I've also had trouble with the pre-glued type. The latest one worked for about a month before it separated from the tube. I had the wheels in my car and it got pretty hot, so that may partly be to blame. The worst part is that after a pre-glued one falls off, you can't re-patch that same spot because of all the glue crap leftover.

I use these exclusively. They're great and have never failed.

I've never had a patch fail - I only use the nickel sized Remas

My patch kits always work. The glueless self-stick patches have essentially never worked for me though. I don't think they were the super-duper Park Tools ones but I've been burned enough, the rubber cement isn't so hard to use.

The only time I"ve had traditional patches fail is when I've been too impatient to let the glue dry or I managed to miss the hole.

I try like mad to avoid punctures in the first place. I average about 1 a year. I use the Specialized Kevlar tyres on road/mountain bike. They are very puncture resistant. I used to commute at 6am in the pitch dark in winter and didn't fancy trying to fix up a tyre in the dark.

Guys, the preglued patches are SUPPOSED to fail! They are only designed to be temporary (ie. get you home). That's why I never bother with them.

+1 for carrying spare tube and patching the tube in the living room. I always keep a patch kit in the saddle bag just in case the are multiple flats.

My pre-glued ones fail as soon as I inflated the tube to about 30-35 psi :(

Glueless patches from both my understanding and experience on road bikes should not be aired up to typical pressure. I made this mistake once, so the next time around I put 60 or 70 % of what I normally use and it got me home (all they're for...) just fine.

I have never had a glued patch fail. I even use tubes that have multiple 3 year old patches that are still like new. Have never tried one of those pre-glued ones though.

I use the pre-glued patches and have several tubes with multiple fixes on them.

They have failed exactly three times.
Twice when I didn't let them sit overnight, under pressure, (I usually apply the patch and then put that part of the tube under a heavy book, for the night).
And once when the puncture was on the side of the tube.

My conclusions from this are that if you want to patch the side of the tube, use the ones requiring glue.

One last point here, don't let anyone tell you that patching, in general is ineffective. Every tube in use has been patched. How do you think they get the stems onto the tubes?

Same.

BTW, you still riding the WalMart Denali? :p

I make my own pre-glued patches out of my old innertubes...
chop up old tube, sand it, put the rubber cement on, let it dry a minute or so, put aluminum foil on it.
Haven't ever failed.

Are you remembering to sand the hole and put rubber cement and let it dry Before applying the patch?
Rubber cement is a little counterintuitive from other glue in that you want it to be dried before sticking the two pieces together...

Maybe 1 in 10 failure rate or less, it's not that common. Harder to patch successfully on the inside of the tube. This is with 26x2.125, which gives you more surface to work with, and that may help.

Something else is that some tubes are quite a bit smaller than the tire they go in. In that case, I try to inflate the tube to about the finished size before sticking the patch on. It kind of dimples when the tube is deflated, but then doesn't have to stretch when installed. After sticking the patch on, knead it good with your fingers. Good luck.

I have had pretty good results from patching, even when I used super glue when I ran out of rubber cement. The failure rate in my case was equal to that of installing a new tube.

I only use the old fashioned glued patches and have had no failures... mind you I have only had 2 flats in the last 20,000 km of riding and most of my patchwork happens at the bike shop or on the road where I have helped countless riders.

I've had problems with cheap Chinese patches which tend to be rather thick and don't want to adhere properly while inflating. I've never had a problem with Rema TipTop patches.

Since I switched over to glueless patches about 2 years ago I've have had zero problems. I like these glueless patches BETTER then the glue type now.

Is that samuel L. whereing a bike helmet in your avater?

For me if the patch works initially it never fails later. But I have had a few problems where the patch does not hold right away. This usually happened when peeling off the plastic on the top of the patch - some people leave this on. I like to take it off to see that I have a well-sealed patch. But I think I get impatient. Steps seem to be rough up the spot, apply glue liberally, wait until glue is tacky but not overly dry (about 5 min), apply patch pressing really well, wait about 5 min, remove plastic preferably from center having broken the plastic by scrunching the patch before applying it. Sometimes when I peel the plastic up from the edge I bring the edge of the patch up with it.

Where do you get the 100 patches for $9.00.
Thanks

I use park glueless patches as described in earlier posts. They work well temporaily. Later (at home) I replace them with REMA patches. I sand/clean the area, apply a thin film of REMA cement, allow it to dry to tackiness (3-5 min.) and apply the patch.

I have never had a REMA patch fail. They're from germany and used to be available all over the place. Now I buy them in a box of 100 for $14.95 and a can of glue for $7.95 at biketoolsetc.com - They're located in Oregon and have great customer service.

I use these patches on everything from MTB tubes inflated @ 45psi to road bike tubes inflated to 115psi.

I live in Idaho, land of the famed goathead thorn and I fix a lot of flats on the family fleet of bikes. I highly recommend REMA patches. They have transformed my life.

This is been a paid infomercial for REMA patches... The facts are true - the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

I use the same $14.95 patches. They work good as long as they are properly applied.

CLEAN is the key !
Clean area + heavy coat of glue that has dried first = 100% success rate :)