Inner tube repair?

on-yer-bike

I went to my LBS to buy a puncture repair kit to find that they only sold kits with glueless patches and that glue patches are a thing of the past. I thought that glueless were a temporary get home solution and not long term. Are glueless patches safe to use now? I had the choice of lezyne or Innovation and bought the latter.

ugo.santalucia

Thye are a thing of the bast in your shop. You can still buy glue and patches online.
As for your question, AFAIK, they are still crap and meant to be a temporary fix to get you home... we are too wealthy a nation to bother with tube repairs, not worth those 5 minutes which could be spent uploading photos on Facebook instead...

on-yer-bike

I was just trying to be a little more green.
Its also very annoying to pinch a brand new ultra light tube and chuck it in the bin.
So, glue patches are more secure?

ugo.santalucia

on-yer-bike wrote:

I was just trying to be a little more green.
Its also very annoying to pinch a brand new ultra light tube and chuck it in the bin.
So, glue patches are more secure?

Yes... if you puncture frequently and patch instead of buying a new tube, you can save 20-50 pounds per year... it's not a lot but it makes sense on many levels, including the environmental one.

rolf_f

ugo.santalucia wrote:

on-yer-bike wrote:

I was just trying to be a little more green.
Its also very annoying to pinch a brand new ultra light tube and chuck it in the bin.
So, glue patches are more secure?

Yes... if you puncture frequently and patch instead of buying a new tube, you can save 20-50 pounds per year... it's not a lot but it makes sense on many levels, including the environmental one.

And never mind that it takes virtually no time to do. No part of the fitting of a proper patch takes more than about 20 seconds (except occasionally finding the hole itself!). There must be a lot of really wealthy people about to make inner tube repairs uneconomic. I reckon you'd need to be paid about £2 a minute for it not to be cost effective!

And glueless patches take approximately 10 seconds less time to fix than proper ones and are very much a temporary fix.

wishitwasallflat

Halfords stock proper old fashioned ( well howI remember them from childhood) puncture repair kits; yellow chalk rough bit on the outside of the box etc ... Ahhh nostalgia

diamonddog

^^This, I have one.

smoggysteve

I got a free kit with a cycle mag a few months ago. was actually one of the best i have used. The larger Supermarkets still sell them in the sports good section usually. If not dare i say try H****rds

cougie

Nobody told me that the glueless patches were a temporary solution ! I use the LMNH ones, and the one time I've used it - its fine months later. They seem pretty permanent to me. If its for a spare tube though - hang the expense and have a brand new one - just in case.

ratsbeyfus

I patch my tubes with glueless patches as well, and haven't had any problems so far... but now I'm worried. :?

navrig2

I buy the big patches and cut them to size. More often as not a kit has patches which are too big for 23mm tyres.

The whole process is theraputic - stuck in the garage, music on, coffe, repairing tubes, cleaning the bike, stressing over the fact that I haven't been on the turbo today/this week/this month/this year.

cabbageandbacon

I've been using glueless patches since they 1st came on the market, temporary or not i've never had an issue with them at all.

monkimark

I picked up a pack of the leeches glueless patches last year because they were on the counter in a bike shop when I was buying something else. I had two of them fail on seperate tyres and so went back to good old fashioned rubber patches & vulcanising goop, which I don't think I've ever had a problem with in 20 odd years of use.

The glueless patches that had failed looked all wrinkled and one of the wrinkles was over the hole, letting the air out. I guess they're not up to the rigours of deflation/reinflation.

on-yer-bike

So much for advice from the LBS, which we are all meant to be grateful for and pay accordingly. However, if they are temporary, shouldn't it say so on the packaging?

yaya

At the beginning of this winter (which seems like 36 months ago) I switched to an old tyre on the rear (why? why?) and within a week I had maybe 4 punctures. I have a pack of Park Tool patches (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tools-puncture-repair-kit-super-patch/) and I'm still riding the same tube even though I now have a Schwalbe Durano S which seems to be absolutely bullet proof (and it weighs a tonne!)
In general I would rather use puncture proof tyres then stop to repair or keep buying new tubes...at least in winter time...

racingcondor

You can't beat the old style patch + vulcanising solution method.

I tried out glueless patches once and won't bother again. Had the pack in my saddle bag for a couple of months and by the time I needed it it had got wet so the backing paper was mulch and couldn't be peeled off!

rolf_f

yaya wrote:

At the beginning of this winter (which seems like 36 months ago) I switched to an old tyre on the rear (why? why?) and within a week I had maybe 4 punctures. I have a pack of Park Tool patches (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tools-puncture-repair-kit-super-patch/) and I'm still riding the same tube even though I now have a Schwalbe Durano S which seems to be absolutely bullet proof (and it weighs a tonne!)
In general I would rather use puncture proof tyres then stop to repair or keep buying new tubes...at least in winter time...

Confusing post!

1) Durano S is not a heavy tyre. It's the lightest Durano variant available. If 225g for 23mm weighs a tonne then you need to work on your upper body strength!
2) Unless you buy something like a Marthon Plus (horrible things - 940g!) your tyre won't be puncture proof
3) Having punctures and buying new tubes should be largely unrelated activities!
4) Nobody stops to repair. You just put a spare tube in - 10 minute job. Repairing is done back at home.
5) The glueless patches can survive for a long time. But deflation tends to cause them to detach from the tube. Glueless patches are future deflations waiting to happen. Traditional patches are stronger than the tube itself.

on-yer-bike

Ive just answered my own question. Repaired the tube using a glueless patch put the wheel back on the bike and a few minutes later a gentle hiss could be heard and the tyre was half flat. Took the tube out to see that the patch had bubbled up in the middle over the puncture hole and air was escaping from the edge of the patch. Looks like a new repair kit is needed but not from the LBS.

yaya

Rolf F wrote:

yaya wrote:

At the beginning of this winter (which seems like 36 months ago) I switched to an old tyre on the rear (why? why?) and within a week I had maybe 4 punctures. I have a pack of Park Tool patches (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tools-puncture-repair-kit-super-patch/) and I'm still riding the same tube even though I now have a Schwalbe Durano S which seems to be absolutely bullet proof (and it weighs a tonne!)
In general I would rather use puncture proof tyres then stop to repair or keep buying new tubes...at least in winter time...

Confusing post!

1) Durano S is not a heavy tyre. It's the lightest Durano variant available. If 225g for 23mm weighs a tonne then you need to work on your upper body strength!
2) Unless you buy something like a Marthon Plus (horrible things - 940g!) your tyre won't be puncture proof
3) Having punctures and buying new tubes should be largely unrelated activities!
4) Nobody stops to repair. You just put a spare tube in - 10 minute job. Repairing is done back at home.
5) The glueless patches can survive for a long time. But deflation tends to cause them to detach from the tube. Glueless patches are future deflations waiting to happen. Traditional patches are stronger than the tube itself.

Sorry I meant Durano Plus! (25mm, 380g)

A 10 minute stop (repair or replace, takes the same time) means being 10 minutes late, or 10 minutes colder, or 10 minutes wetter :-)

Moonbiker

I find glueless fine for mtb tyres coz there lower psi & i use the glue ones for the road bike tyres

rolf_f

yaya wrote:

A 10 minute stop (repair or replace, takes the same time) means being 10 minutes late, or 10 minutes colder, or 10 minutes wetter :-)

No, repair takes longer - unless it takes you no time at all to repair a tube outside. I suspect I'd take at least five minutes longer to repair the tube and that's assuming I found the hole quickly.

Look at it this way - every day you have to leave a bit earlier because you've got overly heavy tyres on - all those half minutes add up to more than 10 minutes per flat!

Anyway, more seriously, I get few enough punctures on Durano S - try a standard Durano next time. It will be a lot nicer than the Plus and will very rarely puncture.

northpole

Judging by the number of people stopped at the roadside with tyres/ tubes in various states of disrepair during the Hell of the Ashdown on Sunday, I reckon the gods were smiling kindly on the tube manufacturers. I agree with the previous posters - there really is no reason not to at least repair the first flat suffered in a tube other than 1st world laziness (sadly often myself included...).

Peter

yaya

Rolf F wrote:

Anyway, more seriously, I get few enough punctures on Durano S - try a standard Durano next time. It will be a lot nicer than the Plus and will very rarely puncture.

I have a standard Durano at the front, nice tyre. Funny thing is that for years I've been riding Krylions and Pro 4 Endurance's 23's with Zero punctures (except for the odd nail/ screw) and suddenly in 1 week I had 4 pitstops, in an old Krylion...

drlodge

I use Rema tip Top patches, they're ultra thin - bought a couple of repair kits (as they come in a handy box) to go in the saddle bag, then got a load of patches and glue off Ebay for home repairs. They work a treat, and help extend the life of my Supersonic inner tubes that cost £10 a pop.

I always carry a tube or two for a quick fix on the road, plus repair kit just in case I run out of inner tubes (or as happened on one ride, a fellow rider only had one tube and punctured twice due to not removing the offending article embedded in the tyre).

Gary Sinclair

I've used the park ones and used it as a perminant fix, you have to sand the tube a little first. I buy the old school ones from halfords.