How many times do you patch a tube before........
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I had 5 tubes with valve stems long enough for my CF wheels and each of them had 2 or 3 patches. One of them had a slow leak that I couldn't, I ended up blowing it up too much and it popped. I have new tires and tubes ordered, I'll put the new tubes in the new tires when I mount them and have the 4 patched tubes as spares ( I carry 2 extra when I'm riding now that I've had so many flats recently).
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Depends on the wheel. The front is easier to put a new one in, the rear is easier to patch, so I'll keep on patching untill I can't patch without patching over a previous patch. If it's near the valve, I pinch a hole in the patch and pull it over the valve.
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I've got about 8 tubes at home waiting to be patched.
I think I'll have a patch party this weekend.
I think I'll have a patch party this weekend.
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I value my time but that doesn't mean that I should throw away my money. $1000 in tubes isn't chump change.
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Until the weight of all the patches starts to effect my average speed.
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And how many flats do you get per year? Do you live where there are goatheads? Even with armored tires and sealant, the little buggers get through. And I avoid Slime tubes because they are expensive and mostly ineffective against goatheads. And the Slime makes it difficult to patch.
Like I said above, I threw out a tube with 13 patches on it. Except for the fact that the valve stem was cut, I consider that to be a serviceable tube. I've had tubes with as many as 25 patches. That's up to $125 in tubes if I didn't patch them. That's still not chump change.
Like I said above, I threw out a tube with 13 patches on it. Except for the fact that the valve stem was cut, I consider that to be a serviceable tube. I've had tubes with as many as 25 patches. That's up to $125 in tubes if I didn't patch them. That's still not chump change.
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#35
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Zero last year and 2 this year.
But, I find that my time is worth far more to me than the cost of an extra tube. And it takes longer to patch a tube than to simply replace it.
I do carry a patch kit with me in the unlikely event I puncture my spare tube that I carry. But if I don't, I throw the old tube away and order a new one when I get home.
An even better option is to go tubeless. Then no worry at all about tubes. I did it on my mountain bike and am thinking about it on the road bike.
But, I find that my time is worth far more to me than the cost of an extra tube. And it takes longer to patch a tube than to simply replace it.
I do carry a patch kit with me in the unlikely event I puncture my spare tube that I carry. But if I don't, I throw the old tube away and order a new one when I get home.
An even better option is to go tubeless. Then no worry at all about tubes. I did it on my mountain bike and am thinking about it on the road bike.
#36
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Zero last year and 2 this year.
But, I find that my time is worth far more to me than the cost of an extra tube. And it takes longer to patch a tube than to simply replace it.
I do carry a patch kit with me in the unlikely event I puncture my spare tube that I carry. But if I don't, I throw the old tube away and order a new one when I get home.
But, I find that my time is worth far more to me than the cost of an extra tube. And it takes longer to patch a tube than to simply replace it.
I do carry a patch kit with me in the unlikely event I puncture my spare tube that I carry. But if I don't, I throw the old tube away and order a new one when I get home.
I'd rather spend the $1000 on tubes.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#37
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Man you guys get a lot of flat tires. I've had one in the last 20 years on my road bike, never on the mountain bike. This is over thousands of miles. Am I just lucky?
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It depends.
Road bike: 4-5 (I go a LONG time between flats.)
Commuter: Until the tube breaks
Mountain bike: 1-2.
The difference being that my mountain bike is required to get me out of trouble. My road bike isn't. All I have to do is wave down a car (or use my phone if I have it) and I can get help. It's not that I don't trust my patching skills, but sometimes patches DON'T work. Sometimes your fingers were dirty. That's an unacceptable situation if you're 20 miles away from the trailhead, which itself is 20-50 miles away from civilization.
Road bike: 4-5 (I go a LONG time between flats.)
Commuter: Until the tube breaks
Mountain bike: 1-2.
The difference being that my mountain bike is required to get me out of trouble. My road bike isn't. All I have to do is wave down a car (or use my phone if I have it) and I can get help. It's not that I don't trust my patching skills, but sometimes patches DON'T work. Sometimes your fingers were dirty. That's an unacceptable situation if you're 20 miles away from the trailhead, which itself is 20-50 miles away from civilization.
#41
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To each his own.
Talk about a time waster Having been involved in a 2 hour debacle at my local co-op that involved 3 volunteers, the owner of the wheel, 6 broken plastic tire levers, 2 long metal tire levers, what seem like a gallon of spilled sealant and, finally, the paid mechanic to remove, replace and inflate one tubeless tire, I want nothing to do with those. Having to go through that pain on mounting a new tire, I couldn't imagine having to go through that every 6 weeks to 3 months to "refresh" the sealant.
I'd rather spend the $1000 on tubes.
Talk about a time waster Having been involved in a 2 hour debacle at my local co-op that involved 3 volunteers, the owner of the wheel, 6 broken plastic tire levers, 2 long metal tire levers, what seem like a gallon of spilled sealant and, finally, the paid mechanic to remove, replace and inflate one tubeless tire, I want nothing to do with those. Having to go through that pain on mounting a new tire, I couldn't imagine having to go through that every 6 weeks to 3 months to "refresh" the sealant.
I'd rather spend the $1000 on tubes.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001GSKL4A/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468940840&sr=8-2&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=stans+no+tubes&dpPl=1&dpID=414YymDjqPL&ref=plSrch
Plus the added benefit of less rolling resistance and less weight going tubeless.
#42
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Cyccommutes examples seem a little over exaggerated in order to support his viewpoint of why patching is the better alternative. Your average cycle enthusiasts would never spend that amount of money on tubes. If a person gets that many flats maybe they should quit riding.
#43
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I grew up in IN, later lived in MI, then IL, before moving to CO.
I honestly can't remember *ever* having a flat in IN or MI or IL.
Within 2 weeks of moving to Denver, I flatted all 4 tires on my 2 bikes, all due to goatheads.
I'm currently living halfway between Denver and Boulder, and haven't had a goathead flat for quite some time.
Recently it is more often due to those little wires from steel-belted tires.
#44
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I lived in the Phoenix area for the last 6 years. Believe me, flats are a way of life there, with or without Slime....road or MTB. Until we moved there I got about maybe two flats a year total. I can tell you without question I patched at least 30 to 40 times in those years out there. At $3 bucks a pop that's a lot of money to spend on something that will go flat shortly. Hence I patched twice and threw the tube out.
#45
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For the record, I said zero, but I do have a whole drawer full of blown tubes, so maybe one day I'll get around to it.
#46
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I lived in the Phoenix area for the last 6 years. Believe me, flats are a way of life there, with or without Slime....road or MTB. Until we moved there I got about maybe two flats a year total. I can tell you without question I patched at least 30 to 40 times in those years out there. At $3 bucks a pop that's a lot of money to spend on something that will go flat shortly. Hence I patched twice and threw the tube out.
Dealing with Goatheads - How to Avoid Flat Bike Tires - SLO Cyclist
#47
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When I lived in Phoenix, I averaged 1 flat per 50 miles or so (damn goat heads thorns)
Now that I live in Tucson, I get fewer flats, maybe 1 every 2 or 3 hundred miles or less.
Now that I live in Tucson, I get fewer flats, maybe 1 every 2 or 3 hundred miles or less.
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Zero. I can make, build, repair damn near anything but I can't patch a tube to save my life. I have a few tubes hanging on the wall, and every now and then I give it another go, but it's all for naught.
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The pain is in the buffing, specially where there's ribs on the surface.
So I just use a rotary tool with a grinding wheel. No longer any trouble.
So I just use a rotary tool with a grinding wheel. No longer any trouble.
#50
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I bought a beat up 50's Schwinn cruiser, and found the front tube to have 12 patches on it, and the rear tube to have 18! I put the tubes back in, and they were still holding air when I sold the bike a couple of years later. I rode the hell out of it, even doing a century ride with it.