1st Puncture - Tube repair

dario28

Got first puncture since my commuting started in Aug - no major drama,had all the repair stuff with me , 15 min at side of the road and back in action -

Question is , its a road bike skinny tyres , I was told that repairing the tubes isnt a great idea as the patches generally dont fit road bike tyres and to just buy brand new tube, prob from ebay and go that way

Any thoughts

niceonetom

I swap the tyre with a spare (always carry a spare!) by the side of the road and then repair the old tube. Standard old-school butyl rubber cement and rubber patches work fine and are a permanent fix (if done correctly). The instant patches (skabs?) are mostly designed for MTB tyres and probably cope with the lower pressures just fine but I don't trust them at 110psi.

ednwireland

dario28 wrote: »

prob from ebay and go that way
Any thoughts

whats this fascination with ebay

goto CRC, wiggle, or probikekit and know your getting legitimate goods

sorry for the ebay rant but i wouldnt trust anything coming off ebay

petethedrummer

Halfords have small patches that fit road tubes. I have 4 of them in one of my tubes at the moment.

blorg

Tubes are cheap so just replacing is an option.

There is no problem with repairing using traditional patches though, as Tom says done correctly it is permanent. I carry one or two spare tubes but always makes sure to carry patches and vulcanising fluid as well in case I use the tubes up, (this has happened!) patches and a tube of vulcaniser weigh next to nothing.

The Park self-gluing patches are tiny and a very quick repair but they are NOT permanent on road bike tyres. In my experience you will get between 24 hours and a month but they will let air out eventually. Still a good stop-gap, will more than get you home.

CO2 is also invaluable for getting up to full pressure in an instant, full pressure is basically impossible with a hand pump.

ednwireland

blorg wrote: »

full pressure is basically impossible with a hand pump.

rubbish,cant agree with that, 100 psi with my blackurn frame pump and 90 psi with my lezyne road drive pump (checked with a track pump after using the lezyne )

Canis Lupus

Any self gluing patches I use virtually insta fail. I've managed to get home once on a self glue and woke the following morning to a flat tire. Two other occassions resulted in flats and angry me 10 mins after the fix.

Anyway, I have a load of punctured tires I need to patch up, just can't be bothered

blorg

ednwireland wrote: »

rubbish,cant agree with that, 100 psi with my blackurn frame pump and 90 psi with my lezyne road drive pump (checked with a track pump after using the lezyne )

Well full pressure for me would be 110 PSI and how long did it take you to get to 100/90 :rolleyes: I can get to 100 or thereabouts with a Topeak Mini Morph variant but it is a pain in the neck frankly compared to CO2. Always carry a pump as a backup but prefer not to have to use it. Agreed a frame pump will work better than a mini.

dario28

This will prob make me look a bit thick but on the punctured tube it says

700 x 18 /23c

But when I go to buy more tubes it says the 2 below , is the mm bit about the valve

700 x 18-23c Presta (52mm)

700 x 18-23c Presta (40mm)

niceonetom

yes, it's the length of the valve.

dario28

Would these work

http://www.cyclingbargains.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_52&products_id=1085

they are 700 19/23

where as mine are

700 x 18 /23

is the 1mm important ?

blorg

dario28 wrote: »

is the 1mm important ?

No, it's not, you just need a tube with a range that covers your tyre. So if you have 700x23c tyres, 18-23, 19-23 or 20-25 will all work.

In practice you can even go a bit outside the range a tube is advertised, I have often used 18-23 in a 700x25c tyre for example.

fletch

dario28 wrote: »

This will prob make me look a bit thick but on the punctured tube it says

700 x 18 /23c

But when I go to buy more tubes it says the 2 below , is the mm bit about the valve

700 x 18-23c Presta (52mm)

700 x 18-23c Presta (40mm)

I would go for the 52mm as some pumps might have difficulty (depending on the rim), locking on to the valve.

abcdggs

Just had a quick look around myself, they seem to be the cheapest tubes around. got 20 pack delivered for about 2.75 EUR each. seems like a bargain to me especially when compared to here or even here

edit: 2.75 each

fletch

abcdggs wrote: »

got 20 pack delivered for about 2.75 EUR.

:eek::eek: or did you mean for 2.75 EUR each?

blorg

fletch wrote: »

I would go for the 52mm as some pumps might have difficulty (depending on the rim), locking on to the valve.

40 will be fine if you have standard "box section" rims, the likes of Open Pros or whatever. Most rims. 52mm you might need if you have semi-aero rims (the likes of CXP-33s.)