Patch per tube

[[[[[ A young dude, over the phone, at Holdsworth's Putney shop some years ago insisted the only thing to do with a punctured tube was to throw it away. Daftest thing I'd ever heard, and it caused me to shop elsewhere thereafter. I hope the loss of my custom isn't the reason they promptly closed down....
P.R.

I use the Lezyne self sticking patches - http://amzn.to/1ycOctB - works out as 50p per patch and they are fantastic. Bought some Zefal ones on offer the other day and they are no where near as good as the Lezyne ones.

As for total number of patches? Don't know, somewhere between 5-10 is probably enough in my opinion.

Put a few mL (about 5 mL, you don't need much at all) of latex sealant - http://amzn.to/1smaRjr - into my rear tube the other week as it was a really slow puncture and I couldn't be bothered taking the tube out and finding it. Worked a treat, sealed the hole and has stayed up fine since. I just take the valve out and use a plastic syringe - http://amzn.to/1xnQ7vb - to put the sealant in, valve back in, pump it back up, give the wheel a good spin to distribute (or go for a quick ride).

I use Rema F00 16mm patches and do a bulk repair session on my tubes, usually 6-8 at a time. A tube will only get binned if the new hole is too close to an old patch to repair or the number is too high. Think the highest number of patches I had on one tube was 13 but the next hole was too close to a previous so got binned or cut up.

Ride Gatorskins and you will be asking others what flats are!

Prior to using gators it was 8-10 patches or till they started making bumps in the tire. Post gators - none. No flats now for three years. Should have made the move to gators a long time ago.

8 is a pretty good score! I think the ones on my commuter have probably got 2 or 3 each at the moment but some have had more.

I'm of the view that the number of patches doesn't matter- once they're on, they're on and if they last a couple of days without losing pressure then I'd consider that tube to be effectively as good as new, however many patches it has. But I only do 'clean' punctures- not near the valve, or where the patch will overlap an existing one. Once that happens I'd have a lot less faith in it so that's it for that tube. I also use old school glue-in-a-tube patches- I have some Park pre-glued ones but those are a bit of a last resort for me.

But I only fix them if they're going straight back on the bike- not sure I'd trust them otherwise when the time came to use them. In practice this means that most of the time only the ones on my commuter get fixed.

Save the planet, patch all repairable tubes where reasonable.

When I used to bomb around on my Raleigh Grifter - 35 years ago...I'm sure it was in the double figures per tube...but then they were a lot fatter than skinny 700c...and patch kits were infinitely cheaper (and easier to get a hold of) than a new tube
I like patching with good old rubber solution...hate those sticky patches/skabs or whatever...I generally end up attaching the patch to itself long before it sees the tube....but do admit to carrying a Lezyne kit (and 2 tubes)...tubes will go in first if the weather is shitty....but if it's nice, then I'll take the time to use patches at the roadside...

the road tubes never seem to hold patches well, the mtb currently has a tube with 14-15 patches on it.

Like wellington boots a good, cherished inner-tube will carry several battle scars that have been anointed with a patch of contrasting colour. Although I never patch at the roadside I positively love fixing flats in the warmth of my garage, there is much joy in bringing an injured friend back to life.

My personal theory is that patches are not potential weak-spots. They are in fact stronger than the original tube and so it follows that the more little red squares you add, the better your tube becomes. I have in use at the moment a couple of veterans, each bearing at least six wounds, maybe more, and I don't worry about them. Not for a single second.

But for some reason, probably more to do with aesthetics than practicality, I don't like patching a patch. We all have a line that cannot be crossed.

In answer to the OP - yes eight is a lot! I've ridden regulary on three but after that I tend to think I've had my money's worth and possibly my fair share of luck.

I think the key is how confident you are in your own repairs (and how justified that faith is of course!). These days I never patch by the road - I always swap - better to spend the extra time making doubly sure I've dug out the offending item from the tyre - and I always swap to a virgin new tube. Last thing you want after one puncture is another one from a failed repair of six months back.

Then I patch them back at home in the warm with clean hands, a clean dry tube, flat worksurface, good lighting and lots and lots of time. I usually put an appropriately sized coin on top of the patch and the kitchen weights on top of that and leave it for a few hours.

Last thing is to put the repaired tube back on the wheel, pump it to max pressure and leave it overnight. (If the repair is duff it will show itself pretty quickly - and you want to find out at home -not out on the road). Return the virgin tube to the saddle pack and you're good to go.

I have a personal three patches and we're done rule, by that time the rubbers going to have had a tough time. I hate the waste of not fixing tubes, that and it's rather therapeutic.

You can if you like, but I just wait till I have a bunch of them, stick them in a little box and off they go to be made into other things by a very clever lady

'patching it shouldn't really be an option for anyone.'

Good for you for recycling. Can we all rock up to your workshop and recycle our tubes? It might be inconvenient for some people.

All the tubes I get through at the workshop go off and get recycled into bags and wallets

unless it isn't viable to patch any more (not that I get that many punctures), I always patch. It's less an issue of cost/faff, but one of sustainability. Good old throw-away culture...

I love patching tubes!

I have a collection of motley tubes each with a couple of TipTop's finest attached. I love the excitement of not knowing how long it'll be until they go again.

My other bike is tubeless though...

I haven't patched tubes since I was at school.....I just replace the tube. With the price of tubes, patching it shouldn't really be an option for anyone.