Patches advice
Discussion
Ignore the monkey. I use park tools patches and havent had a problem with them. They are super sticky though so you need to make sure you peel them off carefully and then apply them evenly. For roadside repairs they are fine. After a while they do perish but thats at least a year or two downstream, then the hole gets repaired with a proper glued one.
I have some duck tape wrapped around half a biro in my saddle bag, if i use a patch on the road, i wrap some tape over it for some added protection if I dont feel the patch went on that well. Nothing beats the old school glued patches in my opinion, but the self adhesive ones are great emergency repairs.
Most patches that you glue are dual compound for that very purpose, the self adhesive ones are basically just thick pieces of sellotape. Applying glue to them will probably dissolve them!
I have some duck tape wrapped around half a biro in my saddle bag, if i use a patch on the road, i wrap some tape over it for some added protection if I dont feel the patch went on that well. Nothing beats the old school glued patches in my opinion, but the self adhesive ones are great emergency repairs.
Most patches that you glue are dual compound for that very purpose, the self adhesive ones are basically just thick pieces of sellotape. Applying glue to them will probably dissolve them!
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 26th April 11:22
I recently had the first failure of a 'glueless' instant patch. Ironically, shortly after crowing on here about never having had a patch fail... 
I also had the replacement 'glued' traditional patch fail almost immediately, when I peeled off the failed instant patch and tried to glue a traditional patch in it's place. The 'instant' patch had "ballooned" and air was escaping on one edge, so they may not be the greatest for permanent repairs to tubes running road pressures.
I always carry a traditional puncture repair kit with a little box of the 'Park Tools' instant patches, to have both options, plus at least one spare tube. Freshly replenished, I've got 12 repairs plus two spare tubes, so it'd have to be a really bad day on the road (or a pump failure) to leave me stranded. Whatever kit (instant or traditional) you use, I'd recommend ditching the crappy square of sandpaper, or metal 'scuffer' supplied, and replace it with a decent strip of proper sandpaper or aluminium oxide paper that is actually large enough to grip with cold wet fingers. Don't ask how I found this out, but it was emotional, and very frustrating...
In terms of recent experience, the best traditional patches I've found are the 'Raleigh' branded ones, but the best vulcanising solution ('glue') is the 'Zefal' stuff. Instant patches, I prefer 'Park Tools' patches, but I dislike the green 'Skabs' patches.
One last observation - some tubes don't seem to take patching too well. It may well be the composition of the rubber, but neither the instant nor traditional patches seem to stick to them. One particular Schwalbe tube I had, had to get slung in the bin recently, because I wasted four patches before calling it a day and accepting that nothing was likely to stick to the tube.
I also had the replacement 'glued' traditional patch fail almost immediately, when I peeled off the failed instant patch and tried to glue a traditional patch in it's place. The 'instant' patch had "ballooned" and air was escaping on one edge, so they may not be the greatest for permanent repairs to tubes running road pressures.
I always carry a traditional puncture repair kit with a little box of the 'Park Tools' instant patches, to have both options, plus at least one spare tube. Freshly replenished, I've got 12 repairs plus two spare tubes, so it'd have to be a really bad day on the road (or a pump failure) to leave me stranded. Whatever kit (instant or traditional) you use, I'd recommend ditching the crappy square of sandpaper, or metal 'scuffer' supplied, and replace it with a decent strip of proper sandpaper or aluminium oxide paper that is actually large enough to grip with cold wet fingers. Don't ask how I found this out, but it was emotional, and very frustrating...
In terms of recent experience, the best traditional patches I've found are the 'Raleigh' branded ones, but the best vulcanising solution ('glue') is the 'Zefal' stuff. Instant patches, I prefer 'Park Tools' patches, but I dislike the green 'Skabs' patches.
One last observation - some tubes don't seem to take patching too well. It may well be the composition of the rubber, but neither the instant nor traditional patches seem to stick to them. One particular Schwalbe tube I had, had to get slung in the bin recently, because I wasted four patches before calling it a day and accepting that nothing was likely to stick to the tube.
I know this may sound wasteful but I would never dream of fixing a puncture you do not want a deflation at speed or whilst cornering so why heighten the risk by sticking on a patch that could fail at any time. You can get 5 Michelin Airstops with presta valves off Ebay for just under £16 delivered works out about £3.15 each. Not worth the aggro just bin it when it's punctured.
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