Puncture repairs

[Eagle]

Before I ask the question, I can guess that the reply may well be, “Always carry a spare inner tube”.

The question is, which good quality tyre levers and feather-edged patches can members recommend?




This should be under another heading. Please feel free to move it.

 

[iwchris]

I just dread a rear puncture out in the field as not sure how to get the rear wheel out, but I have always carried a spare tube when out on my " No Elec Mountain Bike" as don't think it's worth trying to repair, but on the Pedelec I suppose it does remove the need to having to take the wheel out if you just patch so I also would like to hear about the best patches to carry.
I should also say that I always use "Slime" in my tyres and have had very few punctures in any of my bikes.
Chris

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Before I ask the question, I can guess that the reply may well be, “Always carry a spare inner tube”.

The question is, which good quality tyre levers and feather-edged patches can members recommend?




This should be under another heading. Please feel free to move it.

Wilkinsons, Tesco or Poundland for a puncture kit. They all work perfectly. If you use the correct technique, you don't need tyre levers, which are likely to damage the tube anyway. I've watched people struggling, levering like their life depends on it, and swearing that the tyres are faulty and have been made the wrong size, and then they stand gob-smacked as i just pull the tyre off with my bear hands, or put it on which is even easier.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I just dread a rear puncture out in the field as not sure how to get the rear wheel out, but I have always carried a spare tube when out on my " No Elec Mountain Bike" as don't think it's worth trying to repair, but on the Pedelec I suppose it does remove the need to having to take the wheel out if you just patch so I also would like to hear about the best patches to carry.
I should also say that I always use "Slime" in my tyres and have had very few punctures in any of my bikes.
Chris

For most punctures you don't need to take the wheel off. Turn the bike upside down; pull the tyre off one side only; pull the tube out; find the puncture and fix it with your £1 puncture kit from Poundland; reassemble the tyre and tube; pump up and away you go. Takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

If you've totally trashed your tube in the motor wheel so that it can't be repaired, and you want to replace it, which is unusual, you do the same as above except that you loosen the axle nuts and lift the wheel just enough to get the tube over the axle. This way you don't need to disconnect any wiring. You have to pull the tyre off the non-wire side and before you undo the wheel nuts. If you have rim brakes, you have to release the cable. Bikes like the Cyclamatic with non-disk and no-caliper brakes are a bit more tricky because you have to undo the brake screws to lift the wheel.

 

[Eagle]

Dave,

Thanks for that valuable advice.

 

[iwchris]

Thanks all, I have learnt a lot.

 

[blanche_aline]

Good thread and definitely something to think about: When going out on my roadbike I always tucked just a spare tube and Co2 pump in my jersey and kept that habit without reflecting for my e-bike. I took me some time to realise that this is pretty useless without a spanner to take the front weel off :x
So now it's back to patches - but I guess it will take me ages to repair my first flat tube on a mounted wheel...

 

[Eagle]

I have just come across this Park Tools Super Patch kit containing 6 patches and sandpaper:
Wiggle | Park Tools Puncture Repair Kit Super Patch Puncture Kits & Levers

No separate adhesive is required and there is no waiting for the adhesive to dry while the rain runs down your neck.
Judging by the customer feedback these patches are very highly rated by many cyclists.

Alternatively, carry a spare tube and super patch the damaged tube in the dry at home.

 

[Cabo]

Yesterday went for a nice 16mile cycle along river towpath. Underneath the dark motorway tunnel some kind person had scattered drawing pins. 8 stuck on front wheel and 6 on rear. Had tools/repair kit and tube with me, but i would take ages to repair. So pushed it a few miles to nearest road and phoned the mate.
Is it possible to use as in cars tyres - tyre inflation foam as a quick emergency repair to get you home.
Where its a bit more comefortable changing the tube, or in my case tubes!
Perhaps one day i will meet that kind person and we can sit down and discuss the error of his/her ways:rolleyes :

 

[KirstinS]

I like the mental image of d8veh pulling tyres off with his "bear hands" !

 

[BAH48]

I expect the claws help.

 

[devon_skylark]

I use Slime self adhesive patches. Work every time although I have always used tyre levers in 50 years of repairing my own punctures.

 

[Mike63]

Underneath the dark motorway tunnel some kind person had scattered drawing pins.

....fishermen ....I've seen 'em do it. a lot of them hate cyclists...or do they just hate everybody ?

 

[RobF]

Fit the drawing pin proof tyre:

Wiggle | Schwalbe Marathon Plus Smartguard City Tyre | City Tyres

 

[Broadbeans]

Hi, Throttle Jockeys!

Interesting thread! I dread getting a rear-wheel puncture, as I'm about as adept as the Chuckle Brothers. Just wonder if anyone has experience of Cobra inner tubes. They're like a straight snake, and you simply link the ends together without having to remove the wheel. You can see a demo on Youtube by typing in Cobra Inner Tube. It looks a doddle! I've found 'em for sale online at Evans Cycles for £11.99 and think I'll invest in one!

Johnny

 

[flecc]

Hi, Throttle Jockeys!

Interesting thread! I dread getting a rear-wheel puncture, as I'm about as adept as the Chuckle Brothers. Just wonder if anyone has experience of Cobra inner tubes. They're like a straight snake, and you simply link the ends together without having to remove the wheel. You can see a demo on Youtube by typing in Cobra Inner Tube. It looks a doddle! I've found 'em for sale online at Evans Cycles for £11.99 and think I'll invest in one!

Johnny

Similar split tubes have been around for a long time, but some have reported that if left in, the ends chafe with movement and self-puncture. So best only used to get home to effect a proper repair.

I think the type that replace the tube and have their own valve would be better since the cobra designed ones could chafe the original tube while riding back home, damaging it.

 

[Broadbeans]

Similar split tubes have been around for a long time, but some have reported that if left in, the ends chafe with movement and self-puncture. So best only used to get home to effect a proper repair.

I think the type that replace the tube and have their own valve would be better since the cobra designed ones could chafe the original tube while riding back home, damaging it.

Ta for info, Flecc! I imagined that in the event of a puncture, if not patchable, I'd cut the old tube and pull it out, then replace with a Cobra. The Cobra ones I've found have a perforation hole at one end of the tube, which slips over the valve at the other end, to secure it as a loop.

I've had slime in my ordinary mountain bike for years - and have never had a puncture at all!

Johnny

 

[Cabo]

....fishermen ....I've seen 'em do it. a lot of them hate cyclists...or do they just hate everybody ?

Yes that was me. A month later i got another puncture. So after much searching older posts I fitted 2 Schwalbe 20" Big Apples and heavy duty tubes. Guess what i got another puncture 3 weeks later. A slow puncture as i found my bike the next morning fallen over its side stand. Could not find anything on tyre. When i took off tube and marked where the bubbles were i needed a magnifying glass to find. Nothing inside tube or nipped.
I realise thats the way the cookie crumbles, but i am a bit dissapointed with tyres, in that they seem very thin walled - and heavy tubes did not seem much thicker that orginal cheapo Tesco's.
Is it my imagnination or were the tyres on bikes of my distant youth twice as thick. And i dont think i had half as many punctures.

 

[Old_Dave]

It's an age thing, lol

Punctures were frequent but patched with the John Bull repair kit as a matter of course with out even having to think about it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cabo]

It's an age thing, lol

Punctures were frequent but patched with the John Bull repair kit as a matter of course with out even having to think about it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ah those lovely little yellow tins.
Are you sure about the age thing!