Reusing a repaired inner tube.

[JJ]

I put in the spare and fix the puncture at the next cake stop.  I used to keep doing this indefinitely until the day came when I found I had two spares that were so old they had perished.  Every time I pumped them up they would split somewhere new.  In the end the guy I was riding with went off and bought me some new tubes.  Never again.  Now I dump them, not after a set number of patches, but after a couple of years.  He still reminds me.

[Manotea]

Letting the glue dry properly is the most important thing to remember - allow the glue to dry for a good five minutes at least before applying the patch. And then leave the repair to cure overnight (or longer) before removing the backing from the patch.

Frankly my dears, this is bollox. A quick dab with the sandpaper to clean the tube, a thin smear of glue, blow on it to dry (as in one good puff) slap the patch on and refit leaving backing plastic in situ and pump up as hard as you like. Bish Bash Bosh!

I don't agree the allowing the glue to dry bit is bollox, or that giving it a puff is as good.  I used to get failures before I learnt this, now never do.

Possibly this is more a function of the amount of care taken than the time required for the glue to dry. Certainly its a job which cannot be rushed though it can be done quickly.

[citoyen]

Possibly this is more a function of the amount of care taken than the time required for the glue to dry. Certainly its a job which cannot be rushed though it can be done quickly.

I think you're very probably right - but like any job, you need to learn to do it well before you can learn to do it quickly. Speed usually comes with practice. But I like to take my time over it anyway - it's not a job I ever do when I'm in a hurry.

d.

[Biggsy]

I'm quite sure that a puncture repair patch sticks better when the glue is dry, or almost dry, rather than wet.  Rubber cement works as a dry contact adhesive.  The amount of glue used as well as the atmospheric conditions dictates how long it takes to dry.

A super thin smear on a warm day may dry almost instantly, but still I advise leaving it a few minutes if you are in any doubt before applying the patch, and preferably waiting a couple of minutes afterwards as well.

I took plenty of care in my early days but simply didn't know that the glue was supposed to be dry, leaving me baffled over the failures.

Park self-adhesive patches are OK if you don't want to spend this time (or change the tube).  They actually seem to stick properly, unlike other "glueless" patches I tried.

[citoyen]

I took plenty of care in my early days but simply didn't know that the glue was supposed to be dry

That was always my problem too. That and using far too much glue.

d.

[Manotea]

I'm quite sure that a puncture repair patch sticks better when the glue is dry, or almost dry, rather than wet.  Rubber cement works as a dry contact adhesive.  The amount of glue used as well as the atmospheric conditions dictates how long it takes to dry.

I'm not disagreeing with you. The operative phases are a 'a dab with sandpaper' to reveal fresh clean rubber to receive the patch and then a 'THIN SMEAR' smear' of glue' which combined with a quick puff means the glue dries almost immediately. The lesson I learnt was to use the bare minimum of glue to cover the patch area on a 'less is more' basis.

I tried Park glueless patches and gave up on them. You still have to clean the tube around the puncture site, its too easy to apply a dirty finger print to the sticky surface when taking the backing off and (IME) they inevitably fail over time. Using my approach it's just as quick to apply a permanent patch in the first place. Well, thats my approach. YMMV.

[Biggsy]

That's fair enough when it does dry almost immediately (on a warm dry day).

However, there is one advantage to using more than a thin smear of glue.  With a bit more glue, immeditaley putting some air in the tube blows bubbles that set as a white spot to help you centre the patch over the puncture.  Leave it long enough and this will dry.  It can be tricky getting a 15mm patch in the right place when you can't see the puncture.

[TimO]

As others, I'll carry one or two spare tubes (often more, on things like a FNRttC when I'm TECing, so as to have tubes for 26", 700C, and different widths).

I've had tubes with a dozen repairs or more, and done properly, and without too much of a rush, they'll take as much pressure as a new tube, and certainly on 700x28 and bigger, the repair does not have a noticeable effect on the roundness / bumpiness of the tube.

I have used the Park temporary repairs in the past, and they are OK as a get you home measure, but they don't seem to last for ever.  If nothing else, you can peel them back off with your hands, whereas a properly repaired vulcanised job is essentially merged with the body of the tube after a while, and pretty much bomb proof.  I've only ever used them to keep the mass of kit down, so I've had a pack velcro'ed under my saddle.

I've very occasionally had "proper" repairs fail, but it's less than 1%, and normally comes down to the tube not being clean, or roughened up enough.  The failure normally happens almost immediately on reinflation, or not at all.

With modern tyres, multiple repairs are luckily becoming a thing of the past, although the Continental Sport Contacts which I got with my Kaffenback have now had 4 punctures in less than 3000 miles, so I'm replacing them (or the rear anyway) with a Marathon Supreme.  A puncture or two a month has generally, and thankfully, become a thing of the past.

[Biggsy]

I have used the Park temporary repairs in the past, and they are OK as a get you home measure, but they don't seem to last for ever.  If nothing else, you can peel them back off with your hands, whereas a properly repaired vulcanised job is essentially merged with the body of the tube after a while, and pretty much bomb proof.  I've only ever used them to keep the mass of kit down, so I've had a pack velcro'ed under my saddle.

Conventional patches don't really vulcanise, despite the glue being called "vulcanising solution" or whatever.  They just stick, albeit very firmly when done properly.  They can be peeled off after heating with a hair dryer.

With modern tyres, multiple repairs are luckily becoming a thing of the past, although the Continental Sport Contacts which I got with my Kaffenback have now had 4 punctures in less than 3000 miles, so I'm replacing them (or the rear anyway) with a Marathon Supreme.  A puncture or two a month has generally, and thankfully, become a thing of the past.

You know what's gong to happen on your next ride, don't you? 

Another reason I suspect for the fewer punctures we get nowdays is the lesser amount of broken bottle glass about.

[TimO]

You know what's gong to happen on your next ride, don't you? 

Well, tomorrows ride will have a brand new tyre on the back, and I'll be carrying two inner tubes, plus puncture repair kit.  I'm ready for it.

Another reason I suspect for the fewer punctures we get nowdays is the lesser amount of broken bottle glass about.

I wish that was true, but I'll cycle over an area of broken glass, noticed too late to avoid it, about twice a week.  This is in London however, which may be a worse case scenario.

[nuttycyclist]

I've just struggled out for half an hour of jobs in this horrible heat.

I've gone over 5 seperate patches of broken glass.  It is still very common.

[Biggsy]

Even with the least puncture resistant tyres, there's not much chance of many punctures per year if you ride over broken glass only twice a week.

I still see a lot of windscreen glass in London, but not as much of the sharper broken bottle glass since nearly all soft drinks and milk comes in plastic bottles these days.

[TimO]

Of course the big chunks of glass that you see, rarely causes punctures, since you see and avoid it.  All of the recent punctures I've had have on close inspection been caused by bits of glass which are only a few mm, and have clearly gradually worked their way into the tyre.  It was more an observation that there is plenty of glass around, and as least as much as I saw a decade or more ago.

Modern tyres seem much better at stopping punctures, at least those specifically sold under those sort of claims, such as Michelin Plus, and Armadillos.  Whenever I've used lesser tyres (typically when they've come fitted to new bicycles) I've had a spate of punctures, which have stopped when I've swapped onto something tougher like an Armadillo.

[Biggsy]

At risk of summoning the fairy...  I haven't had a single puncture for more than a couple of thousand miles on Open Corsas.  These are thin racing tyres with only a token-thin strip of kevlar belt.

I see fewer broken bottles on the roads these days than I did ten years ago, and that's got to mean fewer of the tiny shards you can't see as well as the big bits you do see.  It stands to reason because fewer glass bottles are sold.  Windscreen glass rarely causes punctures since it tends to break into cubes or large chunks rather than thin shards.

[TimO]

I see your argument, and it's a bit difficult to quantify the amount of glass around, but I'm just happy to get less punctures, and with me it does seem to reflect my choice of tyres.  The last four punctures with Continental Sport Contacts about one every 600 or 700 miles (about one a month), which is a lot higher than on the other bike I was using with Nimbus Armadillos.

[Biggsy]

I agree that tyre puncture resistance is a lot better in general than it used to be, and of course that's a big factor even if there is less glass too.  Even the Open Corsas I mentioned are an improved "EVO" version that are supposed to be more resistant (although there is still only a minimal amount of material to them altogether).

[orienteer]

I find that punctures are caused mostly by tiny flints working their way through the tyre (plus a protective tape I use inside the tyres), and occasionally tiny shards of glass. I have reduced the number by regularly inspecting the tyres and digging them out before they work through.

[Gattopardo]

Ok so maybe my technique is wrong.

I usually do the loads of glue thing then stick the patch on after a few minutes.

So would it be better to rough the surface and then use minimal rubber solution then wait for it to dry then attach the patch?

PS wow this puncture stuff is really new to me.  As i thought that it wouldn't stick once it had dried.

[rdaviesb]

Rough up the area. Use minimum rubber solution. Let it dry (it takes no more than a minute or two, don't touch the area) and then apply patch. Whatever you do, don't attempt to re-position the patch if you get it wrong. Start again from scratch.

[TimO]

The trip with the solution is to put a wide blob about an inch away from the hole, and sweep it across the hole in one quick swipe to about the same distance on the other side of the hole, so you've covered the entire area which the patch will have to cover with the glue.  If you've got it right, you'll have a nice thin layer.  It does take a little practice to get it perfect.

As others have said, if you get things wrong, you really need to clean it all off and start again.  I've tended to use some alcohol to remove all the solution cleanly, but we have conveniently large bottles of it in our lab.

[clarion]

Does it get that bad at work?

[TimO]

Does it get that bad at work?

99.975% pure ethyl alcohol, drinking it would be a really bad idea!  We do have a <cough> supply of other materials, should we urgently need muscle relaxants etc

[citoyen]

99.975% pure ethyl alcohol, drinking it would be a really bad idea! 

Is it an urban myth about nurses mixing a few teaspoons of that stuff with fruit juice to make cheap parties that really go with a swing?

d.

[TimO]

99.975% pure ethyl alcohol, drinking it would be a really bad idea!

Is it an urban myth about nurses mixing a few teaspoons of that stuff with fruit juice to make cheap parties that really go with a swing?

Dunno, we use it to clean grease and whatnot off of mechanical components before assembling instruments, so that they don't outgas anything nasty when put into orbit.

However I'm quite willing to undertake a thorough investigation into this myth if someone will introduce me to some nurses at a suitable party.

[nuttycyclist]

I've learned over the years that you can't actually do "too much glue".

My method now is :-
 - Really rough up the surface.  The cheap kit I got from lidl has a perforated metal sheet that puts loads of grooves in the tube.
 - Consider marking the outer limit of the patch with the crayon in the kit.
 - Put a good smear of glue inside the line drawn (physical or mental) and ensure fully covered.  If there's a thin patch and a blob then smear the blob around with a finger.
 - Leave for ten minutes.  Make sure everything is dry.
 - Remove backing from the patch.
 - Carefully place the patch above the glue, position it, then stick on once.

The tube can be re-used immediately, but I prefer to leave for a good 24 hours (or place in the spares kit).



I know both my tubes have multiple patches in them.  I pumped them up tonight ready for the morning's Audax.  Last time I pumped them was prior to the Hop Garden Audax in May, and they'd dropped from 120psi to 85psi.  that includes the air lost when I removed the pump in May, the air let out when I checked the valves weren't jammed, and also the air lost when I connected the pump.

Considering I've seen people on here talking about topping up tyres before every ride, I think that's a demonstration that my repair method is good.