Patched Tubes: Replace or Use?
 

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.

That happened to me, it was because I wasn't letting the glue dry enough. I let it dry for at least three minutes before I stick the patch on, now they don't come off at all.

Put on correctly, a patch will last longer than the rest of the tube. No need to replace it.

If a good quality patch job I keep the tube as a spare, folding so that the patch is protected.

If you are having trouble with patches not sticking, use a piece of sand paper to buff the tube. The metal buffer used in the patch kits is next to useless.
Let glue dry.
If you are getting a new hole in the same area, you aren't removing whatever is causing the puncture from the tire.

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.

I usually use them until one of the following happen:
1) I get a leak that can't be fixed by a patch
2) One of the previous patches starts leaking
3) I psychologically think I am slowing down because my wheel is heavier from too many patches

Wait a little longer (the glue should have a matt finish) for the glue and you won't have any problems. Use Rema TipTops and you'll absolutely never have problems;)

I reuse up to 3 or 4 patches. Eventually, I give in and replace the tube although I don't know that it's necessary most of the time.

... Brad

Yeah, it's true that I am often impatient when patching in the field, and it's likely that my occasional patch failures are caused by this! Fortunately, I hardly ever get flats anymore thanks to better tire choices.

What are Rema Tip Tops? Google gets me some automotive/industrial stuff, but nothing bike related. Hmmm...

I carry a "new" (possibly new, possibly previously patched) tube with me and use it if I need it on my ride. When I get home it goes into the pile and when I have some free time I patch them all and recycle them to the "new" pile. Tubes are cheap, but patches are cheaper and I cringe at the amount of tubes we throw away at the shop every day so I re-use my own as much as possible

I've had tubes with over 40 patches on them. I just keep going until they fail at the valve stem. It was great when I was commuting on an MTB. I used the really cheap car tube patches that were so thick a simple goat head thorn would not go through them if you scratched the tip off on the inside of the tire. I rarely buy tubes anymore. I just recycle tubes people have left on the roadside.

One comment for you guys to think about: If I just swap out a tube on the road, when I patch the old tube at home, I swap it back. This may seem weird, but that way I KNOW that both tubes work. I didn't use to do this, and when I flatted on mt mtb one day, I went to swap tubes only to find a tear at the valve as well.

They make car stuff and bike stuff. Here's the bike kit. The Rema patches are like comparing Snapon tools to the tools you get from Harbor Freight. If you live in the land of pokey stuff, you can buy them by the hundred

Agree on the "always reuse, last forever and a half"-point.

I had a few patches that wouldn't stick. Then I learned to clean the tube around the puncture with alcohol, and since then, all patches lasted forever and a half.

I have bikes with tubes with 5 patches (I "inherited" 4 of them) and the tube is still going strong, after 1 year of my use, and 7 years of the other guy's use. Patched tubes FTW! :)

I think the "clean with alcohol" tip is going into the tip thread...

... And the vodka in the water bottle can also serve as a warmer for winter rides ! :D

Looks nice! Is it the star shape of the patches that makes them extra good, or what?

I think Rema Tip Tops might be better because of their chemistry rather than the shape. The red portion, when it hits the rubber cement, essentially goes to liquid and then resolidifies.

No other patch kit comes close. I've used them pretty well exclusively for nearly 30 years. When forced to buy some other type, regretted the purchase. . .

That may be the case. I know that they will leave a stain on a skin wall tire if you let them cure in there. I haven't seen that with other patches.

I reuse, unless the presta valve pulls out :(

This may sound a little..I don't know...elitist or whatever (I'm sure you all will come up with a better word) but I never patch tubes other than it is my second flat on a ride and I need to get home.

My team is sponsored by Continental (www.teamfujitaiwan.com) so we get tubes by the box so cost isn't an issue.

As far as recycling goes, here is Asia, things work a little bit differently. A tube has so many applications beyond holding air. If I wanted to lash a stack of cardboard, or bamboo to the back of my trike, or my scooter, a tube would come in handy. If I want to hold down the tarp that I have thrown over whatever it is I have in the back of my truck, a tube comes in handy. If I want to do any number of other things that requires something strong and elastic, a tube comes in handy. What I usually do after I flat, is stuff the tube in my jersey pocket and when I pass through a village on my way somewhere, I toss it on the ground near a large garbage can by the side of the road. I know this thing is a useful item that will recovered by someones grama before I am even home.

There's nothing like "free" to make throwing things out an attractive option :)

I worked for two years at a summer camp in the Poconos, which frequently gave up on its cranky commercial dishwashers, and used styrofoam plates and plastic silverware to serve several THOUSAND meals a day... often for a week or two at a time. Don't they realize how WASTEFUL that is, I wondered?? Isn't the COST alone an issue?

At the end of working there, I found out that the namesake of the camp, its main benefactor, was a family that had made their fortune in the disposable plate industry. Go figure :rolleyes:

I have a total of 8 tubes I think. Most have at least 3 patches on them, one has 6 patches. I carry 2 tubes in my seat bag. When I have 3 or more tubes that need patches, I sit down and patch them all. Make sure I have 2 in the seat bag and I am ready to roll.

I tend to only throw them out when the are no longer able to be patched. Things like a bad stem/hole at base of stem, hole right next to a previous patch or a hole to big to be patched, etc

You know, that poll really made me sad. Well, not very very sad, but somewhat downthrodden anyway... Almost half of the polled would just throw away a tube after only one puncture, without even tryint to salvage it!? What a waste! Maybe it's my prejudice again, but I guess that most of those who voted like that, are either USAers or Canadians.

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.......