Is the reasoning just for fun?I keep new tubes on the shelf instead of patches.
Patch until you can't. Until there is a functional, valid reason not to. Its less work. Easier to do, is dramatically cheaper and as @ChezCheese:) has piled on with an angle I hadn't considered: It makes environmental sense.Part of what my thoughts on the whole patch thing is there is a point when throwing another patch isn't worth it not that you shouldn't patch in some cases.
Use your brakes till you can't stop run your tires till there bald wait that's does really work that good. So what i'm saying is leave a little margin.Patch until you can't. Until there is a functional, valid reason not to. Its less work. Easier to do, is dramatically cheaper and as @ChezCheese:) has piled on with an angle I hadn't considered: It makes environmental sense.
I can see @Stefan Mikes example of, when on a club ride, you pull and replace so as to not hold up the group. One thing patching is not is faster; especially with a group populated with road bikes, QR and competence on wheel removal and simple service being commonplace. In that one narrow instance, you may as well replace, patch at home and put that tube into your saddle bag for next time. But otherwise, you save your known good tube for the time when patching is impossible or fails. Nothing worse than giving up your known good tube and then finding out you have another problem and have to stop again. Or God forbid you hit the bottom of a broken wine bottle or similar, completely take out what should have been your fail-safe backup and now you realize you screwed yourself with a bad decision on the first go-round.
Do enough riding and chickens like these come home to roost. Changes the way you look at stuff.
Sounds like an argument for unprotected sex...Well, of course there does come a point when you do have to throw in the towel on throwing in another patch. But fixing and extending the use of an inner tube for as long as you can wastes much less rubber.
Sounds like you don't need much of an argument for it.Sounds like an argument for unprotected sex...
you shouldn't drink that crapI only drink the first sip out of every soda bottle then throw it out and open a new one.
TT
I run tubeless but was talking about for those running tubes. Not to go to far off point one should carry a tube when running tubeless.I'm done and over with tubed tires I'm strictly tubeless now.
This old giant bicycle is my shop bicycle I gave it the tubeless setup treatment using water proof black gorilla tape to seal rims and Stans sealant. It seals punctures from screws, staples, nails as long as the tire is not ripped or cut.
Going almost a year now with no flats only under inflated.
Wow that blunt ended tubes is pretty cool, might need to look into getting some for emergency 4am commute emergency. Also I didn't realize you could patch the tube and not have to remove the wheel and replace the tube, that is a huge plus for rear hub motors and flatsThere are hundreds of tire patch kits on the market. Most do a fairly good job providing they are applied properly. I've tried a few, and the one I like best so far is this one from Park Tool:
There may be better products out there though and I'm sure others will chime in here with their picks.
Many here use tire sealant in their tubes like Stans or Slime. If you do use these products, applying a patch can get messy. I carry a supply of alcohol wipes which work well to clean small areas for patching. Larger punctures can make a real mess though. In some cases, replacing the tube may be easier than doing a big cleanup on the trail.
I always carry patches as well as a spare tube just in case. There are blunt ended tubes available, like these from Gaadi:
They let you do a tube replacement without removing the wheel.
Yes, I recommend Rema Tip Top Patches, which are inexpensively available on Amazon:... Anyone have recommendation for a good patch kit or company to get the patches from? Does patch quality matter? I tried using some cheap ones from walmart and it didn't workout, but probably user error.