I buy tubes on sale for $3 or $4. I usually toss them rather than run the risk of a patch going bad. I know how to patch and patches usually hold up but occassionally they don't and it's not worth the effort.

Hey, good posture! I tend to hunch over too much when working on the ground:



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I used to keep tubes until they had about five patches, but I recently got a lot of Nashbar tubes for only $2.50 each, so I usually only patch once or not at all.

I had my first flat in long time, I'm pretty lucky with not getting to many flats. Of course I was on my new 29'er, for which I have no spare tubes. I also had the co2 that is presta specific,my tubes are schrader. And my hubs aren't QR, and I didn't have a wrench. I had to call the tow truck. I was two un-walk-able miles from home. Good to ride anyway.

A little more involved than I do, but I'm sure it works. By the way, the scuffing with the scraper or sandpaper is to make the patch area rough, not smooth. That gives the adhesive more surface area to bond the patch to the tube.

Hey, BD, I want to go riding with a cycling concierge so I can just make him/her sit on the fire ant hill and change my flat.

Actually it does both, it smooths off rough areas like the seam of the tube, and gives the tube some "tooth" so the patch will hold better.

Park, or some other brand/s?

I have found the scuffing step very hard to accomplish with the narrow tube flexing around etc. Even getting the little rib sanded off the tube seems nigh on to impossible to me. The glue on patches seem to work okay without that step so I have mostly given up on it. If there is a trick to successful scuffing anyone please tell me the secret.

I heard continental has come out, or is coming out with a new tube compound which can handle both summer air and winter air.

From the review I read, they weigh slightly more than season-sensitive tubes, and cost about 30% more. But having been bitten so many times in the past, I don't care if they cost twice as much as regular tubes. I plan to buy a half dozen of them.

I bet you would need a good scuffer for starters.

Over 4000 miles since the last flat, sometime last fall. The flat tire demons have passed me by and forgotten I exist. I will never, ever have another flat. My tires are strong, they are invincible, they are woman. I've decided to save weight on long rides way out into the swamp where there is no cell phone service by leaving my tube, levers, and pump at home.

I think it was Park. Too long ago to remember. My LBS stopped carrying them because they had so many complaints.

I don't worry about sanding off the rib. You just need to rough it up a little. Smooth surfaces don't bond as well as irregular ones. If the tube won't hold enough air to keep the surface firm, I lay it across something firm, sometimes my knee.

I still have the same air in the tires that came with the bike when I bought it!

Be sure to check the inside of the tire to remove any shards of glass or you will have a second flat right away - learned this the hard way...

I have to ask this... Are modern bikes, or at least some types of same, particularly prone to flats? I ask because although I am a new returnee to riding, my youth was spend on a bicycle - indeed one not too different from the `69 Raleigh I ride now. And I NEVER, no NEVER got a flat. Never. Nor to my knowledge did my parents who took my even then old Rudge (and my girlfriend's) down to FL when they retired and rode them and rode them and rode them.

What gives?

And just as I never got a flat I was never particularly fussy about air pressure either. Now I am, measuring and pumping in a few lbs each weekend. (I keep mine at 65lbs rear, 60 lbs front.)

-don

I too found this out the hard way. 2 tubes + 2 patches to find 3 shards of embedded glass + 1 hole in my rim tape... my gosh I must have been in the bermuda triangle of cycling that day.

Mods, please close this thread. I've had two flats since it became active and can only blame BF and Internet Brands.

Factory Air? That used to be a real luxury on cars!!

If pressure gets to low, one can get a flat from the tube pinching between rim and tyre bead. I don't know what too low is but suspect it varies depending on where you start. 100 psi tyre may pinch flat at 70 psi for example. Your 65 psi may pinch flat at 35 psi. I really don't know how the tube gets pinched with low pressure, but I had a couple.

What kind of tires are you rolling on? When I went from 23's to bigger 28's, I noticed fewer flats.

As for your questions -
I let out the CO2 and refill the tire from my compressor - after I replace the tube. Im one of those who doesn't like patched tubes.