How many patches do you put on a tube before throwing it out, and what kind of patch do you use (sticker type or the old-school glue-on black and orange patch). I've been using the sticker type and they don't seem to be holding so well.

Sticker type is temporary designed just to get you home.

The old fashioned buff/glue/patch ones are permanent and superior. A properly patched tube is as a good as new. I personally have used tubes that have several patches on them.

I have found it most efficient to throw my bad tubes in a pile, and once a year (or so) "batch patch" them.

^^What he said

They come in different sizes.
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I use the tubes until the valves wear out.

I'm an idiot. I have just been slapping those little stickers on there and thinking it was good to go. <<facepalm>>

I had two or three on a tube once upon a time.

Zero, not worth the effort.

I think 5 is my record.

How long does it take you to patch, say, a batch of 3 tubes at once? Just curious.

About one minute plus the 5 minutes for the cement to dry.

I prefer glue because they stick way better but the pre-glued work. I rode a 100 miles ride on 2 patched tubes and no problems. I usually heat the pre-glued ones just a little using a lighter the mash them down before it cools. Works like a charm. Otherwise they don't stick for crap. As for how many times i will patch..it depends on if i think the patch will be reliable. Of course i wouldn't ride with a bunch of patches on my tubes but a few are ok.

For me it's probably 15 minutes or so for 3 tubes. Easy enough and I can remember maybe 1 of my patches ever failing. Of the number of tubes that I've patched (it's a big number) I think my probability of failure isn't far off new tubes right out of the box. I've ridden tubes with 5+ tubes before without a thought. I don't even keep track of them, and only really toss them out when there's a stem or other catastrophic failure that can't be repaired.

It's only ever noticeable when on the trainer where you can feel the bumps as the patches roll over the barrel. Aside from that there's no difference at all in using patched tubes, assuming they've been patched correctly.

-Jeremy

I agree about 10-15 minutes.

One reason to batch them is the stupid tube of cement is generally good for one use, you can cap it up but invariably it dries out on me.

Lately I have been doing this every time I have say 6 bum tubes (which is probably more like every 2 years, come to think of it) and I use one patch kit, 6 tubes, and the little tube of cement (which costs like $1.50), and I would estimate that doing all 6 takes no more than 20 minutes.

I've found that roughing up the tube is the most important
part of the process.

Yes, this and making sure the curing (or vulcanizing or whatever it does) cement dries (goes from shiny to dull).

I just gave up on an MTB tube. I patched with (w/glue) where I heard the leak...but it slowly went down again. Pumped it up (outside the tire) to get it pretty big and could never detect a leak...even stuck it underwater in my pool (60-degrees is REALLY cold) and couldn't see a leak...but a day later the air was gone. Not worth further investigation...maybe it was the valve. dunno.

This again ? I use regular glue type patches.... last forever .....

Me to

It's almost like a contest to see if you can patch it as good as new.
What else is there to do. Save em up, patch em with 2 feet of snow on the ground.

rubber cement

I have had a tube with 8 patches, then the valve died

I don't know about that. I have used the sticky patch on my tube and all have held up well without rupture. But I do sand it down before applying the sticky. And if the hole is near an uneven part of the tube, the job is harder still.

You're not an idiot, you're just on the bottom of the steep part of the learning curve. I'm just slightly above you, but still on the steep part.

My rear tube is on its third tire - I've lost two to sidewall cuts. It's got five patches so far, and holds air better than my unpatched front tube.

When you get patches, be advised that there are two sizes, and that you want the smaller of the two. The larger is made for MTB tubes, and is larger than the diameter of a normal road bike tube.

Glued on patches should last as long as the tubes and I've ridden them for over a year until some other failure trashes them. My punctured tubes also go in the pile until I have enough of them to bother with patching and can use most of the cement. But that can take years.

A few weeks ago I got double pinch flats. I replaced the rear tube and patched the front with a Park "glueless" patch in 45F temp. I'm going to leave it on to see how long it lasts.

This is good info here. And just before I bought my first patching kit. Now have to find a kit where the glue doesn't dry out after opening the tube.