First puncture on my commute into work. :-(

[riggsbie]

Hi all,

Started commuting to work this year 35.5km each way trip here in Australia.....it's summer so it helps.......

Just had my first puncture on my way to work on my recumbent trike (ICE Vortex FS), an easy 10 mins to pull out the old tube and check for glass and fit new tube..... So big nicks in the tyre but no obvious chunks of glass.....

Australian roads have loads of broken glass on them, and after some good rain it seems to find its way to the edge of the road, or into the cycle path, along with loads of tree branches......hmmm.....

Can anyone recommend some good patches to go on the inside of the tyre to reinforce the area where my nicks are in the tyre ? My tyres are Schwalbe Kojaks in a 406 size and only 1000km old.......

Any hints of tips from you die hard commuters would be appreciated........

How are you all travelling with the snow over the UK ? It's been 30C here in Victoria over the weekend but a cool 25C today......

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[ianrauk]

If the cut is through the tyre I either use a preglued patch or a piece of old inner tube glued to the inside of the tyre.

 

[riggsbie]

Good tip!

Why does rubber solution/glue always dry up when you need it ? My tube is air and some solid rubber and the tube was unopened and still sealed ! Even my neighbours puncture kit had a tube of air and rubber........


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[ianrauk]

Good tip!

Why does rubber solution/glue always dry up when you need it ? My tube is air and some solid rubber and the tube was unopened and still sealed ! Even my neighbours puncture kit had a tube of air and rubber........

It does do that doesn't it?
Hence me changing to pre-glued patches.. far less hassle.

 

[BentMikey]

Pre-glued patches are crap though. I'd never trust one to last much longer than the trip home, and then I'd only have to repatch the tube anyway. Old school is much better and it only takes an extra 2 minutes, well before you count all the extra time pre-glued patches waste you later on after which old school is considerably quicker.

I do spend some attention on making sure my glue kept in my repair kit on the bike is not too old. I do this by just changing to a new tube on the roadside, and then regularly repatching my tubes at home. I grab the tube out of my repair kit, and replace that with a new one, so every couple of months my kit has a brand new tube of glue in it.

I suppose with pre-glued/instant patches you still have the problem of the patches getting old anyway.

 

[gambatte]

could be talking complete ******* here, just something off the top of my head, but....
Would something like wetsuit glue (Black Witch) work?
If you're gluing the tyre not the tube then airtightness isn't a real concern, just how well it sticks. From experience, I know you can use the stuff one year, open the tube and find its still ok a year later.

 

[Camrider]

Pre-glued patches are crap though. I'd never trust one to last much longer than the trip home.......

....I suppose with pre-glued/instant patches you still have the problem of the patches getting old anyway.

I use the Park Tool patches, and they are certainly not crap. Once fixed they seem to stay fixed and I've no worries about touring on tubes with these in place.

I'm not sure how long they stay good unused though, but I can say they a good for at least a year after which time I tend to have run out so need to buy some new ones.

 

[ianrauk]

Pre-glued patches are crap though. I'd never trust one to last much longer than the trip home, and then I'd only have to repatch the tube anyway. Old school is much better and it only takes an extra 2 minutes, well before you count all the extra time pre-glued patches waste you later on after which old school is considerably quicker.

I do spend some attention on making sure my glue kept in my repair kit on the bike is not too old. I do this by just changing to a new tube on the roadside, and then regularly repatching my tubes at home. I grab the tube out of my repair kit, and replace that with a new one, so every couple of months my kit has a brand new tube of glue in it.

I suppose with pre-glued/instant patches you still have the problem of the patches getting old anyway.

1: We are talking about patching the inside of a tyre not a tube, but any way
2: Pre-glues patches are not crap
3: They work well enough for me, I have had 2 one of my current tubes for months now, running at 120psi and you know how much I commute.
3: you are buying the wrong pre-glues patches if you think they are crap
3: stick that in your pipe and smoke it

 

[freewheelwilly]

Never had a problem with pre glued patches and i've used plenty in my time and i'm still rolling with some on at the moment

 

[BentMikey]

You guys may think they're OK, but there are quite a lot of forummers who have had trouble with these patches. That clearly says to me there is a reliability issue. They are just a solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[ianrauk]

You guys may think they're OK, but there are quite a lot of forummers who have had trouble with these patches. That clearly says to me there is a reliability issue. They are just a solution in search of a problem that doesn't exist.

No Mike, I don't think they are ok... they are ok...

 

[BentMikey]

Well, quite a lot of other experienced cyclists haven't had the same positive experience you've had, and their musings are commonly found on cycling forums. Like I said, they have reliability issues, and solve a problem we don't have.

 

[Theseus]

Just to side with BM here.

The last time I used pre-glued patches (Park Tools) was about 4 years ago so I am willing to accept that things may have changed. My experience at the time was that they managed to hold until I got home, but the tyres were flat the next morning so I took another bike. I removed them and replaced with the traditional patches that night and they were fine from then on. It could also have been that when I put them on in the first place it was cold & wet and I didn't get a good contact.

All this of course has no bearing on the OP about patching up the tyre rather than the tube.

 

[BentMikey]

...of course I do hope you don't have any issues with them, Ian. I'd much rather they worked well and never let you down. Perhaps things have changed since I used some Park patches, but I'm just unwilling to trust them again based on my own and many other peoples' negative experiences.

 

[ianrauk]

...of course I do hope you don't have any issues with them, Ian. I'd much rather they worked well and never let you down. Perhaps things have changed since I used some Park patches, but I'm just unwilling to trust them again based on my own and many other peoples' negative experiences.

As I said Mike, I have never had an issue with them.
And as with all these things, use properly and they will work fine.
Trick is to press the patch on to the tube for a good 30 seconds or so.
The tube in my commute bike has 2 park tools pre-glued patches and have last over 3000 miles...so far
So they may have changed since you last used.