, usually when the patch spans a tube seam, but that can usually be detected even before the tube is reinstalled in the tire.

Can you also expand a bit on your caution against patched tubes for fear of "a blow-out at high speed and the accompanying road rash that goes with it!" I'm accustomed to "blow-out" meaning a catastrophic, near instantaneous loss of pressure in the tire, rather than a slow leak. Is that your understanding of a "blow-out" as well? I've only ever seen a blow-out when something (screw, nail, bit of glass,... ) went through both the tire and tube wall, creating a path for high pressure air to rush directly from inside the tire to outside. How would that happen assuming a properly applied patch could spontaneously decide to begin to leak? I'm really interested in understanding the mechanisms that lead from a (claimed) patch failure to a "blow-out", since I'm also not fond of road rash!

Cheers and safe riding!

-Jack
Raleigh, NC

A clincher blow out on a vendetta going 35kph takes the tire off the rim and carbon against tarmac is slippery as hell... and then you go skating.... usually for a slide that scrapes your skin off your elbows and knees and buttocks. Its not a pretty sight. Then you have to repair the bike and cycle home. Once you have done it twice ... you go tubeless and never have to suffer ever again.

 

[bladderhead]

Even worse case scenario: pack the tire full of grass clippings, small tree branches, your spare socks, your unused sweater torn up into strips, whatever you can find to keep the rim off the road. Then ride really slow and really carefully.

Tannus are going to sue you for breach of copyright.

 

[ed72]

Can anybody actually say that they have had a patched repaired tube where the failed patch has blown the tire off the rim?

I am sorry but that makes no sense.

WRT tubeless, converting back to tubes at 2 am in 38F freezing rain ain't fun. I have had to do that. Twice.

 

[trplay]

WRT tubeless, converting back to tubes at 2 am in 38F freezing rain ain't fun. I have had to do that. Twice.

My bet is replacing the punctured tube for a new tube would be just as not fun. But think if you had a dyna-plug it might have been as simple as push-pull- go.