I realize now I didn't answer the original question of how many patches before I give up on a tube...but it really is an "it depends."

Four is sort of my rule, but if I have to patch two or three flats in rapid succession and for no real discernable reason I will call the tube material suspect. If a tube's been lasting for many a month, it may get a reprieve and a fifth patch or so. (I tend to buy cheap tubes, but good tires; here in Albuquerque, I'm back to generic brand thorn-resistant -- no flats in months -- but oh, the weight!)

At some point, especially if the patches are near each other, I think the wheel gets thrown out of balance.

None of this can be proven scientifically, nor is it much more than superstition so don't ask me to defend my practice.

To patch or not to patch, that is the question...what? Now I know I'm going to get flamed, but who cares, what kind of question is that? For gods sakes man, either patch them or pitch them, just depends on your personal wealth or sense of common sense, which ever prevails. Common sense will tell you that there is no need to pitch a perfectly good tube that has one itsy bitsy hole as long as it's repairable such as not on a seam (though I've had success doing that, most don't), or where a current patch is or close enough to a current patch that one may overlap the other. This doesn't include valve stem problems, obviously you can't patch a valve stem; I'm not sure why I even have to explain that, but you never know!

The wheel does not get thrown out of balance just because of some patches, geez!! I've toured with tubes that had over a dozen patches on them and never had a balance problem.

By the way all you patch weenies, I use glueless patches only with never a problem-oh no, I've been commiting the unpardonable sin!!!

One thing that would be nice is if the people who don't patch their tubes would give them away instead of just throwing them out. Maybe environmentally-minded bike shops could collect these tubes and put them in a bin marked "free"? Or sell them for, say, $1 each as-is? (Assuming a new tube costs about $5.)

Presumably this would only cut into their sales a little bit, since only the stingy gearhead DIY-types would buy them. And it would get some of us Nashbar-lovers into the LBS more... and might even result in increased sales for the LBS. I'd definitely pop into the local shops and grab a bag of 700C tubes needing patches rather than order them off Nashbar!

What do people think?

Yeah, my brother-in-law just gave me 5 tubes he didn't want to patch :)

Wow - I'm shocked how many people just change the tubes or toss a patched tube when they get home!

I reuse mine until one day I pop it out and say to myself "now, that's ridiculous". In the neighborhood of ten patches or so.......

I'd be bringing tubes home from the shop to patch and re-use myself... except I don't have any use for the 26" or 27X 1 1/4 Schreader tubes that most of the commuters around here seem to use.

Do most shops just throw out customers' punctured tubes?

Or do the mechanics hang 'em up and take them home as they please at most places?

We throw them out. I only use presta on any of my bikes and that's about 1% of our clientelle. I could take as many as I wanted if I could use them. Perhaps I might construct a giant slingshot.

Hehehe. I've used old Tubes to make a slingshot! Wasn't all that great actually. I've also used them to make an improvised repair fixture... I hung tubes from the ceiling and looped them around the seat and handlebars. A poor man's Park stand I suppose.

I've never seen a shop that will patch a tube instead of simply replace it. It'd be less wasteful, but probably take slightly MORE time and make them less money, as well as occasionally not working and resulting in a disgruntled customer. So it's pretty understandable why shops don't do it.

On the other hand, car tire places will happily patch or plug a punctured tire instead of sell you a new one... I guess that's because car tires are so much more expensive than bike tubes, that it's economically feasible to offer patching in addition to replacement.

More cost in labour... but cheaper on parts. 5mins to patch a tire @ $10/hr= $0.83 + 0.2 for the patch= about a buck... or just over half the price of a tube. Less waste too.

Depends if you're selling "new tube intsalled" or "flat fix" You could always patch the customers tube and send them away with a new one the first time... then use that patched tube on the next customers flat and so on. That way the patch has time to cure and you could even test it if you were so inclined (which seems like a pain in the ass to me)

I tend to buy new tubes as a "mercy purchase" when I really don't need anything but haven't made a purchase at the LBS for a while. I keep punctured tubes hanging on a nail with the word "BAD" written on the wall above them. I also have a "GOOD" nail. When the number of tubes on the GOOD nail dwindles, I'll spend a half hour or so patching tubes. When both nails are full, I'll sort thorugh the BAD for the worst tubes, those with the most patches already and thin 'em out. Usually, I find I am tossing tubes with at least 4 patches.

The pass-it-along idea sounds really cool! Just requires a little bit of organization to make sure you give them the right kind of tube. I guess you could have hooks for 26" and 700C tubes, and then eyeball the appropriate width and valve type when grabbing a patched one.

I'm guessing that if you charged $10 for fix-a-flat with a new tube, or $7 for fix-a-flat with a patched tube, many customers would happily take the latter. And the shop would probably make just about the same amount and waste less.

Didn't you read the rest of my post? Who's throwing things away? I leave my tubes next to a giant commercial garbage can that the gov't uses to collect the garbage in rural areas (where I ride). These tubes may not be used to hold air any longer but they find life in another incarnation. Think Bungy cords. People here use them to do a million things you probably never thought of. These tubes have value. I do the same thing with empty coke bottles or water bottles. Trust me. This stuff never makes it to a landfill.

My company (www.colmax.com.tw) imports a lot of products from Europe and the US. We get 1 or 2 containers a week worth of goods. As soon as that truck pulls up, one of the local gramas is soon at our loading door hauling away our cardboard as fast as we can unpack it and decide what boxes we don't need.

There is no curb side, blue box recycling here. People recycle in the truest sense. Mostly they re-use. What they are REALLY bad at is the reduce part. This truly saddens me when am looking out over some beautiful mountain vista only to look down and see the trash collected at the bottom that is almost 100% disposable food cartons. But I digress.

I don't patch because there is no cost (for me) associated with a new tube. I don't patch because when I ride it is training. It is structured and my team mates ***** if they have 0 readings on their SRMs because they had to wait for someone to fix a flat. Heck, at training camps we don't even stop for a flat, the group keeps going, our driver changes out the flat wheel with a spare and then it's time to do a little extra work. That flat tube is then switched out and tossed because, at a camp, where time is money, there is a cost associated with the time needed to fix a flat or wasted if a patch lets go.(www.teamfujitaiwan.com) I'm sure there are lots of racers on this forum who feel the same way.

I understand that our situation isn't the norm. I just thought I'd chime in to give the discussion a little balance.

I absolutely agree - provided that I can be counted as "people".

Both of those work just fine in a 700c rim/tire.

Yes, I did read it! By "throwing away", I simply meant that you're giving up the use of the tube and not deriving any more value from it yourself

I don't mean to imply that you're wasting anything. Clearly, you're in a situation where "throwing away" doesn't mean it's going to go sit in a landful. Definitely an unusual one for those of us in the Western world. Basically, I'd say we are so rich in material goods that it is often more cost-effective to throw something out and get a new one than it is to repair or reuse anything. Both a blessing and a curse! :)

The 27" tubes would work for 700c tires, but not the 26", or at least it would be far from ideal. But the 26" is so common, I don't imagine it would be hard to find someone who could use them-

Yeah, it's less than ideal - but still, it works! Eccept if they are chinese-made. Those will die, if put in a 700C rim/tire and inflated, and used for a while. The chinese tubes are Teh Krap. And by chinese I don't mean taiwanese.

However, I also agree that, if possible, give/sell it to someone who needs it for a 26"

Yeah. With the 26" tubes they're not only too small in both inner and outer diameter, but they're usually WAAAAY too wide for 700C tires as well.

I was once on a ride with a guy who was riding a 29er mtb, he had a flat and didn't have an extra tube. Someone let him have a 26" tube, and he STRETCHED that thing over the bigger rim and rode on. It did work, but honestly I wouldn't do it unless I was in a bind-:)

Well, this is a gigantic generalization - that's also mostly incorrect, because the 26" tube will have to stretch (longitudinally) anyway, thus decreasing its diameter.


Aw.. c'mon now, what's the worst that can happen? You're just being a big wuss :D

P.S. I'm kidding, of course, but you might try it, just for the fun of discovering something new. Biking is about fun, remember.

Well, of course the rubber is really stretchy. There's no reason why it won't work in its fully inflated state, but it's pretty darn hard to get it in there :)

Try putting a 26" tube into a 700C tire and then mounting it on the rim without tangling it up and doing a lot of swearing and cursing. You'll find it's pretty darn frustrating.

I have fun. But putting a very wrong-sized tube in my tire isn't my idea of it. But to each their own when it comes to "discovering something new." :D

Yep. Can't be done without the swearing and cursing. I find that those really help :p

Also, inflating the tube to a correct (almost magical) degree before booting on the tire, can aid a lot in this case.



Before I forget: old tubes that can't be patched (well, they can, but...) because the vent died, can be used for various purposes. moxfyre makes deadly weapons from them (which is nice), and also, they can be used as chainstay protectors. I use them also to cover the ends of my bar-taped handlebars. Heck, if you're of modest means, you can use them as grips. Like I do on my s#itbikes. Finally (finally?), you can use them as a shim when installing lights, bells, GPS devices and such, on your handlebar.

Hey, my slingshot was quite far from deadly I must admit :) I also use them as shims, they are invaluable for that. I haven't tried an inner tube grip. That sounds rather comfortable actually. How does it feel to you?