In a perfect world bicycle tubes would grow on trees. They would be free and have no environmental impact. Maybe they wouldn’t go flat at all and you could use a tube throughout your whole life and even pass it on to generations. But tubes do go flat and aren’t free and they don’t just disappear from the face of the earth. That is why The Pedal Wrench suggests patching tubes. However, I rarely patch tubes on the trail. Having a spare ready to go is fast and courteous to your riding company.

Patching tubes is something I do in my spare time in the comfort of my home. I’ll typically have a few tubes in the rotation and will sit down and patch multiple tubes in a patch session. The lack of debris, time constraint, and stress makes the task much easier to deal with and boosts the success rate.

My life is filled with bicycle tubes. I deal with them all the time. Something I’ve learned to do to save myself time and frustration is to tie a knot in punctured tubes. This is an obvious reminder that the tube does not hold air and it needs to be patched. Trust me, it helps a lot.

While I’m on the subject of patching I’ll run through some helpful pointers on getting a tube patched successfully.

1. Locate the hole. I usually inflate the tube and listen/feel for the hole or holes. Your lips are very sensitive and can feel the slightest leak of air.

2. Deflate the tube completely. Remember to keep an eye on the hole, you can mark it with a marker.

3. Apply glue. A thin coating in a circular motion around the hole. Too much glue is messy and doesn’t help the patch stick any better. Make sure the area of glue is larger than the patch being used. Try and keep the hole in the center of the glue circle. This will help you center the patch.

4. Let the glue dry 60%. This is the step that usually gets skipped. People are in too much of a hurry. If you applied the proper amount of glue it should only take a few minutes.

5. Press the patch on. Place the tube on a hard surface and use a rigid cylinder to roll the patch on. This gets rid of air bubbles and helps the patch bond with the tube.

6. Let it dry more. This shouldn’t take long. If you’re in a hurry you could probably skip this step.

I tend to leave the plastic covers on patches so the outside doesn’t stick to the tube as I fold it for storage. The plastic can also keep the glue from sticking to the inside of the tire. I’ve never experienced any problems from leaving the plastic on, but let me know if you have.

Good luck. Earth day every day.

One more thing. Cut the tubes that can’t be patched into rubber bands. They are great keeping spare tubes wrapped tight and bundling $$. There is probably at least 500 more uses, let me know what you come up with.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 6th, 2007 at 11:36 pm and is filed under Repair Tips, Mechanical Hints, Daily Rant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.