I have a slow leak on my rear tire, and never really thought much about it as my rides were generally an hour or so long. It goes from 75 down to 35 over a couple days. I'm about to go see if I can find the leak, but I was wondering, how reliable are patches these days? I have a couple new tubes already, and I'm wondering if it's just better to replace the tube for piece of mind. I have a 4 hour ride tomorrow with a group and don't want the embarrassment of a flat tire I could have taken care of today.

Learn how to patch correctly and they're 100% effective. I had to retire a tube with twelve patches on it when the valve stem ripped out. That was a sad day... :-)

I patch and reuse tubes. You need to find out what caused the leak. It should be removed otherwise the new tube will have a hole in it.

Most of my miles are on patched tubes. I can't see tossing a patchable tube into the landfill. A properly patched tube leaks no more than an unpatched tube.

Tubes with four patches get rotated to the spares bin. There is an artist around here who uses old tubes and tires to make handbags, wallets... Folks are more than happy to give her their old stuff.

I wait to dispose of the tube until there are enough patches to hold air on their own.

Alright, patched it up. It was a pinhole, I couldn't find a thing in the tire or the rim.

Thanks!

Box of patches (Rima) is $15-20 depending on size per 100 patches. This will last
a long time. Glue about $4-6/8 oz. Tubes were $2.00 but hard to find much
under $3.5-5.00 especially if you need longer valves now. I patch til the holes
get too big or more commonly the valve stem seal fails. A thorough abrasion
job on the tube seems to do the job prior to gluing.

I used to patch tubes, back when patches were thick and needed glue and made the tire thump. Modern thin glue-less patches ride smoothly, but I can never get them to hold without leaking, so I've been just throwing in a new tube and feeling guilty about the environmental impact.

What's the trick to getting a patch that doesn't leak?

Using vulcanizing cement (aka glue) and rubber patches.

So it's not just me? These glue-less patches just don't work?

But I haven't seen patch kits with glue in years.

I use thin glue-on patches. When on the road I install a new tube with great care. I patch the tube with the hole carefully and set a heavy weight on the patch and leave it overnight. I roll up the patched tube and wrap it in kitchen wrap and carry it in my jersey as a second spare. The primary spare goes in a small tool bag with a MicroFlate and three 16 gr threaded CO2 cartridges, although two is enough.

Around here, you can find them at any bike shop (REI, Performance, and pretty much every LBS).

I just ask for a "patch kit" at bike shops, and in recent years they always give me a pack of glue-less patches with a piece of sandpaper but no glue. So I thought that was all they have now. I'll try again and specify WITH glue. Thanks!

I use the self-adhesive patches on the road, but put on a real patch with cement when I get home.
In my experience, the self-adhesive is not a permanent fix.

I got mine at dick's sporting goods. Small patch kit in its own box with a half-dozen patches, glue, and a bit of sandpaper for around $2. Once I had the tube patched I threw the whole kit into my seat post bag. It held up through the 41 miles I did the next day, which is all I needed it to do.

+1. Patch an use

I use Tuffy tire liners and the only time I have replaced a tube was when the valve stem broke after 3500 miles.

I work at Dick's and until a couple month's ago, we've only had Slime brand glueless patches. I contacted the buyer and told him I had a lot of customers requesting traditional patches with glue. I specifically mentioned Rema or Tip Top as the most reliable brand. A month later, we got the patches in, not Rema, but if your patch is still holding up, let me know so I can recommend them.

Like many others on BF, I tend to just replace a tube with a new one, throw the leaky one into a bin, and when I've collected a handful I'll throw myself a patching party. I use whatever's at the LBS. Sometimes it's Rema, sometimes something else (QBP?). I think they're all made in the same giant Thai factory, just like the tubes.

The slime patches will hold fine but they do NOT stretch, so as soon as you let the pressure out of the tire they will start to leak. I use them on the road because they are quick and easy and not very messy. I'd heard all kinds of arguments about what kind of cement (must be vulcanizing) to use for patching and I ended up doing an experiment with regular elmer's rubber cement from the grocery store. I cut up an old tube for patches. Like any good experiment, I put the patched tube in and completely forgot about it. I did over 500 miles including 1 century on it.

Finally, I had to get new tires and I was in a hurry to go on a group ride so I let the shop mechanic take care of it for me. I knew both tubes were likely patched so I just had him put two new tubes in. When he saw my home-made patch I told him about my experiment and we pulled and pulled and pried at that patch with the elmers glue and we couldn't get if off. The mechanic actually pried at it a bit with a small screwdriver and it still held air afterwards.

Rema products including the Tip Top patches are made in Germany. Most tubes are made in China, except Schwalbe tubes which are made in Malaysia.

Well, kinda-sorta. I've used a lot of Park patches during MTB rides, and most of them have held up fine. Certainly for the ride, and some for months if not years afterwards. Then there are those who for one reason or another start to crinkle, and then leak fairly soon. Can' say that I've tried to research the problem to any depth though.
If you need to run higher pressures, the self-adhesives may not work as well.

The Schwalbes do hold their pressure far better than most. Even the Contis and Michelins are left behind IME, though YMMV.

I've run 110psi for months / years after using the Park patches too. I am reluctant to throw away a Schwalbe tube that will cost ~50p to repair (with Park patches, on the road) or ~£5 to replace. That said, I did pick up a batch of Schwalbe tubes for £3.30 each, but that is still a false economy if I toss them after every flat.

The patches do not stretch. They fully dry when the tube is inflated, and then when the air pressure drops, the tube underneath shrinks but the patch does not - causing the adhesion to break and wrinkles to form. A proper patch made out of rubber will dry before stretched and stretch with the tire.

It's a long way to the nearest Dick's from where I live, but maybe I should make the trip. My bike shop sold me a kit for $5 that just had 8 glue-less patches and sandpaper. And they looked like something you'd use to patch a beach ball -- just circles cut in a strip of clear plastic tape. And they leak badly.

By the way, is that vulcanizing cement subject to freezing or anything? I keep my bike in an unheated shed, and I'm wondering whether it would be o.k. to leave the tube of cement in the seat bag.

The vulcanizing fluid dries out really easily once opened. Try to keep it out of the cold for long periods of time.