Tube repair

[Fritzx]

There's a good essay on tube repairs @ Sheldon Brown's site... I'm sure we miss him. However:

My patches, sometimes, leak after a ride or two.

I'm wondering if contact cement can be used in lieu of rubber cement; has any one tried it?

[Emp]

Same problem like you.Not worth risking for long distance.Thumbs down to patching tubes.Buy a new tube dude. :rolleyes:

[Akadat]

Rubber cement IS contact cement and the very best for rubber. If you use the peel-off patches then the patch is already coated with rubber cement. All you have to do is:
- Check the tyre and remove the offending piece of glass, wire or whatever caused the puncture.
- Roughen the tube around the hole for an area bigger than the patch. The roughening is really an essential cleaning step as all tubes are coated with talcum,
- Smear a little rubber cement on the tube, only enough to be able to smear it all over the roughened area before it dries; ideally to be able to rub the glue for three circular motions of the finger before it begins to stick the finger to the tube,
- Let it dry a minute, pump the tube to the approx tyre diameter, and then peel and press on the patch.
- Rub some powdered chalk, talcum, or any kind of dust (road dirt will do) over the patched area so that any cement not covered by the patch can no longer bond to the tyre or rim,
- Assemble, pump up and ride!

For me a patch takes the same time as fitting a new tube as long as the roughening can be done quickly. A 4"x3" square of 150grit emery paper doubled up works best. I have had tubes with a dozen patches and none of them fail....then I changed to puncture resistant tyres and my puncture kit remains idle.

[curby]

I havent read anything about patching tubes, but I have 25yrs experience doing it.

I always sand smooth all ridges around the hole to be patched. This takes 10mins for me with really rough grit sandpaper/emory cloth. 700x23 tubes always have those ridges in the way from the maufacturing process! argh! Next put the 'glue' on there, thin is good but complete coverage is absolutely necessary. If you put on too much glue then you can wipe a bit off with a clean finger or simply wait longer for it to dry. Next wait for it to dry, I have installed patches on glue that has dried on the tube in a clean area for 20 min. and ended up with a very good bond and a serviceable tube. Finally apply the patch with lots of pressure, eventually rolling it between fingers and thumbs once the bond is secure. If at home I put baby powder on the area so it doesnt stick to the tire or itself...

All my tubes have multiple patches and hold air for several days.


all's'miles

curby

[Martian Tom]

Same problem like you.Not worth risking for long distance.Thumbs down to patching tubes.Buy a new tube dude. :rolleyes:

I'd kind of agree - though I've ridden for hundreds of miles on patched tubes. My current front tube has 2 (small) patches and has been fine for weeks of 20-mile-per-day cycling (okay... not exactly long distance!) I always carry a spare tube, though.