Originally Posted by
axelfox
For those of you that patch tubes, do you continue using them (say, after the ride home), or do you replace them with another new tube?
I've patched tubes before, but they don't seem to last very long. One tube kept busting in the same area, so we just replaced the whole thing after 3 patches.
I always reuse 'em! Most last practically forever, so reusing them is not only cheap and less wasteful, I don't have to make the effort of removing and replacing the tube.
On the other hand, I do occasionally have patches refuse to stick. I basically have a "three strikes and you're out rule". If I fail to patch a leak twice, I throw it out on the third time! There's no point worrying about these occasional recalcitrant leaks, but I save money, time, and waste by reusing most tubes.
I use real patches (not the glueless kind), and I always buff the tube with sandpaper. I typically wait only about 1 minute for the glue to dry, and I blow on it gently to speed it up. I like the Performance Bike patch kits the best.