Patching road tubes - tips?

reformedfatty

Finale to this story - changed the tube to get home (sidenote : crank bros mini pumps are pretty terribad, although nice and small), at home got the old tube out to see what had gone wrong with the patching.. put a bit of air in.. holds pressure. put a bit more air in.. still holds. It magically fixed itself. I expect it will prove to be unfixed when it comes to me ever needing it.

iclestu

reformedfatty wrote:

Finale to this story - changed the tube to get home (sidenote : crank bros mini pumps are pretty terribad, although nice and small), at home got the old tube out to see what had gone wrong with the patching.. put a bit of air in.. holds pressure. put a bit more air in.. still holds. It magically fixed itself. I expect it will prove to be unfixed when it comes to me ever needing it.

the dreaded 'slow'?

new tube rather than @rse about with a tube you dont trust. They are less than a fiver

rolf_f

iclestu wrote:

reformedfatty wrote:

Finale to this story - changed the tube to get home (sidenote : crank bros mini pumps are pretty terribad, although nice and small), at home got the old tube out to see what had gone wrong with the patching.. put a bit of air in.. holds pressure. put a bit more air in.. still holds. It magically fixed itself. I expect it will prove to be unfixed when it comes to me ever needing it.

the dreaded 'slow'?

new tube rather than @rse about with a tube you dont trust. They are less than a fiver

No, no, no, no, no!

Failures of valves and around valves themselves aside, there is no (or shouldn't be) such a thing as 'a tube you don't trust'; they aren't doorstep salesmen. They are very simple. Inner tubes either have holes in them or not (no funny jokes about the hole at the valve please ). If they don't have a hole in them, put them onto a wheel. If they do have a hole in them, fix them. When you have fixed them, put a bit of air in them off the bike (not enough that it's bigger than it is when in the tyre) put it somewhere out of the way for a bit and see if it still inflated a few days later. Then it's ready to use when you need it.

CiB

I like Rolf. A good old northern tight-wad.

Quite right too. Tubes either work or don't. Chucking one away for no reason is wasteful. Waste is bad.

bigmat

There does come a point though, say after 3 or 4 repairs, where its time to say goodbye. Even for a northern tightwad like myself!

rolf_f

CiB wrote:

I like Rolf. A good old northern tight-wad.

Quite right too. Tubes either work or don't. Chucking one away for no reason is wasteful. Waste is bad.

Thank you! I also re-use cable end ferrules

BigMat wrote:

There does come a point though, say after 3 or 4 repairs, where its time to say goodbye. Even for a northern tightwad like myself!

I don't count the repairs on a tube. It punctures, I patch it. But the tubes tend to end up getting rotated around and I'm not sure I've achieved a four patch tube yet. Punctures are rare and no reason for them not to be. I reckon 1 per 2500 miles. 1 per 5000 miles if I discount the self inflicted ones.

CiB

BigMat wrote:

There does come a point though, say after 3 or 4 repairs, where its time to say goodbye. Even for a northern tightwad like myself!

But why should 4 patches being present mean the tube is no longer any use? It's been established that a well-implemented repair is stronger than the original; as long as patches aren't overlapping, previous repairs have no effect at all on a tube's longevity.

bigmat

CiB wrote:

BigMat wrote:

There does come a point though, say after 3 or 4 repairs, where its time to say goodbye. Even for a northern tightwad like myself!

But why should 4 patches being present mean the tube is no longer any use? It's been established that a well-implemented repair is stronger than the original; as long as patches aren't overlapping, previous repairs have no effect at all on a tube's longevity.

It starts to get a bit heavy!

CiB

BigMat wrote:

It starts to get a bit heavy!

Inflate with helium, or eat fewer pies; whichever comes easiest to you.

iclestu

as a (supposedly) thrifty Scotsman I feel a little reprimanded.

Not enough to change my mind tho.... its a fiver ffs!

rolf_f

BigMat wrote:

CiB wrote:

BigMat wrote:

There does come a point though, say after 3 or 4 repairs, where its time to say goodbye. Even for a northern tightwad like myself!

But why should 4 patches being present mean the tube is no longer any use? It's been established that a well-implemented repair is stronger than the original; as long as patches aren't overlapping, previous repairs have no effect at all on a tube's longevity.

It starts to get a bit heavy!

Do you know this or do you just sort of feel that it ought to be getting a bit heavy?! Not saying a well patched tube is one to use on the Fred Whitton but is the weight of a few puncture patches going to have any effect on your commute?

Just to be helpful, I did google the weight of puncture patches and didn't spot anything useful which suggests the weight weenies haven't yet started weighing patches - thankfully

bigmat

Rolf F wrote:

BigMat wrote:

CiB wrote:

BigMat wrote:

There does come a point though, say after 3 or 4 repairs, where its time to say goodbye. Even for a northern tightwad like myself!

But why should 4 patches being present mean the tube is no longer any use? It's been established that a well-implemented repair is stronger than the original; as long as patches aren't overlapping, previous repairs have no effect at all on a tube's longevity.

It starts to get a bit heavy!

Do you know this or do you just sort of feel that it ought to be getting a bit heavy?! Not saying a well patched tube is one to use on the Fred Whitton but is the weight of a few puncture patches going to have any effect on your commute?

Just to be helpful, I did google the weight of puncture patches and didn't spot anything useful which suggests the weight weenies haven't yet started weighing patches - thankfully

I wasn't being entirely serious, but if I was setting up a bike for a long hilly ride - the Marmotte, say, or an Etape - then I would probably go for brand new lightweight tubes and the weight of a repair would be as big a factor as the secureness of the repair. Probably only a psychological difference, but it all adds up. For the commute, I will use anything that is serviceable!