Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > General Cycling Discussion
Reload this Page >

How many times do you patch a tube before........

Notices
General Cycling Discussion Have a cycling related question or comment that doesn't fit in one of the other specialty forums? Drop on in and post in here! When possible, please select the forum above that most fits your post!

How many times do you patch a tube before........

Old 07-18-16, 11:00 AM
  #26  
Senior Member
 
dksix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: North East Tennessee
Posts: 1,620

Bikes: Basso Luguna, Fuji Nevada

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4261 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times in 1 Post
I had 5 tubes with valve stems long enough for my CF wheels and each of them had 2 or 3 patches. One of them had a slow leak that I couldn't, I ended up blowing it up too much and it popped. I have new tires and tubes ordered, I'll put the new tubes in the new tires when I mount them and have the 4 patched tubes as spares ( I carry 2 extra when I'm riding now that I've had so many flats recently).
dksix is offline  
Old 07-18-16, 11:12 AM
  #27  
Senior Member
 
indyfabz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 39,059
Mentioned: 210 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18320 Post(s)
Liked 15,299 Times in 7,231 Posts
The question has been asked and answered:


https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-me...ve-answer.html
indyfabz is offline  
Old 07-18-16, 11:24 AM
  #28  
Senior Member
 
Stadjer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Groningen
Posts: 1,307

Bikes: Gazelle rod brakes, Batavus compact, Peugeot hybrid

Mentioned: 84 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5896 Post(s)
Liked 949 Times in 723 Posts
Depends on the wheel. The front is easier to put a new one in, the rear is easier to patch, so I'll keep on patching untill I can't patch without patching over a previous patch. If it's near the valve, I pinch a hole in the patch and pull it over the valve.
Stadjer is offline  
Old 07-18-16, 12:28 PM
  #29  
well hello there
 
Nachoman's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Point Loma, CA
Posts: 15,430

Bikes: Bill Holland (Road-Ti), Fuji Roubaix Pro (back-up), Bike Friday (folder), Co-Motion (tandem) & Trek 750 (hybrid)

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 503 Post(s)
Liked 334 Times in 206 Posts
I've got about 8 tubes at home waiting to be patched.
I think I'll have a patch party this weekend.
__________________
.
.

Two wheels good. Four wheels bad.
Nachoman is offline  
Old 07-18-16, 03:27 PM
  #30  
Mad bike riding scientist
 
cyccommute's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,274

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6147 Post(s)
Liked 4,093 Times in 2,325 Posts
Originally Posted by prj71
Some people value their time more than $$$.
I value my time but that doesn't mean that I should throw away my money. $1000 in tubes isn't chump change.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!



cyccommute is offline  
Old 07-18-16, 03:53 PM
  #31  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: 'Murica
Posts: 234

Bikes: Fuji Allegro

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 44 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by Stadjer
If it's near the valve, I pinch a hole in the patch and pull it over the valve.
I'm guilty of this one, but haven't had to do it in a long time. I've also patched over an adjacent patch.

Rotary tools make the process much easier.
Cheddarpecker is offline  
Old 07-18-16, 04:03 PM
  #32  
Administrator
 
BillyD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Hudson Valley, NY
Posts: 32,901

Bikes: Merlin Cyrene '04; Bridgestone RB-1 '92

Mentioned: 325 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11894 Post(s)
Liked 6,491 Times in 3,417 Posts
Until the weight of all the patches starts to effect my average speed.
__________________
See, this is why we can't have nice things. - - smarkinson
Where else but the internet can a bunch of cyclists go and be the tough guy? - - jdon
BillyD is offline  
Old 07-18-16, 07:27 PM
  #33  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: North Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,601
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2965 Post(s)
Liked 1,167 Times in 763 Posts
Originally Posted by cyccommute
I value my time but that doesn't mean that I should throw away my money. $1000 in tubes isn't chump change.
At $4-$5/tube I'll never spend that much on tubes in my lifetime.
prj71 is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 07:00 AM
  #34  
Mad bike riding scientist
 
cyccommute's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,274

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6147 Post(s)
Liked 4,093 Times in 2,325 Posts
Originally Posted by prj71
At $4-$5/tube I'll never spend that much on tubes in my lifetime.
And how many flats do you get per year? Do you live where there are goatheads? Even with armored tires and sealant, the little buggers get through. And I avoid Slime tubes because they are expensive and mostly ineffective against goatheads. And the Slime makes it difficult to patch.

Like I said above, I threw out a tube with 13 patches on it. Except for the fact that the valve stem was cut, I consider that to be a serviceable tube. I've had tubes with as many as 25 patches. That's up to $125 in tubes if I didn't patch them. That's still not chump change.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!



cyccommute is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 07:23 AM
  #35  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: North Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,601
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2965 Post(s)
Liked 1,167 Times in 763 Posts
Zero last year and 2 this year.


But, I find that my time is worth far more to me than the cost of an extra tube. And it takes longer to patch a tube than to simply replace it.


I do carry a patch kit with me in the unlikely event I puncture my spare tube that I carry. But if I don't, I throw the old tube away and order a new one when I get home.


An even better option is to go tubeless. Then no worry at all about tubes. I did it on my mountain bike and am thinking about it on the road bike.
prj71 is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 07:46 AM
  #36  
Mad bike riding scientist
 
cyccommute's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,274

Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones

Mentioned: 150 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6147 Post(s)
Liked 4,093 Times in 2,325 Posts
Originally Posted by prj71
Zero last year and 2 this year.


But, I find that my time is worth far more to me than the cost of an extra tube. And it takes longer to patch a tube than to simply replace it.


I do carry a patch kit with me in the unlikely event I puncture my spare tube that I carry. But if I don't, I throw the old tube away and order a new one when I get home.
To each his own.

Originally Posted by prj71
An even better option is to go tubeless. Then no worry at all about tubes. I did it on my mountain bike and am thinking about it on the road bike.
Talk about a time waster Having been involved in a 2 hour debacle at my local co-op that involved 3 volunteers, the owner of the wheel, 6 broken plastic tire levers, 2 long metal tire levers, what seem like a gallon of spilled sealant and, finally, the paid mechanic to remove, replace and inflate one tubeless tire, I want nothing to do with those. Having to go through that pain on mounting a new tire, I couldn't imagine having to go through that every 6 weeks to 3 months to "refresh" the sealant.

I'd rather spend the $1000 on tubes.
__________________
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!



cyccommute is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 08:15 AM
  #37  
Senior Member
 
mconlonx's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,558
Mentioned: 47 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7148 Post(s)
Liked 134 Times in 92 Posts
Originally Posted by SpeshulEd
0.

+1

I'll patch to get me home if it is the second puncture in one ride, but life's too short/my time is worth more than it takes to patch tubes. Of course I buy tubes at employee discount, so...
mconlonx is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 08:26 AM
  #38  
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 8
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Man you guys get a lot of flat tires. I've had one in the last 20 years on my road bike, never on the mountain bike. This is over thousands of miles. Am I just lucky?
Timmer_71 is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 09:06 AM
  #39  
Bike rider
 
alexaschwanden's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: san jose
Posts: 3,167

Bikes: 2017 Raleigh Clubman

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 17 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
i am not good at patching tubes so i buy tubes instead.
alexaschwanden is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 09:07 AM
  #40  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Bozeman
Posts: 4,094

Bikes: 199? Landshark Roadshark, 198? Mondonico Diamond, 1987 Panasonic DX-5000, 1987 Bianchi Limited, Univega... Chrome..., 1989 Schwinn Woodlands, Motobecane USA Record, Raleigh Tokul 2

Mentioned: 25 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1131 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
It depends.

Road bike: 4-5 (I go a LONG time between flats.)

Commuter: Until the tube breaks

Mountain bike: 1-2.

The difference being that my mountain bike is required to get me out of trouble. My road bike isn't. All I have to do is wave down a car (or use my phone if I have it) and I can get help. It's not that I don't trust my patching skills, but sometimes patches DON'T work. Sometimes your fingers were dirty. That's an unacceptable situation if you're 20 miles away from the trailhead, which itself is 20-50 miles away from civilization.
corrado33 is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 09:08 AM
  #41  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: North Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,601
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2965 Post(s)
Liked 1,167 Times in 763 Posts
Originally Posted by cyccommute
To each his own.



Talk about a time waster Having been involved in a 2 hour debacle at my local co-op that involved 3 volunteers, the owner of the wheel, 6 broken plastic tire levers, 2 long metal tire levers, what seem like a gallon of spilled sealant and, finally, the paid mechanic to remove, replace and inflate one tubeless tire, I want nothing to do with those. Having to go through that pain on mounting a new tire, I couldn't imagine having to go through that every 6 weeks to 3 months to "refresh" the sealant.

I'd rather spend the $1000 on tubes.
Sounds like a mismatch between tire and rim...as in not having a tubeless ready tire or rim or both. Or someome that doesn't know what they are doing. Took me 10 minutes tops to set up each tire tubeless on my mtb. Maintenance is easy with this...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001GSKL4A/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468940840&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=stans+no+tubes&dpPl=1&dpID=414YymDjqPL&ref=plSrch

Plus the added benefit of less rolling resistance and less weight going tubeless.
prj71 is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 09:13 AM
  #42  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: North Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,601
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2965 Post(s)
Liked 1,167 Times in 763 Posts
Originally Posted by Timmer_71
Man you guys get a lot of flat tires. I've had one in the last 20 years on my road bike, never on the mountain bike. This is over thousands of miles. Am I just lucky?
You're probably more the norm.

Cyccommutes examples seem a little over exaggerated in order to support his viewpoint of why patching is the better alternative. Your average cycle enthusiasts would never spend that amount of money on tubes. If a person gets that many flats maybe they should quit riding.
prj71 is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 09:58 AM
  #43  
Senior Member
 
Shimagnolo's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Zang's Spur, CO
Posts: 9,086
Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3355 Post(s)
Liked 5,434 Times in 2,812 Posts
Originally Posted by Timmer_71
Man you guys get a lot of flat tires. I've had one in the last 20 years on my road bike, never on the mountain bike. This is over thousands of miles. Am I just lucky?
Listen to cyccommute, and notice where he lives.

I grew up in IN, later lived in MI, then IL, before moving to CO.
I honestly can't remember *ever* having a flat in IN or MI or IL.
Within 2 weeks of moving to Denver, I flatted all 4 tires on my 2 bikes, all due to goatheads.

I'm currently living halfway between Denver and Boulder, and haven't had a goathead flat for quite some time.
Recently it is more often due to those little wires from steel-belted tires.
Shimagnolo is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 10:23 AM
  #44  
Senior Member
 
drlogik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 1,763

Bikes: '87-ish Pinarello Montello; '89 Nishiki Ariel; '85 Raleigh Wyoming, '16 Wabi Special, '16 Wabi Classic, '14 Kona Cinder Cone

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 698 Post(s)
Liked 405 Times in 251 Posts
I lived in the Phoenix area for the last 6 years. Believe me, flats are a way of life there, with or without Slime....road or MTB. Until we moved there I got about maybe two flats a year total. I can tell you without question I patched at least 30 to 40 times in those years out there. At $3 bucks a pop that's a lot of money to spend on something that will go flat shortly. Hence I patched twice and threw the tube out.
drlogik is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 10:24 AM
  #45  
Senior Member
 
SpeshulEd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 8,088
Mentioned: 10 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 686 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times in 5 Posts
Originally Posted by Timmer_71
Man you guys get a lot of flat tires. I've had one in the last 20 years on my road bike, never on the mountain bike. This is over thousands of miles. Am I just lucky?
I'd imagine the guy that puts in thousands of miles a year would probably get more flats than the one that puts in thousands of miles over 20 years.

For the record, I said zero, but I do have a whole drawer full of blown tubes, so maybe one day I'll get around to it.
__________________
Hey guys, lets go play bikes! Strava

SpeshulEd is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 10:47 AM
  #46  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: North Central Wisconsin
Posts: 4,601
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2965 Post(s)
Liked 1,167 Times in 763 Posts
Originally Posted by drlogik
I lived in the Phoenix area for the last 6 years. Believe me, flats are a way of life there, with or without Slime....road or MTB. Until we moved there I got about maybe two flats a year total. I can tell you without question I patched at least 30 to 40 times in those years out there. At $3 bucks a pop that's a lot of money to spend on something that will go flat shortly. Hence I patched twice and threw the tube out.
As I mentioned earlier...Tubeless...Sealant seals up the hole and you can keep on riding.

Dealing with Goatheads - How to Avoid Flat Bike Tires - SLO Cyclist
prj71 is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 10:47 AM
  #47  
Senior Member
 
Bolo Grubb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 1,892

Bikes: 1984 Trek 720 with a Nexus hub, 2016 Cannondale Synapse

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 35 Post(s)
Liked 17 Times in 10 Posts
When I lived in Phoenix, I averaged 1 flat per 50 miles or so (damn goat heads thorns)

Now that I live in Tucson, I get fewer flats, maybe 1 every 2 or 3 hundred miles or less.
Bolo Grubb is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 05:40 PM
  #48  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 564

Bikes: 1976 Raleigh,2015 Bianchi Intenso, 2012 Specialized Secteur.

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 48 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times in 1 Post
Zero. I can make, build, repair damn near anything but I can't patch a tube to save my life. I have a few tubes hanging on the wall, and every now and then I give it another go, but it's all for naught.
sevenmag is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 06:03 PM
  #49  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: 'Murica
Posts: 234

Bikes: Fuji Allegro

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 44 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
The pain is in the buffing, specially where there's ribs on the surface.

So I just use a rotary tool with a grinding wheel. No longer any trouble.
Cheddarpecker is offline  
Old 07-19-16, 06:05 PM
  #50  
Senior Member
 
Sangetsu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: 東京都
Posts: 854
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 570 Post(s)
Liked 33 Times in 21 Posts
I bought a beat up 50's Schwinn cruiser, and found the front tube to have 12 patches on it, and the rear tube to have 18! I put the tubes back in, and they were still holding air when I sold the bike a couple of years later. I rode the hell out of it, even doing a century ride with it.
Sangetsu is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.