Originally Posted by
DrIsotope
What's with all the hate on patch kits? The
Lezyne Smart Patch kit is like half the size of a credit card. Takes up virtually no space in the bag, and a whopping 6 grams. I'd much rather have it and not need it.
Oh, that looks good. Instant patches and a scuffing tool in a thin box.
Some years ago, I tried some instant patches (Park Tool I think) and they just didn't hold air. I didn't do any scuffing though.
Do they work reliably now? They certainly are fast and take up no room in the bike bag.
Now, I
normally carry just one tube, and one CO2 + Air Chuck inflator.
The spare tube is wrapped with a rubber band in
tyvek or heavy 6 mil plastic sheet. This keeps it clean and abrasion free in the bike bag.
I have
a dollar bill to be folded for a tire boot. And now, I include a dollar bill sized
piece of tyvek -- even stronger. Tyvek from an overnight letter envelope, or from a bike event pin-on number.
For
all-day solo rides, I'll have a rack bag to carry more stuff, and I add:
Along with the original tube and CO2,
Topeak mini-morph
pump. It's reliable and quite small, but slow to inflate -- it's over 200 strokes to get to somewhat reasonable pressure. That's why I switched to CO2.
A
second spare tube.
A
glue patch kit -- these always work, and the repair is permanent and reliable -- there's glued patches on the tubes on my bike right now.
But the glue tube eventually dries out, even if never opened. I don't keep it much more than a year.