Should I carry tube or puncture kit?

smudgerii

As a noobie to road riding I'm looking for advice on what to carry. Tubes or puncture kit?

Zendog1

Tubes every time.

Repair them at home where it's warm and dry.

dowtcha

I carry two tubes and some repair patches just in case. I do nearly all solo riding so need the back up. Also I use gp4000 for the summer and 4season tyres in the winter. Good quality tyres greatly reduce the chance of punctures.

lincolndave

I carry both, spare tube and self adhesive repair kit, just to be on the safe side

Secteur

Lincolndave wrote:

I carry both, spare tube and self adhesive repair kit, just to be on the safe side

Same here, in case of double punctures. Also carry a tyre boot, spare chain kwiklink, biketool, tiny leatherman multitool, a small crepe bandage and some ID - sounds a lot but it all fits nicely into a very small under saddle bag and is barely noticeable. Pump goes in back pocket, along with phone, bank card, drivers licence and more ID/NOK in a special cycling waterproof wallet.

EDIT also a £10 note, as per post below. ⬇️

surrey_commuter

Tube, self adhesive patches, phone, £20, and a bank card.

A mechanic in my LBS declined to sell me a multi tool on the grounds my lack of knowledge would prevent me fixing anything

pottssteve

Much the same as above. Spare inner tube, tyre levers, puncture kit, small penknife and multi tool in saddle bag. Phone, money, keys, food and pump in pockets. If you don't like the look of a saddle bag you can get a fake water bottle to store everything in.

smudgerii

Wow, I'm defo going out unprepared then... I just take my phone, card, cash and inhaler.

Time to go shopping, again!

MiddleRinger

Smudgerii wrote:

Wow, I'm defo going out unprepared then... I just take my phone, card, cash and inhaler.

Time to go shopping, again!

Yes time to go shopping and be prepared for a puncture/mechanical. It will happen eventually!

I carry one spare tube but also a glueless patch kit just in case I get a second, it has happened! Once I punctured front AND rear at the same time. Add a mini-tool with chain breaker, two tyre levers, a couple of cable ties, CO2 inflator and two canisters. All tucks neatly into a small saddle bag or bottle cage pod.

lesfirth

Last winter on a day when the temperature was around freezing, I hit a pothole at high speed and punctured both tubes. I carried one spare tube and glueless patches. I had tried the patches at home and they worked OK but I could not repair a snake bite with them .The best attempt lasted about a mile. This was on top of the pennines in a bitter cold wind, quiet road and no fellow cyclists to come to my aid. My fingers had stopped working by the time I used the last patch and I had to phone for help. I spent nearly an hour huddled behind a drystone wall wondering how long it took to die from hypothermia.
Needless to say I do not recommend glueless patches.

pottssteve

lesfirth wrote:

Last winter on a day when the temperature was around freezing, I hit a pothole at high speed and punctured both tubes. I carried one spare tube and glueless patches. I had tried the patches at home and they worked OK but I could not repair a snake bite with them .The best attempt lasted about a mile. This was on top of the pennines in a bitter cold wind, quiet road and no fellow cyclists to come to my aid. My fingers had stopped working by the time I used the last patch and I had to phone for help. I spent nearly an hour huddled behind a drystone wall wondering how long it took to die from hypothermia.
Needless to say I do not recommend glueless patches.

Sounds more like you wouldn't recommend the Pennines!

Tubes easier than patches in the cold.

sungod

spare tube
repair kit, this is the best... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REMA-TIP-TOP- ... 2023504254
multitool with chaintool - stuff gets loose/needs adjusting, fixing a chain
tyre lever - makes it easier in the cold/wet
kmc link in case chain breaks - not had it happen, but rescued someone who did
tyre boot (or bit of toothpaste tube) in case a tyre gets badly cut - had it happen
pair of nitrile gloves, keep hands clean, also warmer if it's cold/wet
it'll all fit in a small saddle bag, minipump goes in a pocket

if i know where the puncture is i can fix it in about the same time it takes to change a tube, only takes a couple of minutes, has the advantage that you don't need to remove the wheel (if you've got heavy tyres with a steel bead it's not as easy)

danny788

I carry one tube plus patches, levers, multi-tool, money, phone. However the long more remote route, I would increase to 2 tubes min. Better safe than sorry

dennisn

YES. Unless you can get a friend to carry them for you.

supermurph09

1 tube, 2 tyre levers, 1 phone, 1 bank card. Admittedly if you are going to be 70 miles from home then another tube might be worthwhile but as I'm rarely more than 30 then I've never felt the need.

It also depends on how badly you want to carry on riding after a p*ncture. I got one the other week 3 miles from home in torrential rain, changed tube, got about 80psi in the tyre, road carefully home, jumped on the turbo instead!

Man Of Lard

Smudgerii wrote:

As a noobie to road riding I'm looking for advice on what to carry. Tubes or puncture kit?

Tube for quickest "get me going" on the road plus patches (at least 3 different brands of glueless) in case of a second puncture.

Why so many brands of glueless patch? Well one (freezing) autumn day I was out for a ride - got a thorn puncture. Pulled out the puncture repair kit and marked the tube for repair... then noticed the other tyre was flat too (another thorn)... marked the other tube for repair. Got the tube of vulcanising solution ("glue") out to apply the patch... it had hardened into a small rubbery entirely non-adhesive snotty little lump. Walk of shame home.

I'm not getting caught out again by the adhesive qualities of anything failing...

On a longer ride, I'll take multiple tubes (one extra per 50km I'm planning to travel)

Full pocket contents (for a normal 50km ride): tube, pump, 3 sets of glueless patches, £10 note, PAYG mobile phone (2G Nokia 130 with 3 weeks standby) with appropriate "rescue" numbers in it, spoke key, tyre levers, Topeak Rocket Ratchet mini tool, chain tool (it's the Topeak tiny one), KMC link, few zip ties, couple of gels, few Cadbury's Chocolate Eclairs.

trailflow

lesfirth wrote:

Last winter on a day when the temperature was around freezing, I hit a pothole at high speed and punctured both tubes. I carried one spare tube and glueless patches. I had tried the patches at home and they worked OK but I could not repair a snake bite with them .The best attempt lasted about a mile. This was on top of the pennines in a bitter cold wind, quiet road and no fellow cyclists to come to my aid. My fingers had stopped working by the time I used the last patch and I had to phone for help. I spent nearly an hour huddled behind a drystone wall wondering how long it took to die from hypothermia.
Needless to say I do not recommend glueless patches.

If your ever in this situation again. Let as much air out as possible in the inner tube. Make a loop around the snake bite. Then twist it tight and tie a knot and pull it hard. It might be a bumpy ride home though.

Mark Alexander

Tube.

Harry182

Re OP's question - it depends. I usually ride alone and in a fairly rural setting so carry the following in a small saddle bag that basically lives on bike -
- inner tube
- inner tube repair kit (Rema FTW)
- 2x CO2 canisters + inflator head
- multitool (Cool Tool)
- 2x tire levers (Park TL-4)
- 2x $20 CAD

keef66

^ what they all said. Plus I always make sure I have a fairly new tube of unopened glue in my puncture kit. Once the seal's broken 9 times out of 10 it's all dried out next time you go to use it. Fortunately I've not needed to attempt roadside patching for years (if you don't count my ghetto fix for a slashed tyre sidewall a couple of weeks ago)

I collect punctured tubes and every couple of years sit in the sun on the patio with a drink and repair them all at once.

fenix

Tube for quick replacement.
Patches just in case - they take up no space.
Another tube if you're doing a long or remote or important ride. Just in case.

craigr

- 2 inner tubes
- 2 tire leavers
- puncture repair kit (in case really unlucky)
- multi tool
- chain splitter (magic link 10spd + 11spd)
- spoke key
- money
- phone
- pump
- assortment of cable ties. Useful if something breaks, such as mudguards, etc..

Also if tubes are in saddle bag and not used for a month or so, i give them a test to make sure still ok. Last year i had puncture and found that 2 of my spare tubes had degraded and wouldn't inflate.

smudgerii

Everything but he chain splitter packed in the saddle bag, ready to go..... Step out of the garage, yep it's started hammering down with rain.

Sods law

Bobbinogs

That's why I always take an umbrella too...just in case ;-)

apreading

Park tools self adhesive patches AND a spare tube. For anything where I can find the puncture I would normally repair but something like a snakebite puncture may not let you inflate the tube enough to hear where the problem is. Just did Reading to Wales over 2 days with my son and took 3 spare tubes just in case. When he burst a front tube on a massive pothole I replaced the tube, when he got a flint through the rear less than a mile later and I could see where it was, I patched it. If you only have one spare tube and put it in with the sharp thing still in the tyre then you will automatically puncture the spare tube so you MUST have a repair kit too.

angry_bird

Couple of spare tubes, couple of CO2 cartridges and multitool in the saddle bag kept in a couple of plastic ziplock bags to keep them clean/dry in the wet. Few patches, glue, toothpaste tube, couple of levers, ID and cash in little case in pocket that someone bought for me one christmas.

I find that with 2 CO2 cartridges I can get 2 tubes up to a happy pressure and a third up to a rideable pressure if necessary. Very rarely take a pump out, unless it's on a club run or with a group, always someone who forgets or doesn't bother bringing anything!

fatdaz

Another recommendation for carrying tyre boots as well (or something that'll do the job). I had a puncture a few years back that split the tyre and consequently every time I repaired the tube and inflated it the tube pushed through the split in the tyre and punctured it again. There was a bike shop about 8k from where I initially punctured and I had to repair 5 punctures in the course of that journey. Since then I've always carried tyre boots - I've never needed them but for the space they take up it's a no-brainer. Two of my mates also have similar horror stories of split tyres

joe2008

Tufo Extreme and a valve core remover.

japiers

Have reconciled myself with carrying a small saddle bag with tube, tyre levers, repair kit and multitool with chain tool.
And then carry another tube, pump, cash, keys and phone in jersey pocket

Garry H

I strap a Brompton to my back. Just in case. Can never be too careful out there!

bikegangster

I just use touring tyres on my hybrid bike, tyres lasted more than a year. Not a single pinch flat. Not for the last 18 months. I no longer have to put a bike pump and kit in my bag anymore! Kenda Bitumen is what I use.