punctures &park patches

inaperfectworld

i do not always find glue patches adhere convincingly well as the edges tend to lift. are the park patches a "permanent repair" or just a get you home? and is there something wrong with my glue technique or do you expect edges to lift? furthermore how do you mend a snakebite punture: with a large patch or 2 smaller ones

on the road

Steer clear Park patches, they don't work. They get you home but you'll find your tyre flat as a pancake next morning.

When using glue be very liberal with it, spread it on a larger area then you need. Wait for the glue to start to dry a bit and then place the patch on the tube. I usually find that the edges don't stick down properly so I apply a bit of glue under that edge that's not sticking and then press it down, that usually does the trick.

For a snakebite puncture you might get away with a small patch, it depends how far away they are. I usually use a small patch for a snakebite and don't have any problems.

Tynancp

used to get loads of punctures (tyres a bit old and a hard route) and got dead good

follow the instructions really, plenty of glue, let it get tacky, put the patch on right, rub it on, some chalk, I suspect with the lovely new tyres that a generation of riders are going to lose the knack

pbiggs

This is how to get a perfect permanent repair that will not lift at all:

Sand the tube and apply a thin layer of glue to an area larger than the patch. Immediately put some air in the tube to blow bubbles to mark the location of the puncture - so you can centre the patch. Then quickly release the air. (The bubbles dry white).

Let the glue DRY before applying the patch. It works as a dry contact adhesive.

Press the patch down firmly. Leave for at least a couple of minutes to cure. The longer the better. Leave it some hours if repairing at home.

Except for just rounding it out to fit in a tyre, DO NOT inflate the tube outside of the tyre to test your repair, especially not immediately after patching. Instead, fit it in the tyre and inflate the tyre normally.

<hr noshade size="1">Park Self adhesive patches have worked fine for me, though I've not tested one for a long time. Anyway, I recommend carrying a normal puncture kit as well as some Park patches, as well as a spare tube.

<i>~Pete</i>

il_principe

I use park patches, but only if I don't have a spare tube with me. If I have patched a tube I always replace it when I get home.

My Best Bike

schlepcycling

I carry a spare tube and some park patches as an emergency get me home measure, if I need to use them I would always change the affected tube for a fresh one when I get home and then remove the park patch and patch it properly.

wastelander

I've had plenty of gnarly punctures on my MTB and (if memory serves me correctly!) there are currently have a couple of "leetch" patches on front and back, both still going strong. I see them as a means to an end and if you puncture, then puncture your replacement tube they're a usable 'get you home' (and more!) addition to the toolkit.

Crapaud

For the perfect repair just follow the instructions from this Taiwanese p****ure repair kit:

1.The side of Aluminium foil is adhesive and care should be taken so that a finger. 2. Pick a corner of the paper and remove the paper softly from the aluminium foil. 3. When the rubber solution coated on the tube s about dry put the patch on it with paper as it is. 4.Snap the paper by folding the patch on the center. 5. Remove the paper from the snapped parts. 6.

Place the repaired part of the tube on a stand and pat it with a small hammer several times.
:shock:

Alternatively do as pbiggs says!