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-   -   Replace inner tube for leak? (https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/163744-replace-inner-tube-leak.html)

banerjek 01-03-06 02:54 PM

I sometimes patch, but usually replace. Between wet conditions, tiny debris everywhere, darkness, and freezing fingers, replacing is usually the only thing that makes sense in the winter.

slagjumper 01-03-06 03:03 PM

I carry a new tube with me. I save the bad tubes and patch them later.
Once you screw up a patch forget that tube. It is too much of a pain to get it clean enough to work.

Be sure to scratch the tube enough. DO NOT TOUCH the patch area. That will ruin the patch because oil from your hand will get in there and mess up the glue.

After you put the glue on, wait until the glue is dull. If you blow on the glue you can see it go dull as you make the solvent in the glue evaporate. This takes about 4 minutes. No more than 10.

DO NOT TOUCH the patching surfaces or applied glue with your fingers.

Lighting the glue on fire is fun, but not needed. If you do this dont let it burn more than a second at a time. Dont want to bulble the glue.

I never cleaned with solvents.

ken cummings 01-08-06 11:11 PM


Originally Posted by EXCALIBUR
+1 I with the "toss it" camp.

You are not alone. If I ran thin tires I would never need to buy tubes I find so many around here. This AM I found a tire iron next to a xtra long valve stem tube. That rider must have been in a real hurry. The tube had only one pinprick and no patches. I rarely find tubes fat enough for mu 700x38 tires. Tires like that have fewer flats and/or riders with tires like that save and patch tubes. I have never found MTB tubes that would work for the beater bikes used by day laborers and field workers. I can't guess just why.

On club rides I carry a fat spare for myself and a few skinny ones for others. After today I can carry a spare with a 2" valve stem.

noriel 01-09-06 12:35 AM

I replace on the road and patch when I get home. I carry two tubes on me, and a patch kit. I stopped using the "glueless" patches because I prefer the glue and patch.
I need to buy a ten pack of tubes in the future, just to have them on hand.

CommuterRun 01-09-06 04:33 AM

I carry a glueless patch kit and a spare tube. On the road I replace the tube. The kit is just a back up to that. After I get home I patch the tube with ShoeGoo. This stuff holds much better than glueless patches and is easier to do than glued patches. Just buff the area of the tube with sandpaper, apply a small gob of ShoeGoo over the hole, hang to tube up where it won't be disturbed and you're done.

EXCALIBUR 01-09-06 05:13 AM


Originally Posted by CommuterRun
I carry a glueless patch kit and a spare tube. On the road I replace the tube. The kit is just a back up to that. After I get home I patch the tube with ShoeGoo. This stuff holds much better than glueless patches and is easier to do than glued patches. Just buff the area of the tube with sandpaper, apply a small gob of ShoeGoo over the hole, hang to tube up where it won't be disturbed and you're done.

I've never heard of using ShoeGoo to patch a tube. Does it really hold if you pump up a patched tube and tire to 110 psi?

CommuterRun 01-09-06 05:27 AM

I run my road bike tires at 120 psi and never had a problem with it, but I don't get many flats, either. I've only tried it three times, only once on that bike, but I put that same tube back on and am still using it.

truman 01-09-06 08:39 AM

I can blame just about all of my patch failures on my refusal to let the patching glue dry properly. I replace the tube with a fresh one, then patch the holed one at my leisure. I usually toss them before I patch them a 4th time. Better tires have cut way down on how many flats I have to fix.

I often cut up old tubes to make rubber bands.

EXCALIBUR 01-09-06 08:18 PM


Originally Posted by CommuterRun
I run my road bike tires at 120 psi and never had a problem with it, but I don't get many flats, either. I've only tried it three times, only once on that bike, but I put that same tube back on and am still using it.

I shall give ShoeGoo a try next time.


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