Originally Posted by
yukiinu
Slime works on round small thorn punctures, and no other larger or irrigular shaped holes. If you try to patch a hole with slime in the tube, the slime will cause the patch glue to loosen and leak.
If you are careful, you can patch a Slime tube. But you have to keep the Slime away from the hole. The fluid in the Slime will interfere with the bonding process if it wets the dry patching cement.
Originally Posted by
yukiinu
I had a friend say he never had any luck with repairing a tube with glue and patch. I said "a patch works and stops the leak, all you do is follow the directions, put the glue on the tube, let the glue dry then put on the patch" he said "you let the glue dry before you put on the patch!!?" He did not follow the directions on the patch kit and thought the glue had to be wet when you put the patch on, which is wrong and why "he never had any luck with patching a leaking tube".
RTFM. I see this a lot from people who are trying to rush the patch job and then blame the process. Take your time and allow the cement to dry.
Originally Posted by
yukiinu
I always carry a patch kit, tire levers, pump, and extra tube and extra pump, extra cables, multi-tool, front/rear spokes, spoke wrench when I ride. I have 9,000 miles loaded touring and 2 years as bike messenger experience. Also, patching a tube will take 15 minutes by using tire levers to remove just a foot long section of the tire bead from one side of the rim and gaining access to tube, patch the tube, (if large hole in tire also patch inside of tire) put tube and tire section back on rim. No need to remove wheel from bike, like I see riders on the side of the road who have completely removed wheel, tire and tube from bike.
Your method only works if you can see what is causing the flat. 90% of the time a rider won't know mostly because the object making the puncture doesn't stay in the tire. I've only seen a few flats where that happens. You could remove the tube from the tire with the wheel in place but that limits your ability to manipulate the tube. It's just easier to remove the wheel and tube from the tire. I agree that there is no need to remove the tire, although you should check inside the tire for what caused the puncture so that you don't have to fix it again.
Originally Posted by
GuessWhoCycling
15 minutes? I take my wheel all the way off and patch a tube in much less time than that so what's the big deal of removing the wheel?
15 minutes may be a bit long but, honestly, the longer you let the tube sit after applying the cement, the better the bond will be. I've forgotten tubes in my garage for months after applying vulcanizing fluid and still had very successful patch jobs. You basically can't wait too long.
On the other hand, if you are trying to do the Indianapolis 500 pit crew job, you aren't going to get a good bond.