Originally Posted by
Aeolis
I was unaware you could even patch a road tube due to the high pressure. Where do you guys get tubes for 5'dollars? Mine always cost atleast 8.
As I mentioned above, tubes don't have to 'support' any pressure. They are simply required to be a sealed membrane. That's why the thinnest latex tubes can hold air. If the rest of the rim/tape/tire system is all doing it's job correctly, the tube simply provides the seal, nothing more. And likewise, if any of those other parts isn't doing it's job, the best brand new tube on the market isn't going to be able to keep it from failing. This is why tubeless tires work. Tires don't do well at sealing, so the tubeless specific tires have gummy sidewalls, and this combined with the sealed tubeless specific rims and added sealant, keeps the system's pressurized air inside. Think of a tube as a solid state sealant, as compared to dynamic (liquid) sealant in a tubeless system.
Short answer : Tubes are just a simple barrier, nothing more...which is why there's no reason
not to repair them.
-Jeremy