I was taking a bike ride today, hit a rock and got a flat. Of course, it was the back tire, because it always is.
I had a spare tube, so you don’t have to offer to pick me up. Thanks, though!
So, what should I do?
Repair the old tube with my patch kit of indeterminate age and keep it as a spare
Repair the old tube and put it back on, using the newly installed tube as a spare again
Keep the newly installed tube in there and buy a new spare, toss the one with a flat
I’m leaning towards 3 because I don’t want to push my luck with the patch kit, and I don’t want to push my luck uninstalling and reinstalling a tube, potentially pinching the tube and causing a flat, etc.
A patch kit costs nearly as much as a new tube. Granted, you can get multiple uses out of a patch kit, but the glue evaporates or otherwise goes bad in time. And installed patches do sometimes fail.
The one occasion where I’ll still use a patch kit is, I’ll be leading a bicycle retreat for a group of high-schoolers this year, and since they’ll be bringing their own bikes, they’ll have different-sized tires. For that, I’ll carry a patch kit, just in case. Other than that, though, I just get a new tube whenever needed.
That said, I don’t actually throw out my old tube. They’re not useful as tubes any more, but they still have uses. You can cut one up into a very large number of rubber bands, and with some cheap S-hooks from the hardware store, you can use the whole tubes as bungee cords to tie things down. You can also use them to make a water-balloon launcher, or other catapults.
I vote, repair it. Not because a new tube is so expensive, but why not? Also, if you cannot be bothered to spend 15 minutes to patch it, there are pre-glued patches that can be applied instantly, and they do sort of work.
P.S. Of course I recycle old inner tubes into a surprising variety of things… which reminds me, don’t little kids cut them into slices and make rubber balls any more?
Tubes can be $20+ now. Park vulcanizing patches are $6 and that is for 6 patches.
I patch. The Park patches work. Even their simple stick on ones seem to work, but I prefer the vulcanizing version. My road bike (Litespeed) and e-bike have tubes. My mountain bike has tubes but I also put sealant in the tubes so I haven’t had to patch it for quite a while. My new gravel bike is tubeless. I carry a spare tube and patches on my road and mntn bikes. Gravel has a spare tube.
My e-bike tubes have a lot of patches (I would guess there are a half dozen on each). There are hawthorn trees along a stretch of my work commute route and those thorns are tube killers.
Toss the tube and buy a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires and high-quality tubes. I ride quite a bit and used to get flats at least once a month (goat heads and other trail hazards). I went back and forth between patching and tossing the old tube but finally got fed up with having my ride interrupted.
But I got some Marathon Plus tires 6 years ago and haven’t had a flat since. (And the tread is still pretty good.)
Partial yes. The Plus Marathons do ride harshly, (made worse by the fact I can’t stand on the handcycle and “float” the bumps.) on the rare flat, I replace on the road, patch the tube at home and use as a spare. I’ve never has a patch fail.
The little tubes of rubber cement tend to dry out, especially if you don’t purge the air out of them when you reseal it.
Back in the day when I road quite often, I bought a box of 100 patches (about $25 today) and a 4 ounce bottle of rubber cement (about $5) that doesn’t dry out. I’d would set aside tubes that needed to be patched until I had a dozen or so, and then sit down and patch them all at once. I usually road around with two spare tubes in my jersey pocket. Sometimes three if it was a long ride (because if you ride long enough, you will find that there are just some days…).
Now that most of my bikes are tubeless, I still keep some patches around to repair tires that sealant just can’t take care of. In fact, I have one in my garage right now that I need to get after. With the luxury of multiple bikes it can wait, but I really should get it done soon.
Edited to add: One use for old tubes is to cut them up into patches. The trick is to put rubber cement on both the tube you are repairing and the homemade patch. Let both dry, put them together, and the patch is as good as any other.
I have found that if you store the little rubber cement tubes in the freezer, they don’t dry out, even after opening. I put it in a small, sealable plastic bag just to make sure. Yeah, you do need to let it thaw before using, but it lasts a lot longer.
I usually patch and save the tube for a spare, but after two patches I won’t use it any more for cycling (bad juju). I usually carry a spare on workouts, and two spares on bike trips.
I keep two tubes in my saddle bag for flats and never patch tubes on the road. If it’s a small pin prick then I’ll patch it at home later and stick it in my saddle bag. I don’t see any reason to change the tube again later as long as it’s holding air. If I used carbon dioxide to inflate it, then I will purge that out and pump it back up with normal air, because CO2 leaks out quickly and can make the tire go flat in just a few days even though it would hold regular air just fine. Fortunately I haven’t needed to use CO2 for a while, my frame pump works well enough.
Now, if the puncture is in an odd place, or it looks like it was caused by deterioration, or there’s more than one hole (say a snake bite from a pinch flat) then it goes in the trash. New tubes go in the saddle bag and then they go from the saddle bag into the tire. That way the spares never get too old. I also keep some strips of gorilla tape or another extra tough duct tape to boot catastrophic blowouts. Obviously you need a spare tube for that, the patch kit won’t help, but the tape boot will keep the tube from squeezing out of the damaged tire as long as you keep the pressure reasonable. I’ve tried energy bar wrappers and dollar bills in the past and they don’t hold.
Probably not an option for everybody here but beyond built for durable tire, you can just go tubeless like I did and stop worrying about it. Haven’t had to stop to fix a flat now in a few years.
You said you hit a rock and got a flat. A pinch flat? Two slits that flattened the tire in seconds? If so, a successful patch is conceivable, but not likely enough to be worth a try.
That’s generally my approach. Patch it until it doesn’t work anymore, then replace. It’s an innertube, and not actually touching the road or anything. A well patched puncture or two is just fine.
