in CamRock (Moderator: TheMayor1)

Patches don't really work for me.  I have a few patch kits and use them occasionally.  Half the time the tube is destroyed beyond the point of patching (I'm not gentle to my bikes).  Or often I have multiple holes and I end up patching the obvious one, then having to patch another one a day later and then another one a day later.  Or if it's a really tiny one I can't even find them without filling my bathtub.  I'd just as soon throw a new tube in and go ride. 

if it's a really tiny one I can't even find them without filling my bathtub.

You can find those really tiny ones with a soapy rag or sponge, minimal mess and no bathtub needed.  Get the sponge really sudsy and spread it around the tube, a big soap bubble will inflate where the hole is.

I keep my patched tubes in a box, and flatted tubes in a pile. I'm pretty good at staying on the trail so I only get couple flats each year, but when the box gets low I'll sit down with a few beers and have a patching session until the pile is gone. I probably don't own a tube that doesn't have a patch on it but I haven't had to replace a tube in a really long time.

if it's a really tiny one I can't even find them without filling my bathtub.

You can find those really tiny ones with a soapy rag or sponge, minimal mess and no bathtub needed.  Get the sponge really sudsy and spread it around the tube, a big soap bubble will inflate where the hole is.

I keep my patched tubes in a box, and flatted tubes in a pile. I'm pretty good at staying on the trail so I only get couple flats each year, but when the box gets low I'll sit down with a few beers and have a patching session until the pile is gone. I probably don't own a tube that doesn't have a patch on it but I haven't had to replace a tube in a really long time.

X2 Rich. My system as well. Also good to know I am not the only cheapskate around here

I know more than I care to about all that jazz, I spent 11 years as an auto tech doing that almost once a day if not more, we had a spray bottle full of soapy water.  It's worth the 4 dollars a piece to not do that ever again and be done with the whole situation in 2 mins!

If I spend 15 mins getting soapy water and sponges and then dealing with the mess, and then patching it and yadayada that's 26 cents a minute, a cheap price to pay to for 15 mins of time!

Yeah. I'm still a poor farm boy at heart. $16 an hour will motivate me to work.

You guys would prob find it funny that I don't even fix anything on my own bikes, when they don't work right I take them to one of my trusted mechanics and pay for parts and service!  I hate fixing stuff, it's just a headache to me caust it's always something, especially on my bikes!

Farm boy haha, yeah sorry I'm a city slicker,  I will gladly work for 16 an hour and be happy for it if I'm lucky enough to make that much...   but only while I'm at work and I only work when and because I have to, my free time is worth about 3k per hour and I do handle it that way, I don't have to pay myself for it though and I give it all away for free to causes I believe in and friends and people who I feel are worth giving it too!

Sorry to get philosophical again in a flat tire thread, I'll try to stop doing that on here.  That's my life though!

If this helps, the one and only time I ride there I picked up two thorns in my front tire. These did not get to the tubes (I assume they fit my stop flat liners) I found them when I was putting the tire back on the bike when I got home.

Maybe a set of these might help out. I bought mine because I ride on broken glass a lot here in Milwaukee.

If you keep getting thorns in tires get that slime stuff in your tubes. I just get pinch flats so that doesnt help me though.

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Does the slime stuff make a mess inside your tires?

Does the slime stuff make a mess inside your tires?

This conversation ought to be in the Noobz section. It would be good info for curious folks as well.

I used cafe latex in my cross bike and the one time I got a leak it kept the tire nice and inflated until I didn't ride it for a week or so and it eventually went flat.  It did make a little bit of a mess in the tire but not too bad.  The real mess was when I would try to deflate that tube to put a different tire on the wheel. 

When I did try to patch that tube the latex actually sealed it up well enough after I got it out of the tire that I never did find the actual leak.  There was too much stuff on the tube to tell the source but after cleaning it off, it had sealed the leak well enough that I never found a hole to patch.

Does the slime stuff make a mess inside your tires?

The slime goes into your tubes and would only get into your tire if the hole is too big to be plugged by the vulcanizing liquid.  Slime brand makes tubes already filled with the stuff. Or you could go tubeless and use some juice in your tires.

S

No tubeless for me, i have a feeling i would destroy that setup fairly quick.   Thats what im worried about half the time i end up with a gash in the tube and wonxer how much of a mess thst makes in the tire.  I know the product for car tires makes a heck of a mess in them and dont want a sticky mess when i do have a flat.