Reader Russ Wood, writes: This comes from personal experience. I’m usually pretty good at keeping my saddle bag/commute trunk tire repair kit up-to-date, but I had gone several thousand miles without a puncture.
Unfortunately, when I opened up my repair items, I realized that the tube was a punctured one from my last flat, which I hadn’t replaced.
I tried to patch it with a “glueless” patch, but the patch was old and didn’t hold very well. Good thing my wife was just a phone call away!
Make it a habit to check your on-bike repair supplies regularly.
Next Article: Last-Chance Repairs May Save You When Nothing Else Does
Great reminder!
Especially in the Spring after our gear has been in a long Winter’s nap.
yes
i have had steel things rust from water that got in the tool bag
tubes that got holes rubbed in from tools , or an adjacent valve stem
[now i put each one in an old crown royal bag]
glue that dried
tire levers that fell out
stuff that i took out and forgot to put back
I always throw away my Park Glueless patches at the beginning of every season because I’m not sure how long the adhesive lasts and I don’t want to find out rudely!
By the way, the only glueless patches I’ve found that hold up for the life of the tube is the Park brand, I think the Topeak glueless patches are the same as the Park, but the black colored glueless patches like the Lezyne do not work at all.
The other thing about glueless patches is that proper preparation of the tube is more critical than with glue on patches. It’s almost the same preparation, you buff an area of the tube larger than the patch will cover, then you clean the area with a alcohol pad, you then peel off the patch from one corner and only touch the smallest area of the patch as possible (if your fingers are dirty clean them first, I carry hand cleaner for oily hands that comes in a pouch, you can get these for free too at certain restaurants and fast food places), next you press the patch on between your fingers and thumb as hard as you can squeeze for 30 seconds, then look at the patch if you see any frosty looking areas you have to press those areas for 30 seconds, and that’s it. If you do the steps correctly the Park brand will hold up till the tube itself is shot.
I have an appalling memory. Were I to fix a puncture at the roadside and then put the punctured tube back in the tool bag, I will forget to patch it when I get home. That’s guaranteed.
So I always put a punctured tube in a jersey pocket, so that I CANNOT overlook it. I’m not suggesting that others ought to do likewise, merely observing that it works for me.
One thing I find indispensable, and I include one in all of my repair kits:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001OPF5B4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
. . . very small, very cheap, and very helpful.
And do not put air in the tube to chec the glue less patch for leakage. If you fill the tube before installation the tube will stretch and the patch will end up with small wrinkles. Guess what. Wrinkles usually leak