How many patches on an inner tube before you bin it?

[Tin Pot]

I used to have a source of smaller sized patches for narrower tubes, does anyone know where they can be purchased as a stand alone buy? I don't want to have to buy a repair kit as I have plenty of those. IME a lot of repairs fail because the patch is too wide for the tube so the edges don't stick down properly.

I'm getting Halfords pack of patches £1.99, think you can just cut em in half, of they do a continuous strip you cut yourself.

 

[Ian193]

Continental Gatorskin Hardshell tyres bought in January 2014 one puncture the other week so new tube fitted old one binned I'm no good at patching. New tube cost £5.00 so 12p a week on punctures sorry but it's a no brainer to me

 

[jay clock]

I have given up mending....

 

[bigjim]

I patch all my tubes if possible. I also patch them by the roadside. Takes me about 5 mins. I got a strip from China of 48 for £1 delivered and they are very good. I've never had a patch fail. Most of the punctures I have had are in new unpatched tubes. I've got some of the instant glueless ones and they seem to work fine but they are very thin. Where I ride I pick up a lot of glass and thorns so I do get more than the average on thinish tyres. My Schawlbe touring tyres seem to be immune. I don't worry about a few minutes fixing a tube. It's quite satisfying to beat the corporate throwaway system, IMO. I spend a lot time doing more useless stuff believe me.

 

[G3CWI]

Binned one today - cheap Aldi patch failed at the edge. Repaired two others though. Removed a humungous thorn from my rear tyre.

 

[Lloss]

Bin them straight away I am not rich but have better things to do than repairing an inner tube.

 

[gilespargiter]

I had a shed full of tubes waiting to be patched, slight exaggeration but I binned them in the end. Life is too short as it is. Anyway I run tubeless now solves the problem..

I know this was posted a while back - but: In what way do tubeless tyres solve the problem? It is more difficult to patch a tubeless tyre or else you end up with a tube fitted anyway.
Maybe you just chuck the tyres away?

 

[Tin Pot]

Bin them straight away I am not rich but have better things to do than repairing an inner tube.

Ok, you're about the fifteenth person to post that, so I'm not picking on you but:

You're at home, after work, you've had dinner, there's a couple of hours before bed time...

Name one thing you did last week in that period that was objectively better than repairing an inner tube. Betterment of society or the environment is what we're looking for here. Watching "Strictly" doesn't count.

Same goes for the rest of you "better things to do" mob, I dare you!

 

[Andrew_P]

I know this was posted a while back - but: In what way do tubeless tyres solve the problem? It is more difficult to patch a tubeless tyre or else you end up with a tube fitted anyway.
Maybe you just chuck the tyres away?

A tubeless tyre normally has a latex fluid in it that when exposed to air hardens and seals a puncture. One ride stopping puncture in 8000 miles, which I did sling a tube in and then patched at home and removed the tube and put it back in my rucksack.

There is a big financial difference between a £50 tyre and a £2-3 tube, so not sure what your point was? As it was my first one I used a tube, but now I would patch it at the roadside as it is as quick as it would be to get a tube in.

 

[Andrew_P]

Ok, you're about the fifteenth person to post that, so I'm not picking on you but:

You're at home, after work, you've had dinner, there's a couple of hours before bed time...

Name one thing you did last week in that period that was objectively better than repairing an inner tube. Betterment of society or the environment is what we're looking for here. Watching "Strictly" doesn't count. :

Same goes for the rest of you "better things to do" mob, I dare you!

Remind me how much aggro you have had with your tyres and tubes?

 

[Tin Pot]

Remind me how much aggro you have had with your tyres and tubes?

New ones!

Brand new tubes brand new tyres!

 

[Andrew_P]

New ones!

Brand new tubes brand new tyres!

 

[gilespargiter]

I didn't really think you chucked the tyres away Andrew. Saying that I bet somebody has somewhere. . . I have found on some cycle routes, especially near hire centres that enough cyclists vandalise the country side they have come to see by chucking down punctured tubes - which I clear up. So I haven't actually bought a tube in a very long time.
You can of course use the tyre sealer that you mention in tubes too, if you think it is worth using. Like you personally I just fix them on the spot and be done with it, unless it is particularly inconvenient.
I suppose in reply to the OP; not usually more than three or so before I find another tube.

 

[Bodhbh]

Name one thing you did last week in that period that was objectively better than repairing an inner tube. Betterment of society or the environment is what we're looking for here. Watching "Strictly" doesn't count.

To be fair I was just about to repair my inner tube, but then needed to combat Magneto to stop the mutants taking over the world so decided to give it a rest.

It probably takes as much time to fix an inner as it does to log on and order a new one, but I think there's a fair point the more you do it, the more chance that tube is going to fail down the line.

 

[cd365]

Ok, you're about the fifteenth person to post that, so I'm not picking on you but:

You're at home, after work, you've had dinner, there's a couple of hours before bed time...

Name one thing you did last week in that period that was objectively better than repairing an inner tube. Betterment of society or the environment is what we're looking for here. Watching "Strictly" doesn't count.

Same goes for the rest of you "better things to do" mob, I dare you!

Chopped fallen wood up to use in my log fire to save my gas fired central heating going on.