Repairing inner tube punctures

[mjr]

Does anybody know of a brand of inner tube where the seam is on the inside (in line with the spoke nipples) - and where can I buy them?

Vavert, Impac, Schwalbe, Continental, Kenda, fwe and Halfords tubes all have seams on the valve side but also various other seams.

I don't understand the comments about hacking away at a tube with razor blades. Sounds like a quick way to a bike shop to buy more tubes! Surely most rubber patches are soft enough to stick over most seams? Hard instant patches just stick butted up to the seam until I have time make a permanent repair.

[Len Shepherd]

Back to the topic I posted - no cycle shop within 25 miles stocks inner-tubes with the joint on the inside.
There are some on Amazon (presuming the photo is up-to-date) with the joint on the inside - meaning abandoning local cycle shops
On a longish off road tour such as C 2 C carrying numerous spare tubes is not an option if you are traveling lightweight; camping with no tent.

An observation - Cycling UK is trying to encourage more children to cycle to school - but not carrying a sharp knife, razor blade or vice in case they have a puncture!

Another observation - when I was young earning £4 a week we learned to sew good enough to repair a tub - without puncturing it again - as sending one off for repair cost 5 shillings.

It is easier to mend a tub than some inner tubes.

Off topic the cyclist on the left has won an open 12 hour and the cyclist on the right has won the Three Peaks cycle cross.

[Cyril Haearn]

What are their names, and what are the bikes in the background?

[Len Shepherd]

Thanks to mjr for helpfully trying to provide a source of easy to mend inner tubes.

Unfortunately the information is out of date as Swalbe now have only a large outer seam and Continental now have several outer lesser seams. Kelda seem to be in the process of switching from inner to outer seams.

At Halfords in Northallerton on Monday I was told "nobody mends inner tubes these days" even though I was asking about a tube that was easy to mend.
They had no inner tubes with seams down the inside.
I suggested to the cashier downstairs he drew the problem to the attention of HO - and mentioned Climate Change meant easily repairable inner tubes could play a part. He said he could email - but did not think anybody at Head Office would read this type of feedback.

[Sweep]

At Halfords in Northallerton on Monday I was told "nobody mends inner tubes these days" .

You should have offered to take their repair kits off their hands for free. All that money they could make off the new shelf space with dazzling usb lights and the like.

[jb]

Unfortunately they are probably almost right.

[Len Shepherd]

At Halfords in Northallerton on Monday I was told "nobody mends inner tubes these days" .

You should have offered to take their repair kits off their hands for free. All that money they could make off the new shelf space with dazzling usb lights and the like.

What makes you think Halfords still stock repair kits?

Smaller cycle shops still do, though they seem no longer to stock inner tubes that can easily be repaired

It takes around 5 minutes to remove a punctured tube, check whatever caused it is removed from the tread, and fit a replacement - or about another 2 minutes to apply a patch - if you are using an easy to repair inner tube - usually no great hardship if the puncture occurs in attractive scenery.

Diverting 50 miles or more there and back (more in parts of Scotland) to buy a second or third inner tube after a puncture is hardly convenient on a tour.
The problem is compounded in "hilly country" where a mobile phone signal is 75% unlikely to be available at the roadside to check if a distant retailer has the right size tube in stock.

One point I am making is I have been patching tubes at the roadside for around 65 years - and millions of cyclists from previous generation cyclists before me did so in the first half of last century.
Why are we being forced to change because manufacturers over the last 3-5 years have increasing decided to make it difficult to repair tubes successfully long term by changing the design?

The changed inner tube design seems to be not in the interest of cycling.

If it happened in the motor industry and car tyres could not easily be repaired because of a change to the design to prevent an easy repair there would be uproar.

[Paulatic]

Halfords sell three repair kits ranging from 3 to £7.
What fascinates me about this thread is the perceived number of punctures on a journey and the experience of tubes being hard to repair.
I’ve never carried more than two tubes and haven’t carried a repair kit for 20 years. All repairs done in comfort at home similar method to everyone else. The only thing I do different which I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned is I always clean, after sanding, the tube with meths before applying adhesive.
Some facts:
20 wheels on LEJOG ...two punct...
16 wheels C2C no punct.....

[reohn2]

I was hillwalking on Anglezake moor(Lancs) on Monday.There was a disgarded inner tube by the side on the track I was on,my thoughts were 'moron' I picked up rolled it up and put it in my rucsack along with the empty plastic water bottle I found earlier in the walk.
Some people are money rich mind poor

[Cugel]

I was hillwalking on Anglezake moor(Lancs) on Monday.There was a disgarded inner tube by the side on the track I was on,my thoughts were 'moron' I picked up rolled it up and put it in my rucsack along with the empty plastic water bottle I found earlier in the walk.
Some people are money rich mind poor

Perhaps a rephrase. .... Most people are willing victims of the producer-consumer hegemony including its widespread practice of planned obsolescence.

Cugel

[reohn2]

I was hillwalking on Anglezake moor(Lancs) on Monday.There was a disgarded inner tube by the side on the track I was on,my thoughts were 'moron' I picked up rolled it up and put it in my rucsack along with the empty plastic water bottle I found earlier in the walk.
Some people are money rich mind poor

Perhaps a rephrase. .... Most people are willing victims of the producer-consumer hegemony including its widespread practice of planned obsolescence.

Cugel

Yer not wrong.

[Mick F]

At Halfords in Northallerton on Monday I was told "nobody mends inner tubes these days" ..............

Due to better tyres these days, punctures don't happen often.

Last one I had with Mercian was in Sept 2015.
Last one with Moulton was Sept 2018.

It must be something to do with Septembers.

[Brucey]

Good question! If there ARE still tubes available that don't have this irritation, then they seem a much better solution than carrying razor blades or just buying more hard-to-repair tubes.

It's funny what people will say rather than admit that they can't answer the question

it is almost an impossible question to answer; you can buy the 'same type' of tubes months apart and they can be different, with neither matching photos you might find of what are meant to be similar tubes.

To coin a phase

'life is like a box of inner tubes; you never know what you are going to get'.

cheers

[Len Shepherd]

CHRISTMAS HAS COME!
Kelda brand from China make inner tubes with the joint seam on the inside.
Caygill cycles in Richmond try to stock things cyclists need - rather than the common there is no demand attitude despite you asking for it that I encountered at Halfords.
Now they have found this brand - it outnumbers all other brands combined on their shelves
These inner tubes are available in 700cc 28-35 size.
As I only use 28 & 32 size tyres, patches should stay airtight longer than with a 35 size tyre where there would be significant tube wall stretch around the patched area when the tube is inflated.
I have seen tubes (with the seam down the outside) for 25-35 tyre sizes !!!!!!!!

[alexnharvey]

I like to imagine inner tube producers monitoring this thread and changing their production in response