Puncture repair on the go

jeepie

Hi there,

I always carry spare a inner tube with me on a ride. But a friend of mine got simultaneous flats whilst we were riding recently which led me to thinking that this strategy might not be sufficient to get my home if this happened to me.

I must say I have never got on well with puncture repair kits. The glue and sandpaper and the faff. In fact if I'm being totally honest I've got a pile of inner tubes to "repair" but haven't really bothered, cos I can't get a decent seal.

So assuming I don't get on with "traditional" puncture repair kits: chalk, sandpaper and glue, can anyone point me to a better way to quickly repair punctures and use on the go? I have in mind the bike equivalent of elastoplast! There must be a better way than the traditional kit.

Cheers

J

redddraggon

I carry more than one tube - the number depends on the distance planned.

lowe

I have these in my saddle bag for emergencies

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Park_ ... 620887595/

but I do replace the repair them with a traditional puncture repair kit at home. Although when I have forgotten to do so they have held.

DavidTQ

Most common reason for puncture repair failure is not allowing the glue to dry BEFORE applying the patch, sanding quality etc isnt really much of an issue.

Theres really nothing to it, a quick brush up with the paper apply glue allow to dry apply patch - job done!

jeepie

Perfect!!! That looks ideal Iowe.

Cheers Red Dragon - I take your points about tubes being easier, but I've got to confront my fears about actually fixing a tube...The old style patches are a nightmare but planning to browse the web for a tutorial on how to do it....

Thanks very much for your advice.

ride_whenever

I'm pretty sure sheldon brown has a decent article on using patches

jeepie

Cool - ok must remember. Allow to DRY!!... will try that. Cheers for the tip David...I reckon that could be where I was going wrong...

heavymental

I think DavidTQ's tutorial above is decent enough. Its really not that hard to fix a puncture. I usually carry a repair kit in favour, or aswell as a tube because you may well get more than one puncture. As long as your glue is ok and you have a few patches you've got no worries as you have to take the tyre off to replace the tube anyway, the process of fixing the puncture takes about 2 minutes extra.

Mad One

lowe wrote:

I have these in my saddle bag for emergencies

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Park_ ... 620887595/

but I do replace the repair them with a traditional puncture repair kit at home. Although when I have forgotten to do so they have held.

+ 1 - I even use these to patch up punctures once home too & they've always held up. Never a problem. And they are so cheap & easy!

babyshambles

Mad One wrote:

lowe wrote:

I have these in my saddle bag for emergencies

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Park_ ... 620887595/

but I do replace the repair them with a traditional puncture repair kit at home. Although when I have forgotten to do so they have held.

+ 1 - I even use these to patch up punctures once home too & they've always held up. Never a problem. And they are so cheap & easy!

I also use these "scabs" and they are fine. I do not repair with "traditional" kit, they hold up perfectly. In fact, i had a puncture the other day and i had 7 "scabs" on the tube, lol..... i did treat myself to a new one

jjojjas

I use traditional patches on the tourer but I have used the scabs on MTB and D/H bikes all without any issues. There easy, quick and reliable.

clanton

Sabs is a great descriptions! I have found though that they don't last forever - I reckon at most 6 months, sometimes only 3.