mjoekingz28

Say, you're on a trip and get a puncture. You pull over and take the tire off, find the hole, apply glue and set patch on glue. Are you then ready to ride or do you wait 5 minutes then go or have an extra tube and swap it in and let the glue and patch set until your new tube gets a puncture?

thx

Metzinger

That 5 minutes is glue drying time before you put the patch on. Glue should no longer be tacky.
After that you can mount and ride immediately.
Most carry an extra tube and patch the other at home.

mjoekingz28

ok, but I don't understand how the patch would then stick since the glue is already dry?

huh

Bianchigirll 

Hello mjoekingz28, I don't understand it either it is some kind of chemical thing but that is how it works. just follow the directions, rough up the area around the hole, apply glue (aka vulcanizing fluid) wait until it dries then apply the patch. then you can install the tube almost immediatly

as Metinger says most carry a spare tube to just replace the punctured one, then patch it at home. depending on the length of ride i sometimes carry 2 or more spare tubes, when riding clinchers, and patch them at home or at rest stop.

Metzinger

Oops, I missed the username. Hook, line, and sinkered. Blargh.

chartle

The glue is contact cement.

When using contact cement you coat both parts, let the solvents evaporate and then stick the two items together. They bond almost instantly with full strength.

The patch already has the cement applied to it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact...tact_adhesives

cyccommute 

The glue should no longer be wet, i.e. have any solvent left in it. It will certainly be tacky...but keep your grubby fingers off it Your skin oils and road grim will keep the patch from sticking.

davidad

Be sure to sand off the mold release or the patch won't stick. The glue is vulcanizing compound and isn't finally set until you ride the bike.
You do need to let the glue dry to work properly. I have put a patch on after the glue had sat all night.

mjoekingz28

My name is Michael Joseph King and when I first started using the internets I had a 97 Z28 6speed and I just kept the same screename and password so I didn't have to remember (and forget) many different nicks.

I am no troll, thank you. I'm just honestly trying to gather information so when I get a nice road 'touring' bike and take it off somewhere I will have the knowledge, and hopefully the right tools, to take care of myself and the bike.

btw, I'm considering the Navaro Randonee, Surly LHT and the closest lbs to me would have the Raleigh Sojourn.


Thank you all, I read the wiki page and I still don't understand how dry glue will bond, but I'll take ya'll's word for it and leave it at that.



Also, while I probably should be surfing the search function, I make a topic for things I don't know about or understand and when the time comes to go for a lengthy ride I will have an archive of usefullness, instead of trying to think of everything the week of the tour and forgetting to ask stuff I didn't know to ask until I'm in the middle of the desert with no cell service, between a rock and a hard place or up a fecal matter of a creek with no tool to play table tennis.



Maybe you've seen my other stupid questions aka, what a fender for, but this site is quite a cool place to learn and I'd be dumb not to use it to my advantage and maybe one day I can return the favor. And it might not be smart to write down every question I have then take the list to my lbs and be shown the door.

adios!

fuzz2050

what an unfortunate coincidence about your name...

Bianchigirll 

"I am no troll, thank you." does that mean your a 'Yupper'? *giggle*

are you going to be doing loaded touring or more like long day trips and weekend overnighters? don't rule out something like the quirky but loveable Bianchi Volpe, or the slightly more "roadie" Imola both great bikes.

IMHO if you a novice I would not buy at RIE. I have nothing against them but I think you may get better and more specialized support from a regular bike store.

njkayaker

No, you apply the vulcanizing fluid to the tube. One side only.

This. One trick is to apply the fluid a bit wider than the patch. That gives you a place to test the stickiness. You want it not wet but tacky. It should not take 5 minutes for this.

This too. Actually, the point of sanding is to remove the slickness on the tube and increase the surface area. The patch won't stick even if there is no mold release on the tube.

njkayaker

The fender question was pretty stupid.

MrCjolsen

Actually, I learned several things I didn't know from the responses to your post, and I've patched hundreds of tubes.

Elementary students ask me that question all the time.

peugeophile

I learned to patch tubes in my father's service station--sometimes five or six a day (flats come in bunches, in case you hadn't noticed). One trick he taught me was to strike a match to the cement in order to burn off the solvent and shorten set time. Looking back, this seems questionable, but I never had a patch fail, and I used the trick just last week. (fingers crossed)

Jon Z.

Bianchigirll 

tubes? service station? Jon your dating yourself. I doubt half the people on this form know that cars had innertubes at one time. I have used the match trick off and on over the years, but not much lately.

phoebeisis

Hey, in the old days lighting the glue on fire was (for car and bike tubes) standard operating procedure.I don't know if any instructions actually suggested doing that, but the 50's-60's were a bit more rough and ready.You didn't find instruction on bikes like- braking distance increased when wet(no shoot, really??),

cyccommute 

Lighting the glue on fire may have been standard operating procedure but there may be several reasons for doing it.

1. The glue formulation in the 50's and 60's was different.
2. 'My Daddy did it that way.'
3. 'Joe down at the station does it that way and he's an expert.'
4. People are in a hurry.
5. People don't know **** about chemistry

The previous 4 explanations...and many, many others...are nicely summarized by #5 in the above list

2manybikes

Things were so much easier before the invention of the wheel.

mkane77g

5. People don't know ****)[/QUOTE] I'm a Kane. Kane's know everything!

Wanderer

And, don't just "set" the patch on in - roll it on, real well. Use any rounded tool, like a screwdriver handle, a rock, etc. Roll it against something hard, like another rock, against a bike frame, handlebar, etc.

Once the tube has been sanded, and the "glue allowed to dry, and the patch applied, and rolled good and tight, it's ready to be used immediately.

mjoekingz28

cool everyone

1 So I sand the patch and the tube
2 apply glue AROUND (not on) the tear in the tube
3 wait 5 minutes for the glue to dry
4 get tube real flat and use pressure to mash the patch on
5 button up and ride

I think I got it now

Now on to the 500 other things that can go wrong!

kmcrawford111

Sanding the patch? I've never heard of that. I don't think anyone here suggested that.

BTW, I like to take a round aerosol can (not when I'm out riding, obviously) and roll it over the patch firmly several times.

cyccommute 

Sand the tube only. Sanding the tube is to expose fresh rubber for the cement to stick to and remove the form release agent on the tube.

If you don't want to stand around for 5 minutes, take a spare tube and patch the puncture at home.

Cover the whole area with glue. It doesn't need to be thick...that increase dry time...but it should be at least as large as the patch.


You should press the patch firmly into place (rubbing it with your fist on the top tube of the bike or the saddle...if it's a Brooks...is enough pressure. If you put it back in the tire, the air pressure will do a wonderful job.

cbchess

24 posts so far on how to patch a tire! I hope we got it right!