Just to clarify an often misunderstood term; the tube itself has no seam. What looks like a seam is the seam in the mold the tube is made in, not the tube itself. The "seam" however does make patching that spot tougher because it stands up far enough to make a patch fail sometimes. If the seam involves the place a patch will cover it can be sanded down a bit and the patch will usually "take".

True...with a slight quibble. The "seam" in the mold isn't likely a "seam" either. The ridges that appear on a tube are most likely channels used for the rubber compounds to flow into the mold that is used for the tube.

I've also never found the ridges on a tube to be any barrier to repair. I don't sand them excessively and just make sure that the vulcanizing fluid covers an area slightly larger than the patch I'm using. Putting the tube back in a tire immediately can often help the repair since the tire pressure presses on the patch more than I can.

Needs care, and chalk dust. It's possible to stick the tube to the tyre.

I still have an old hot vulcanizing (the kind you lit with a match) clamp around and sometimes find it helpful for putting pressure on a patch till it cures. You can still find them around now and then. Those old hot patches were great. The patch became part of the tube but they sure put out the smoke. I can see why they were banned.

I've been using glueless patches for about 20 years and I don't have issues with sticking them over the seams.

By the way the thing about tubes not having seams is not true entirely correct, tubes are formed from one sheet of butyl and is then rolled and seamed together by heat which in my way of understanding is a seam but the two sides of the tube did have to be joined together along that line. There are some other marks on some tubes that are mold channels but most tubes are seamed together; see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4cQ-R6ysmw Here's another video on how tires and tubes are made, at about 7:37 into the video the tube presentation is shown; see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0P3oQWo22A This one is more high tech than the first video, but the butyl material goes into a machine as a sheet and then it is joined and extruded as a tube. Also they talk about cutting the tube and inserting the valve then the two ends are smashed together while the tube is hot and sticky and are rejoined, again i would call this another seam. Some, or all seams are so smoothly done you can't see them, but the tube had be joined and wherever that is is a seam.

I will put up two patches on a tube before replacing.

This.

Replace. I carry a couple patches on rides for emergencies as well as a spare tube. I probably spent close to $150 on tubes and tires one year. Finally invested in a set of Gator Skins, haven't had a flat in 3 years.

I'm a tosser. :eek: Never had much luck with patched tubes.

If you run thick tires, use tipple heavy tubes and Kevlar tire liners punctures should be a thing from the past.
I have had stems blow, but I haven't used a patch kit in over a year as even a carpet tack was stopped before working it's way to the tube.
A thorn or goat head will not get through a well made tire and a heavy layer of Kevlar.
I can't tell you how many times the product below has saved me from getting a flat tire.

http://www.amazon.com/Rhinodillos-OR...lar+tire+liner

Sorry but your solution is just not true, especially when it comes to goatheads. I've gotten flats on tires that have built in tire liners and on knobbies which are a heavier tire than road tires. Slime, tire liners, heaviy tires, etc. can all fail. Even tubeless isn't foolproof. I've been on rides where tubeless guy's got flats from goatheads.

About the only thing that doesn't fail is a solid tire but given that installation of those is painfully difficult, ride quality suffers and they weigh somewhere north of what your average battleship weighs, they just aren't a very good option.

You can reduce the number of flats but you just can't stop them.

I think it's impossible to stop all flat as well but having lived in the Mojave Desert where Goatheads were rampant I was able to come up with a solution that I went from averaging 2 to 4 flats a day to none in 3 years and over 15,000 miles...I moved...just kidding. What I discovered was simply using Specialized Armadillo All Condition tires and a just a lightweight tube and no liner nor a thorn resistant tube, I never got another thorn flat the rest of the time I lived there. My only other sort of successful attempt was using Conti Hardshell with a Mr Tuffy and a thick tube but even that combo got me about 2 to 3 flats a week. I also found that the Armadillo and a ultralight tube was lighter than the combination Conti Hardshell, liner, and heavy tube.

Also in todays world there is a liner on the market that weighs almost nothing called the Panaracer FlatAway, I use that liner today but only on the rear (I use it on front and rear on my touring bike) and so far I haven't had a single flat on a tire that had that liner and my road bikes use lighter weight tires than the Armadillo.

Specialized did change the Armadillo All Condition tire to make it lighter since I last use them so not sure how the new one works against flats. But another tire company Schwalbe also makes a really nice flat resistant tire too called the Marathon. Both of those tires are heavier than a standard road tire but if flats are a huge issue than the weight is worth it vs setting on the side of the road repairing flats.

My wife and I where getting flats, now we pick the goat heads off and keep going.
Nothing is perfect but so far it has worked for us,we don't go off road, some gravel where goat heads are though.
We have pulled them out of our tires but no flats to date and that includes star thistle.
our personal experience.

That was my experience too but I did it without as heavy of a tire combination like you, I was just using road tires. The guy that introduced me to the Specialized Armadillo tires (with the Specialized ultralight tube) was Kerry Ryan of Action Sports in Bakersfield, and he (and his crew) won the 4 person event in the RAAM race riding on those same tires and the team never got a flat during the entire race which mean't no down time fixing flats like all the other teams had to do, and they went into areas with goat heads and other assorted thistles not to mention man made trash.

Ride through this stuff and you will wish it was goat heads.
It has plagued me one way or another my whole life.
As a kid we owned property covered in it and my job was to soak a 20 ft. square area every day and pull it all out by the roots and burn it in a burn pile.
I still get stuck by it fishing, hunting or hiking off trail.

While nasty, thistles have nothing on goatheads. They aren't woody enough to puncture tires nor are they caltrops that ensure a point is always up nor do they lay on the ground. I've ridden through my share of them and, yes, they will scratch you but they just aren't that bad for causing flats.

As for "picking out the goatheads", that depends on how deeply they are embedded. If the goathead is just on the surface and there is still a gap between the body of the goathead and the tire, then by all means pull it out. But if the goathead has been pushed all the way in so that the body of the seed pod is in contact with the tire, leave it alone...at least for a little while. The pointed end will act like a plug and the tire may hold air for a while so that you can put off a repair. I can't tell you how many times I've reached down to pull out the offending goathead only to hear the sound of air leaving the tire and watching the tire rapidly deflate.

I just patched a tube. I don't throw them away until they can't be patched.

I have always patched every tube until it develops a slow leak, which is typically after 6 - 8 patches. I discard it if the stem leaks.

I have had star thistle go through the sidewall of a Panaracer not to mention red itchy welts all over my legs after taking a corner to fast and going slightly off the bike trail by about 25ft. before I could get back on. That was Panaracer high pressure tires with the thin Kevlar sidewalls, the rest of the ride sucked for me.

I used to get flats all the time in the WA desert. My worst commute was 2 flats on the way to work and 1 more on the way home.

Patches leak. Un-patched tubes need topping off with the pump appx monthly. Or less. Patched tubes...at least weekly but usually daily. Wasn't worth it.

I made two changes. Put gatorskins on with slime strips and I stopped riding the shoulder. Haven't had a flat in 2,000 miles since.

To further test it, after I switched to a new bike...I didn't do anything for flat protection except avoid the shoulder. And THAT was 4 years and oh so many miles ago. No flats.

My wheel goes where the car's passenger wheel goes. I pull over briefly on 2 lane roads when two cars are passing and get immediately back in the lane. I avoid major highways - but ride the white line then if needed. But those are no fun anyway with 70mph speed limits!

When i get flat i toss the innertubes i use new ones. And i wish i not have flat anymore. I have around 7 flats and finally i found out the rim strip had move and make the innertube go inside the spoke hole and burst. I take in two different bike shops the wheel one bike mechanic take out the rim tape and put back the rim tape have move. other bike shop mechanic give me the wrong size rim tape for my wheels. Finally i buy my self the correct rim strip size and the problem fixed after that i not had flats.

I patch. New tube only when absolutely necessary.

I toss them. Tube quality is rapidly going downhill. I just replaced yet another one that developed a split somewhere along the seam. Usually happens close to the valve stem.

I've heard that, no matter what name is on the label, about 90% of the time what's inside the box is made by Kenda, in China. So I buy whatever the shop has.

When I worked at a shop, I would just get a new tube for 2 bucks. Now that I don't, they cost around 10 so I patch instead.

I patch tubes until patches begin to overlap OR an individual puncture is longer than an inch... Then I replace them.

Of course, some tubes are not patchable, period. For instance, when a hole is at/on the valve stem.