Originally Posted by
cyccommute
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.
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.
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.
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.
On the open road, highways etc, the vast majority of my flats have been caused by needle sharp pieces of tire reinforcement wire from shredded truck tires, that have been moved out of traffic lanes and left on the side of the road. These genally are sticking out of my tire and are easy to see. Glass is harder to find, because it burys itself in the tire tread, I gently rub my fingers on the inside of the tire at the puncture to make sure whatever came through the tire and into the tube is no longer there. I get a flat maybe one time in a thousand miles, but I did get 3 flats in one hundred miles because of the shredid truck tires on the shoulder of the interstate that the state didn't clean up, which was all the way across that state, and why I won't cycle in that state and spend money for food and lodging etc again. States should understand that bike tourists spend all day riding 70 miles in their state and spend money for food and a place to sleep, while car drivers at 65 mph spend one hour for the same distance and spend little or nothing in the state. And motel 6 etc., should give discounts to verified cross country bike tourists, who travel short distance (compared to drivers) each day and would use those motels many more times in a thousand miles than a motorist.