Gravity Aided
Legendary Member
- Location
- Land of Lincoln
Swap out tube on roadside and patch at home. Presta tubes aren't cheap. Midwestern parsimony, I suppose. Bad weather with snow like this seems made for tube repair.
This! At £5 a shot I'm not going to chuck them until they've got their 3rd puncture. If I did my ride the other day would have cost a tenner!
I'm sold. I will be getting some at the next appropriate opportunity. It sounds like even less hassle than carrying an extra tube around. By the time you've sorted it out and folded up the old one you could have been patching the tube.
Ah, do you have to leave some drying or fixing time for it to set?
If you use the patches properly they are just as good as traditional patch and glue.
There is a way to use them. People who complain about them have simply not used them correctly.
You have to prepare the inner tube for patching as you would normally.
ie abrase and clean area to be patched.
Put patch over hole being careful not to get fingers on sticky side.
Hold and smooth patch down for a good 30-60 seconds.
Do not inflate tube outside of tyre.
The patch on the inner on my commute bike has lasted over 5000 miles.
I had to take the tyre off to get a spoke fixed and the patch was fine.
I have used the instant patches for the first time this week and they let me down. Its not much more hassle to put some glue on and this is a better repair.I've seen these advertised but have never used them because I worry that they might not be as reliable as the traditional method (which I find works extremely well when done right).
How do you rate these instant patches? Have you had any reliability issues with a patch failing or comming off the next time you take the tyre off?
I have used the instant patches for the first time this week and they let me down. Its not much more hassle to put some glue on and this is a better repair.
Fair point. Fair point. Change tube and repair later then it is. I'm definitely with you on the point about waste. I'd let my tube get at least 3 punctures before I'd think of changing it. Mending should be encouraged.Yes, but you need to find the hole in the tube. Coupled with poor light, crappy weather conditions repairing at the roadside might not be very easy.