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 :)

This is pure bullcrap!!

I've been using glueless patches for 2 years and NEVER had one EVER fail. If they fail it's because you don't know how to use them. There's two ways I've applied them and neither way has ever failed. The first way is the old way you lightly buff the tube then just stick on the patch pressing firmly. The other way which I just found out about in the last 6 months is to use a alcohol pad (found cheap in stores in small sealed pouches) and rub the area with this instead of buffing, then apply the patch.

Faster then the glueing method and no more dry glue tubes plus takes up less space.

^^^^ You see, glueless patches ARE temporary, if you take them off when you get home.;)

I have some tubes over 10 years old with as much as 10 patches on them and they have no problems. A patch well installed holds. If it leaks, it's not well done. I'll repeat was has been said many times:

1. Sand
2. Clean
3. Glue
4. Let it dry about 5 minutes
5. Install patch
6. Hold a couple of seconds

I agree with the remark that glueless patches are only temporary is a bunch of crap.

I have repeatly posted on this subject many times about this. I have been using Glueless patches for at least 8 years AND NEVER HAD A FAILURE...NOR NEVER HAD TO REPLACE THE PATCH WHEN I GOT HOME WITH A GLUE ON TYPE!!! This is fallacy about glueless patches comes from people either never using them and are tied to the old ways, or people that just don't know how to use them.

I'm old enough to remember that as a kid I use to had to vulcanize patches on tubes by lighting it on fire!! I also remember the old guys saying that glue on patches don't work and not to use them! Those old guys remind me of some of you today!

At one time I had over a dozen glueless patches on one road tube, and continued to ride on that tube for several years and only last year tossed when the valve stem failed. And because of all this debate about 5 years ago on this same subject I took my mtb and put about a 1/16th inch hole in my front tube and then patched it with a glueless patch. (Don't try this unless your willing to sacrifice a rim and possible injury); I remounted the tire with the fixed tube and attached a air chuck with a long hose then attached the air trigger so I could fill the tire while setting behind a car, then placed the rim in a trash can. I then proceeded in putting air into the tire, checking the seating at about 20PSI and again at 45, then proceeded to go to 220psi! The tire and the rim held much to my surprise. What was more surprising is that the patch held. I held that pressure for week, then dropped the pressure back down to 60 and rode the bike steadly for week. 5 years later that tube with that same glueless patch is still at work!

And just as Freako mentioned, the success of making a glueless patch work is to make sure the hole area is clean and alcohol pads work great for that, but so does roughing the patch with emery paper.

And as I have also stated numerious times before, I always patch first before going to my spare tube, and the glueless patch makes that job faster then the old school glue on type. Faster means this, take the above post by FCORMIER and eliminate the glueing part and the 5 minutes for the glue to dry, you save at least 6 minutes.

To Freako, Froze & all other glueless patch aficionados:

I never meant to imply that glueless patches don't work. I've been riding many years (certainly more than TWO) and have experimented with all types... I find the Park glueless variety generally work well. However, I choose to use Rema's because they work well every time with no leakage even after months and months. I just don't think the the TB-2's have the same reliability / longevity..

Don't get offended so easily when someone else's experience doesn't match your own. No BS was implied or intended... If I see you on the road with a flat or mechanical I'd be happy to stop and help you... and I hope you'd do the same. Remember we're all in this together.

DWR

Done many patches nothing never failed except once when I missed the hole. I put a smaller patch over that and I used it for a couple of years. I used always used generic cheap patches and never had a problem. No alcohol either just scratched a little surface away. No road bikes with slim tires and ultra high pressures though.

If you get punctures very often then it's time to rethink your tires or riding style. Although using very crappy worn tires increases the speed and skill fixing patches. Maybe using old tires for this reason is not a good idea otherwise.

Mkael my friend, you obviously don't live in goathead thorn country... I am happy for you.

Out here getting a flat has very little to do with riding style or the tires folks use... Goatheads can defeat kevlar liners, Slime liners, Armadillos and even those thick 'puncture resistant' tubes. They're needle sharp and very robust. I'm sure some of the other folks will agree that they are pretty tough to deal with.

The local bike shops generally recommend treating tubes with slime... You still get a flat, but you just spin the tire and then pump it up. Then you're on your way. I personally don't use it - and I pay the price in inconvenience.

If you live in an urban area like Orange County, CA where the roads are good and generally free of debris, then riding style and tire choice might be the biggest factor in preventing flats... But if you ride in a place like SW Idaho or the California high desert (or lots of other places) then you just gotta pay your dues...

I suppose I could use those super-heavy 'sponge-type tubes...

DWR

When I was in Idaho, I used slime + tire liners very successfully. I did get very good at patching tubes in the process. Miss me some Big Judd's County Diner though...

I had a spate of failures trying to use the free instant patches I got during Bike To Work Day. Back to Rema for me. I gave the rest of the "patch" kits away to unknown cyclists using buses with me.

How long is a piece of string? Sometimes it is - glass, nail, rivet, grit, sticking out of tire, etc. Only not taken wheel off and that was when it wasn't quick release and the cause obvious.

Whichever way you do it, wheel out or not, always check the inside of the tire all the way round. You may have picked up another piece of whatever caused the puncture and the evil puncture fairy is just waiting for you to reinflate the tube :(