Inner Tube Repair - How Many?

[PaulSB]

Don't know what this risk is that you talk of, but then I do also carry a patch kit as well. Never had a patched tube fail during storage.

I don't know if there is a risk or not. I don't want to find out. I see it like this. A patch is designed to adhere to and seal an inflated tube.

Apply it to a deflated tube, apply talc, roll up as compactly possible, cover in cling film and stuff in a bag for 12+ months. The patch isn't designed, in my view, to work this way but most likely does.

For the sake of £3-4 I like the comfort of a new tube. I also carry a repair kit.

 

[PaulSB]

Halfords own brand are good in this respect, they are lightly talced and shrink wrapped.

I didn't know that. I shall have a look.

 

[Pale Rider]

I didn't know that. I shall have a look.

I think they are talced, they certainly feel like they have been.

They don't stick when you unroll them.

Sticky tube syndrome is unpleasant and to be avoided if possible.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I always test my repairs afterwards. Leave for glue to cure for a few days, then pump the tubes up to about 2 bar - when they start getting a bit unwieldy and big, water/bubble test- then leave for a week or more. Should be in a similar state after that. Then talc and fold them in a sandwich bag and tape up.

 

[overmind]

My routine, if I am on a long ride, is to replace the punctured inner tube with a known good one (usually new) and then when I get home, fix the old one, and put it back in (always keeping the newer one). I usually apply the patch and then clamp it between 2 metal plates to hold it it place. I then leave it for about 15 mins.

Finally, I pump it enough give it some shape, cover it in talc, and put it back on the bike. Usually, the only reason it deflates again is because I did not find the cause of the puncture, a thorn or piece of glass, which is still in the tyre.

Recently, I have been using patch strip instead of (cure e cure) patches. Since the patches are generally cut square I now snip the corners off to make them octagonal (sort of). I think this may lessen the chance of them coming unstuck.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I don't know if there is a risk or not. I don't want to find out. I see it like this. A patch is designed to adhere to and seal an inflated tube.

Apply it to a deflated tube, apply talc, roll up as compactly possible, cover in cling film and stuff in a bag for 12+ months. The patch isn't designed, in my view, to work this way but most likely does.

For the sake of £3-4 I like the comfort of a new tube. I also carry a repair kit.

Well I leave my repair for 24 hrs to ensure a proper cure. Then put a tad of air in to ensure the job's a good un before it is packed for a spare.

One reason for carrying a new tube as a spare is you can't beat factory rolled and folded for compactness.

It has been known (by none other than lil ole me as well as pals) that a new tube has failed due to manufacturing problems (not cack handed fitting). So always pack 2!

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I think this may lessen the chance of them coming unstuck.

I would agree with that

 

[Salad Dodger]

I have no objection to using a tube with a couple of patches on it. More than that and it's time for the tube to go into my scrap box.

And what do I do with tubes in the scrap box? (This is only useful for guitar and ukulele players). Cut a square of scrap inner tube. Single thickness and about 4 or 5 centimeters square. Cut a small slit into the middle. Now put your guitar/ uke strap on, and place the rubber piece on the strap button, to stop it falling off mid gig.

Yes, you can buy posh guitar straps with built in strap locks. Yes you can buy purpose made rubber strap lock buttons for about 50p each. But it's more fun to make your own....

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

As long as the patches don’t overlap keep going assuming tube hasn’t decayed so much it’s on it’s last legs. In 2002 I had 10 year old inner tubes in the tyres of my old steel racer I got in 1985.

I don't care how old inner tubes (or tyres) are. The only thing that matters is the condition of the rubber - it looks and feels different when badly deteriorated. I've still got two assumed 1985 tyres and one assumed 1985 inner tube on my 1985 Raleigh tourer. The other inner tube I swapped for one out of a scrap hybrid, that probably dates from the mid/late 1990's. I will only bin a tube if it has an unrepairable hole, or one patch prevents another one from adhering and sealing effectively. It could have ten patches in it and I will carry on using it all the time the rubber is sound.

 

[overmind]

I've still got two assumed 1985 tyres and one assumed 1985 inner tube on my 1985 Raleigh tourer.

Do you have a picture of the Raleigh Tourer? I love 1980's Raleigh bikes. I cycled all over North London on a Raleigh Arena in the early 80s. I loved that bike.

 

[Dogtrousers]

At the risk of making this into a thread about littering ...

A while ago I pulled over into a gateway to make a phone call and found a really new looking tube neatly draped over the gate. I finished my call and took the tube home. It had one little hole that I fixed, and felt well virtuous. It also had a valve stem the size of a fire poker. Obviously some deep-rim riding litter lout.

 

[Milzy]

On the basis that I very rarely get punctures when I do the tube has normally done a 2+ years service so I just replace it. If I got punctures every couple of months then I would patch as it's less to go to landfill

Exactly this here. 👌

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

At the risk of making this into a thread about littering ...

A while ago I pulled over into a gateway to make a phone call and found a really new looking tube neatly draped over the gate. I finished my call and took the tube home. It had one little hole that I fixed, and felt well virtuous. It also had a valve stem the size of a fire poker. Obviously some deep-rim riding litter lout.

I was riding an event once and hit some stuff on a steep descent. Front tyre went down and I was fortunate not to end up on the deck. I made my way to the bottom where there was a gateway in which A N Other was repairing a similar puncture and there were maybe half a dozen tubes hanging on the gate. Real puncture trap was that spot

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

But it's more fun to make your own....

Correct

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Do you have a picture of the Raleigh Tourer? I love 1980's Raleigh bikes. I cycled all over North London on a Raleigh Arena in the early 80s. I loved that bike.

Funnily enough I also owned a Raleigh Arena from new, and I too thought it was great. My budget didn't run to anything exotic made from 531, but the Arena was a good bike that just kept going. I eventually outgrew it, otherwise I would have kept it to this day.
However, now, with quality steel bikes currently out of favour, I can easily afford the sort of bike that was way out of my league as a youngster, like my Royal.

In today's inflation-adjusted money that would be a £1,000 bike now, but owes me £33.