Patching an innertube in rain
10-26-16, 05:43 PM
#26
just another gosling
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Everett, WA
Posts: 19,534
Bikes: CoMo Speedster 2003, Trek 5200, CAAD 9, Fred 2004
Mentioned: 115 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3889 Post(s)
Liked 1,938 Times
in
1,383 Posts
When I sport ride, I take 2 tubes and a spare tire, plus a patch and boot kit. When I tour, I take 4 tubes and a spare tire, plus a patch and boot kit. I've never had glue in my patch kit dry out, even months after it's been opened. Thus I never patch in the rain even though I ride in the rain a lot and do have flats.
__________________
Results matter
Results matter
10-26-16, 06:04 PM
#28
Senior Member
Carry a lighter, and use the tubes that seal the hole upon contact with flame.
10-27-16, 05:34 AM
#29
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Maine, USA
Posts: 1,612
Bikes: Corvid Sojourner, Surly Ice Cream Truck, Co-Motion Divide, Co-Motion Java Tandem, Salsa Warbird, Salsa Beargrease, Carver Tandem
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 534 Post(s)
Liked 435 Times
in
227 Posts
10-27-16, 05:46 AM
#30
Senior Member
I don't have a link. I was shown the product in Singapore. I remember the tubes were not black, but rather, light blue and somewhat translucent. Will try to find out more.
10-27-16, 10:27 PM
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: City of Brotherly Love
Posts: 1,562
Bikes: Raleigh Companion, Nashbar Touring, Novara DiVano, Trek FX 7.1, Giant Upland
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 22 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
My basic repair kit that stays with each bike contains a spare tube and a patch kit. Once I start a patch kit, I keep an additional unopened tube of vulcanizing fluid.
Unless I'm completely stuck, I avoid patching a tube at the side of the road.
Unless I'm completely stuck, I avoid patching a tube at the side of the road.
10-28-16, 07:50 AM
#32
Senior Member
in any case, the most important thing is to find and remove the thing that caused the flat in the first place. If it's still in the tire, it's could be a waste of time putting in a new tube.
touch wood, I've never had a flat in the dark or rain where I didn't have some shelter where I could take the time and be able to see properly to find the cause before putting in the new spare tube.
touch wood, I've never had a flat in the dark or rain where I didn't have some shelter where I could take the time and be able to see properly to find the cause before putting in the new spare tube.
10-28-16, 09:05 AM
#33
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 1,825
Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 401 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Another partial Hijack
Last weekend I did a kind of epic tour with my buddy. Epic because the final stretch involved pushing our loaded fat bikes up a rocky hiking trail to a top of a mountain. It rained or snowed pretty much all 3 days non stop. I had a flat tire on the second day, in the woods in the middle of nowhere. I had a spare innertube but I also tried to patch the original tube and because everything was damp, cold and wet, I just couldn't get the patch to hold/stick.
I had just basic patch kits you buy at the LBS. Is there a better patch kit for these situations?
I had just basic patch kits you buy at the LBS. Is there a better patch kit for these situations?
10-28-16, 09:42 AM
#34
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,207
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3461 Post(s)
Liked 1,466 Times
in
1,144 Posts
It is probably a question of patches being too close to interfere with each other. Thus might be two, might be dozens, depends on the randomness of where on the tube your next flat will be.
10-28-16, 03:17 PM
#35
Mad bike riding scientist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 27,363
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mentioned: 152 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6219 Post(s)
Liked 4,218 Times
in
2,365 Posts
That said, you can put on as many patches as you care to put on. Personally, I've made it to >25 before the stem failed. I've had as many as 63 punctures on one ride before I gave up counting (see Wandering in Purgatory in my sig line). Needless to say, I didn't patch that tube. Even I have limits
Realistically, it depends on how much you want to invest in your tubes. Having more then 25 patches on a tube is more a personal goal than a matter of frugality. Patches are cheap but putting on 25 of them (over a period of time, not all at once) is time consuming and time has some value. I'd say that the "break even point" is from 5 to 10. After that it's just bragging rights
__________________
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!
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!
10-28-16, 03:40 PM
#36
Banned
Last tour I Used Thorn Resistant tubes , did the whole 9 months, I was Away, without a Puncture 
10-28-16, 06:56 PM
#37
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,207
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Mentioned: 48 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3461 Post(s)
Liked 1,466 Times
in
1,144 Posts
I had never used a thorn resistant tube before and had never used a tube or tire sealant either. But a lot of internet reports were that you could expect a lot of flats from thorns if you did not use sealant on that trail. I decided to use sealant in front and rear and I bought a thorn resistant tube for the rear. Half way through the trip I was stopped and off the bike for a break and suddenly I hear a psssssssssssst sound. The thorn resistant tube was very thick, but it got very very thin at the stem and it developed a leak at that thin spot right at the stem. I had a non-thorn resistant spare with no sealant, put that on and rode several more days without a flat. That was my one and only thorn resistant tube story, and there won't be any more.
I may use sealant in the future in areas with a lot of thorns, but no more thorn resistant tubes.
Regarding patches, I used Slime sealant on that trip, did not attempt any patching. A friend of mine told me that patches did not stick well when he tried Slime on his road bike for highway use on the Southern Tier in the Southwest, I am not sure which sealant he recommends.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
insylem
Bicycle Mechanics
6
09-16-13 11:56 AM
mattkime
Bicycle Mechanics
30
09-24-10 12:47 PM
