What are the best kits and techniques for patching butyl tubes?

Rema is considered the best of patch kits, however most of the non-Rema brands work well when done correctly. Glueless patches are hit or miss, mostly miss. Don't use them. Tons of utube videos on patching bike tubes. Watch them.

Thanks!

If it ain't Tip Top it ain't in my shop. Rema all the way!

No sense messing around with anything but REMA. It's a proven winner.
Else the stuff an automotive tire shop would use if you're into "quantity".

Glueless will probably get you home, but the problem I've had with them is in succeeding punctures. When blowing the tube up enough to find a small leak, they're somewhat prone to unpeel. That tends to be a PITA when the whole point of them is convenience.

Rema Tip Top, comes in little kits which are handy for carrying on the bike, but if you're serious about patching tubes the bulk packs of patches and large tubes and cans of cement are more economical (if you get enough flats that you'll use them - 100 patches can last quite a long time).
Technique:

Rema for sure. I only patch roadside If I have to. Easier and more consistent results doing it at home.

And as mentioned in post #6. Make sure the fluid is dry by waiting for it to go from a shiny wet to a matt look. Don't even bother trying to put the patch on until the fluid is dry as it won't stick. I also like to put some baby powder, talc, or even some dry dirt if on the road over the glue not covered by the patch so it doesn't end up fusing to the tire casing.

PromptCritical: Have you considered TPU tubes?

Pirelli Pzero SmarTube Tube 35 Gram Presta Length: 60mm 700C 23-32C – Bike Closet

Pirelli Cinturato Reinforced SmarTUBE Presta 60mm-28/35-622 – Bike Closet

Some thoughts and tips:

I have found that Kleen Streak solvent spray is a great butyl cleaner. I'll clean the patch area with it before doing any sanding. I find this reduces the amount of sanding I have to do as well as insures a very clean surface.

If the tube has a seam that stands proud by a lot I have either sanded across the seam both ways to reduce the height or have applied a few layers of glue, allowing drying between, to build up the surrounding surface (kind of like burying decals with clear coats).

I'll mark the tube with a Sharpie, much like the cross hairs of a scope, to keep the hole centered under the patch. These marks are far enough apart to allow clean gluing and patch application. Once the glue has been applied many times the hole will blend into the sanded surface and be hard to spot. I've done a small "burp" of air through the dried glue to help locate the hole sometimes too.

If the tube is pretty undersized WRT the tire's interior the tube will expand to fill the tube's volume. A patch will be a second layer of material and not expand as well as the rest of the tube. This can lead to edge of patch stress and help cause patch edge delamination. One trick I have done is to inflate the tube to about the "in situ" size before applying the patch. Now the patch and tube are of fairly equal stretch stress.

One common rider "failure" is to NOT revisit the patched tire after one gets home. If no talc (or other powder) was available the fresh glue can stick to the tire casing. Removing and reinstalling the tube with some kind of powder sprinkled over the patched area is smart. If a CO2 cartridge was used to inflate the tube when on the road/trail one really should deflate the tire later and refill it wit a real pump. The CO2 will bleed through the tube far quicker than air does and lead one to question their patching ability a couple days later when the now low tire needs big time topping off. Often when doing a road side repair the details are "compromised" and crooked valves, tire labels are not centered at the valve, the other objects in the casing don't get removed and wheels get reinstalled all crooked all the time.

I collect my (and a few friend's) punctured tubes and have a patching party every year or so. There will be 5-15 tubes depending on the year. I find doing patching in batches to be smart and uses the glue more efficiently (more patches before the tube dries out). Andy

+1 Rema. If you repair a lot of tubes, buy a "Stitcher" also for your home shop. It's a little knurled wheel on a handle that is used to press the patch in place. On the road I keep a quarter (coin) in my patch kit to do the same thing. It does make a big difference on how long the patch will last and stay put.

+1 the key to successful patches is to clean the tube and sand an area on the puncture bigger than the patch. I keep a 2" x 3" piece of emery cloth in my patch kit for that also as the tiny little piece of sandpaper that comes in the Rema kits isn't optimal.

Rema too costly... might as well buy a tube.

Looking to try this.
Here's another. Assume the guy had no access to rim tape for t-less.

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Yet another.

For the cost of a single tube you get six or seven patches in a kit, so Rema works out a lot cheaper.

Musta mis-read the Rema cost online. I see some promising alternatives also. Thanks for the heads up.

Link for Rema purchase 7x in one $$... if convenient.

A brief search found this, you can probably find it cheaper: https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Repai...dp/B00DV3VEPI/
The little tubes of vulcanising solution dry up pretty quickly once you break the seal, so if you don't save your tubes and patch them all at one sitting then you'll need to buy a couple extra tubes of solution.

On the bike a rema kit. At home whatever the auto parts store has and I stock the 8oz bottle of fluid.
Sand, clean, smear fluid, let dry, peel cover from patch, stick on, roll with a deep socket on a flat surface. I also trim square patch edges to eliminate sharp corners that peel up.

Rema patches come in 100 packs in either 16mm or 25mm. The 16mm are useful for narrow tubes. Rema vulcanizing fluid comes in 8oz cans.

Really? I can buy a box of 100 patches for about US$25 and a 4-pack of 5gm vulcanizing fluid tubes (use 'em up before they dry out) for about US$15 or a 226gm can of vulcanizing fluid for about the same price (keep the cap tightly closed and store upside down to prevent drying) that'll allow me to patch dozens of tubes.

I use to buy bike patch kits, such as Rema, at my LBS, but I've found that other patch kits are just as good and usually cheaper. I just repaired a flat using this kit I just bought.

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P.S. I've also used patch kits I've purchased from Auto stores and they worked just fine.






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According to Ace Hardware that Slime Classic kit isn’t cheaper. A Rema TT-02 patch kit costs about $4. Since the Sime kit has two tubes of glue, let’s say that two TT-02 are equivalent. That’s $8 vs $9 and the Rema is a whole lot easier to carry on the bike.

I’ve been forced to use the cheap equivalents at my local co-op. I’ve seen dozens to hundreds of them fail before they get out of the shop. The cost “savings” weren’t realized because we used multiple patches where one Rema (with Rema vulcanizing fluid) would do.

Even a patch kit like the larger TT02 is only about $4. That’s enough patches to fix up to 5 flats or prevent the replacement of 5 tubes. At around $7 per tube, a Rema patch kit would have to cost $35 to make replacement of the tube equivalent.

Whatever you decide on, I've only had one very bad experience with patch kits and those were the glueless kits and it was bought from a bike shop. I've heard others swear by them, but I've had nothing but problems with them and I've done a lot of patching since the mid-80's.

They don't unpeel when sandwiched between the tube and tire. I've had nothing but good luck with the Park Tool glueless patches.

Speaking of unpeeling...Another recommendation I have is to have an old rim/wheel and tire and use that to test your patch, in lieu of blowing the tube up outside of a tire.

I always carry a spare tube to replace flats on the road and after repairing the tube, at home, I put it in the old wheel and tire to test overnight.

I don't know if it's right, but it just seems bad on the tube to blow it up outside a tire.



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