weird puncture repairs

I got (another) puncture caused by a broken spoke- that's the third one where it's been a break at the sharp bend at the hub end. Sort of my fault now- I've got the replacements just laying there. Anyhow this is in a more expensive thicker schwalbe tube and the patches seem less keen to stick (fresh tube of glue- I bought a box of 24 kits for £2 about 6 months ago- price has jumped up to £6 now, still not bad for 24 kits http://www.tyreinflators.co.uk/).
Anyhow while waiting for the second try to cure I looked on the web for pages about puncture repairs and came across a page where a guy uses sellotape and stick deodorant. Somebody even says they tried it but -would you believe it- it didn't work!

Why wait for patch glue to air dry?

Light it and let burn almost completely - practice on old tube and don't let it go too long but it's a quick way to burn off excess solvent and the heat seems to allow a better bond of the patch to even the most stubborn tube.

Maybe it doesn't work, but at least your bike smells great.

A bit off topic, but I've gotten home by pulling a nail from a truck tire, then replacing it with a larger screw. Had to keep stopping for more air, but I made it.

alsmith said:

I got (another) puncture caused by a broken spoke- that's the third one where it's been a break at the sharp bend at the hub end. Sort of my fault now- I've got the replacements just laying there. Anyhow this is in a more expensive thicker schwalbe tube and the patches seem less keen to stick (fresh tube of glue- I bought a box of 24 kits for £2 about 6 months ago- price has jumped up to £6 now, still not bad for 24 kits http://www.tyreinflators.co.uk/).

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Those patch kits are a pretty good option to have on hand. I forgot about the tiny canisters of CO2. I've carried a pump made of steel around on a moped but didn't want to have one on a bicycle. A plastic or aluminum pump might be OK, yet a mini air cartridge or two could also be good to keep in a mini repair kit.

I think the freshness of the glue is important in order for it to contain enough solvent to bond well to the rubber of the inner tube. I just recently opened the seal on the new rubber cement that came with my patch kit, so now it is drying out and gradually losing potency.

When installing the patch, I thought of the idea of rubbing the area of the puncture vigorously and thoroughly with a clean and dry paper towel to rub off all contaminants (except maybe a bit of paper towel lint (which can be blown off), and expose a clean rubber surface. I did that because it occurred to me that the buffer thing on the can for rubbing over the puncture area wasn't likely to remove the contaminants, especially including oil from fingers etc., completely enough for the best possible result. It looks like the paper towel worked because it actually had rubbed off a very small amount of rubber as well as contaminants. A piece of sandpaper would take up less space, however, and might work better in many circumstances.

I think it would be great to be able to have a bunch of one-time-use mini tubes of rubber cement, maybe each containing about 3ml, so that each time a repair needs to be done, I can be confident that I have fresh glue in my repair kit.

In my opinion, those patch kits are just a get-home-in-an-emergency type of solution. It sounds like you are trying to use it as a permanent fix though?

I NEVER use those kits, because they can be so finicky, and sometimes the patch fails a few miles, or even hundreds of miles, down the road. That's not a situation you want to be in - trying to fix a flat that wasn't even caused by a puncture, but instead caused by a puncture you already got weeks ago.

I always just replace the tube. For a few bucks you get the peace of mind knowing you aren't taking a gamble every time you drive on that tube.

and back to the reason you got the flat in the first place, it sounds like you are riding around with multiple broken spokes? Each time a spoke breaks, it puts more pressure on the other spokes. If you let a couple go, you are heading for a runaway condition where they all start going, domino style. I used to work in a bike shop and we had ebikes coming in all the time with 9 or 10 out 36 spokes broken and missing. The guy was always like "well, it was just one or two a week ago…"

tl;dr replace tubes, replace broken spokes, ride happy

Park brand super patches have always worked well for me. So well that I almost don't understand the use of the butyl patches. (Although I have some at home for repairs :? )

They are self adhesive and so small that you can easily forget where you put them in your bike pouch and spend 10 minutes searching

Now, that I'm more organized, it takes me barely any time to patch up and get going. I don't even pull the tire off. Just pull the offending section out of the tire, patch it up (easy as using a sticker), stuff it back in, pump it up and ride.

(And I keep a CO2 inflator instead of a pump for compactness)

I have Joes Slime in my tubes. I had a couple of thornes and a piece of glass so far, but the slime fills and seals the puncture in a second or two. Neat as!

rolls said:

I have Joes Slime in my tubes. I had a couple of thornes and a piece of glass so far, but the slime fills and seals the puncture in a second or two. Neat as!

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I had a push pin in my tire for 10 months with joes slime. It only finally went flat after I laid the bike down after hitting a water patch while turning at high speed. The force of the fall shot the push pin straight out of the tire followed by a fountain of Joes! I guess you've got to replace that stuff more than once a year because it gets old (I think it says something to that effect on the bottle). But yes, it works like magic!

I stopped using those products, the stuff jammed up valves and eventually turned into big lumps of stuff (not flowing to punctures). It would be ok if you're prepared to changed tubes and sealant more frequently (perhaps after a season or two, possibly a year) but I find it better without the stuff.

alsmith said:

I stopped using those products, the stuff jammed up valves and eventually turned into big lumps of stuff (not flowing to punctures). It would be ok if you're prepared to changed tubes and sealant more frequently (perhaps after a season or two, possibly a year) but I find it better without the stuff.

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Same here, I have a whole large bottle that I still haven't touched. It's just not worth the trouble since those super patches take a few minutes max