adam12

I don't have an LBS in my town so I have to rely on the internet, and good 'ole ingenuity for alot of things. I have a hard time finding tube patch supplies. I really dislike the glueless patches, as I have never had one actually stay stuck. That is all X-mart has. I have a hardware store that stocks patches for all types of tubes. I bought a box of a hundred. I can't seem to find the glue for patches. Anyone know where I can get just the glue? Maybe a large can or something? Even several small tubes. Everywhere I look on the internet I only find a whole patch kit. I can't find just the glue. Will plain ole rubber cement work? Any help would be appreciated.

Zero_Enigma

I do recall reading up on this before when some riders ran out of the patch glue. They used rubber cement and followed the same things they didwiththe normal patch glue with roughening up the hole area before applying the rubber cement. I don't recall the comments (if any) on how well it held.

I hail from Canada and we have Canadian Tire here (if it asks for a postal code put this random one in L4B 3Z1) and it costs ~$1.50 CDN I think. Comes witht he patch glue and spare patches. I've bought a few in the past but thankfully never needed to use it but you know, it's one of those things to have. I have seen in the local Walmart they have patch kits as well. I've never bought those before. I'm assuming they are glue patches. I highly recommend that you keep a couple glueless patches in your riding gear should your glue dry up you've still got something to use.

I was riding one time and saw some guy (read my 'Flat tire Karl' story) walking with thier bike at the bottom of the valley. He asked me where one area lead to but I did not know but noticed his flat so I tried to fix his flat but my glue dried up and I did not have any glueless patches then so I took a patch and used a bandaid to hold it in and pumped up the tire which got him going again for a while with slow air leak. I had pine trees around and I could have stabbed the tree and used the resin but I forgot about that then.

My local MEC sells the glue for $2.50 CDN but the patch kit with patches is $3.00 CDN so for 50cents extra it may be worth getting the spare patches. You can see the items here. I think REI in the USA may have that as well.

Zero_Enigma

Found it. REI sells it here and look at the Rema. Here is the shipping page but you can pick it up locally whichis a bonus if you've got one in your state. Buy a few and pick up locally.

JustBrowsing

I find it hard to believe that even a Walmart/Kmart/Target/whatever wouldn't have regular bike patch kits, but hey, what do I know? If you're going to order just the glue from REI (like the site above), you may as well throw a couple regular patch kits into the mix. I mean, for 50 cents more than the glue alone you get seven patches, some sandpaper, and a nice little box to keep it all in. That way you can keep one with you on the bike for emergencies. Otherwise, if you're at home just use the patches you've already picked up.

Edit: And BTW, I'm 99% certain that the glue is just standard rubber cement.

donnamb 

I think that places like Walmart/Target sell patch kits, but they're the glueless kind.

BikeManDan

Rubber cement is all you need. I've even seen it in the grocery store

bikingbrit

Your local auto parts store will likely have a good selection of patches, cement and other tire repair items.
For cement, I recommend a small tube over a large can as the large can will probably dry up before you use it all.

seosamh

wouldn't be the first time i've used and old cut up inner tube and some superglue, mind you this was when i was a child and on bmx..

BikingGrad80

I have a big old jar of rubber cement that I use for patching tubes. It is the same stuff that comes with the kits. It works well.

BikeManDan

I've heard cut up tube actually works given you use rubber cement and not superglue

ilikebikes

Dollar store, best patches ever! I by them ten at time and they work better than any others I have tried

seosamh

may well have been an old tube of glue from an old patch kit i used, i think i thought that and superglue where the same thing years ago, memory is a bit hazy, defo used to work tho..

cyccommute 

Yep. I was in Hellmart this weekend. Only glueless patches.

Boy! Do I hate Hellmart!

ax0n

rubber cement, yep. You can even cut circles out of an old tire inner tube, scuff them up and use those as patches with rubber cement.

I've had pretty good luck with Park Tool's glueless patches as well. The only time they seem to fail is when I get a puncture that's right next to one of the moulded seams in the tire. Then, the patch seems to let air slip out along the gap between the seam and the patch. The rubber cement with traditional patches seems to alleviate this problem, so I reach for my old-school patches when this happens.

The rear tire in my road bike has two Park glueless patches and it's inflated to 120 PSI. It drops to about 100 PSI after 6-9 days which I consider to be a great patch job. I usually only inflate it once a week and it's held up like this for over a month.

Both tires in my mountain bike (40 PSI singletrack, 65 PSI when commuting on it in bad weather) have held up for 6 months or more with park patches, with very infrequent inflation.

andrelam

Look for on-line retailers to offer free shipping. You should be able to get a kit from Nashbar for under $5. Normally the minimum shipping charges would be a killer, but they offer free shipping every so often. I've had good results with the Parker Tools patch kit. I bought a mini Parker Tool kit from a local bike stopre for about $11. It is a little pouch that holds 1 patch kit (contains glue, sand paper, and about a dozen patches), 5 alan wreches, and 2 tire levers, and 1 mini adjustable wrench. Pretty much it should be able to perform just about any simple repair or adjustment on the road. On my first major ride this year (Ride for Roswell) I was able to get three people adjusted at the first rest area when they realized their saddles were not adjusted right or slipped, and they didn't carry any tools. There was a road crew available to fix people'd bikes, but there was a wait. My extra few ounces of weight come in handy and realy made a few peoples day. I never leave home on a bike without it.

Happy riding,
André

d_D

My lbs sells tubes 3 times the size of the ones typically in patch kits for £1 which is ~$2. Combined with bulk patches from auto suppliers it's quite a bit cheaper than patch kits. Plus you don't end up with a load of leftover plastic junk.

I've found keeping the glue in an airtight container prolongs its life greatly. Since I've started doing it I've never had a tube dry up before its been used up.

Bill Kapaun

You can also get rubber cement in office supply stores.

adam12

Thanks folks. I picked up a big ole tube of rubber cement from O'reilleys, and went to town. That stuff works well, and I saved like 20 bucks on tubes. I even started cutting the patches in fourths. They are about half dollar size if not a bit bigger. They worked great. The deal is I run a 29er for a commuter, and it is impossible to find tubes anywhere near me. So I was just trying to salvage the tubes I already had. I pulled it off.