‘Glueless’ patches

[ratherbeintobago]

What’s the current recommendation for these?

[robgul]

My 2p is not to waste your money! They go "off" - i.e. the glue fails to work, quite quickly if not used.

Rob

[pwa]

I'd give them a miss too. I use the standard ones. The trick is to believe the instructions when they tell you to let the glue (vulcanising solution) go dry to the touch before pressing the patch on, and keep the patch pressed and still for a while after. Best done at home after the ride. Out on the road it is easier to use a spare tube after making sure the tyre has no sharps embedded in it.

[SmilerGB]

I use the park tool super patches & I’ve never had any issues with them, my mate uses slime skabs & they to have never let him down, I suppose it personal preference & experiences.

[mjr]

I use the park tool super patches & I’ve never had any issues with them, my mate uses slime skabs & they to have never let him down, I suppose it personal preference & experiences.

I recently had a slime skab fail with a "river" of air opening from the puncture wound to the edge of the patch. This only happened after the tube had suffered another puncture completely deflating it, though. I'm regarding the rest of the box as "get me home" quick patches, to be replaced with rubber ones at home ASAP.

I never had a Park Tool patch fail, but it's been a while since I saw them in local shops. Weldtite Red Devils also seemed pretty good, almost like rubber patches in how they welded tightly(!) to the tube but not quite.

As for it being easier to use a spare tube, that's mad talk, removing wheels at the roadside. OK for racers with support crews but fiddly and filthy on a loaded tourer or shopper.

[Si]

I find (Park) glueless work quite well on lower pressure tyres (e.g. mtb) but aren't always that good on higher pressure road tyres. And to be honest, they are not as satisfying to use as proper patches. Plus, just thing of the extra rotational weight you are adding !!!!!!

[mercalia]

is the glue really glue? what actually is vulcanising soln. what people are saying about the glueless patches going off seems right as this can even happen to those little tubes once opened. re tubes of glue I think good policy to take 2 with you - an unopened one and the current one you are using, incase it proves to be no good - I havent had a puncture now for 2 years+ so an opened tube can so easily go off due to air seeping into the tube over a length of time? as for spare tubes you should carry one anyway incase the punctured tube has a slash in it, beyond repair ( do you really want to walk 10 miles home, pushing a bike)? As for it be a filthy job to remove a wheel, dont you carry a pair of rubber gloves to put on?

[thirdcrank]

... lower pressure tyres ...

Yes. Even with road tyres, anybody who's been used to inflating them with an ordinary hand pump and squeezing them to test for pressure gets a rude awakening if they get a track pump. Or I did.

[robgul]

... a little off topic but a handy tip : if you have a vice (bench variety!) at home ... when you apply a patch to a tube clamp the patched area between two pieces of wood (mdf is excellent) in the vice for an hour or so to really push the patch and glue to the tube.

Adding to the glueless discussion - there also seems to be an issue related to tube and tyre size ... a tube at the smaller end of the scale for the size of tyre case seems to blow the patch more frequently - the added "stretch" on the tube to fill the tyre stresses the patches [I say this from experience with customers coming into the shop with tales of woe about punctures]

Rob

[slowster]

I seem to recall reading that they were popular with some mile eating audax riders, partly because their adhesion was good enough for the patch to stick to the tube even if being applied in the pouring rain. Apparently some even cut the patches in half to make them go further, as it were.

However, the same article also said that they were only really suitable for a temporary repair, and that has been my experience as well. I've only used the Park version, which has a uniform thickness, unlike ordinary non-glueless patches which are very thin at the edge. The raised edge of the Park glueless patches seems to be prone to being gradually peeled away from the tube by the movement of the tyre against the patch.

I think they are a great 'get you home fix' if you run out of spare tubes, which has happened to me once. They are also good if you encounter another cyclist who has punctured and does not have a spare tube, which has happened to me more than once. Not only am I disinclined to give a tube to someone who is so foolhardy as to ride without a spare, very often the rider is not using the same wheel/tyre size or valve type as me, and my spare tubes would be useless to them anyway.

If I stop and help another rider by giving them a glueless patch, I always tell them that it's only a temporary fix, and that when they get home they should replace the tube with a new one or replace the patch with a traditional glued patch.

[jamesbradbury]

The glueless patches have worked for me, but also failed a few times. One problem seems to be if the patch needs to bridge a seam in the tube. Last time this raised ridge created an line that wasn't stuck down so well and allowed a river of air to escape. It seemed to last for an hour. Maybe they're getting a bit old.

[slowster]

One problem seems to be if the patch needs to bridge a seam in the tube.

Even with a traditional patch and glue I think it is important to use the supplied piece of sandpaper to sand down as much as possible such irregularities in the tube surface. I think this is likely to be more critical with glueless patches, since they only have a very thin coating of adhesive, rather than a potentially much thicker layer of vulcanizing solution which may help to reduce the impact of any irregularities in the surface of the tube.

I've even successfully used a Park patch on a puncture right next to the valve stem, despite some irregularity in the surface of the tube where the circular piece of rubber at the base of the valve is bonded to the rest of the tube, but I was careful that time to sand the tube as much as I could to try to reduce the irregularity.

On one occasion when I gave a glueless patch to a cyclist who was stranded without a spare tube, I forgot to offer him as well the small piece of sandpaper that is included with Park patches. He repaired his tube and shot off. Half an hour later I met him again by the roadside with his deflated tyre. I stopped and gave him another patch, but remembered that time to give him the sandpaper first.

[atoz]

I would avoid. Easier to have spare tube(s) esp in cold and wet weather. I prefer to repair punctures when home and dry, but have a repair kit for emergencies and cycle tracks. That way when I put the tube back I can liberally dust with french chalk when I do it. I still have a large tin of the stuff that my Mum bought prewar, there's still a third of a tin left after decades of use! Must have been a bargain..

[foxyrider]

As I have to remove the wheel for any puncture (never worked out how you can successfully do a repair with wheel still in bike) there is no extra hardship in swapping out the tube.

I generally have a pack of Park patches with me as a back up in case of secondary punctures. Never had any issue with SA patches drying out or lifting, otoh I have had numerous issues with 'glue' drying out in the tube and old school patches lifting.

My present regime (only using fresh tubes and regular checking of tyre pressure) has seen the number of punctures I have slashed (sic) to pretty much zero. May not be the cheapest route but as i'm not wasting time repairing tubes, buying glue and patches etc, its cost effective.

[Annoying Twit]

My 2p is not to waste your money! They go "off" - i.e. the glue fails to work, quite quickly if not used.

Rob

I bought some brand new branded ones. Useless.