[swell6]

What do you guys do when you flat?

 

[jeffscott]

Geez I am off the bike and back on with a new tube in less than 5 mins.

 

[mtbxplorer]

I use a spare tube, and then patch & test later & then use as a spare.

In the winter, if I'm already @ the bus route, I just put the bike on the bus and change the tube in the warmth of the office. Strangely, none of my flats have been on the way home, where this techinique would not work since my house is 3.5 mi from the closest bus stop.

 

[woodway]

Install new tube. Patch old tube and put back onto the bike. When a tube gets 4-5 patches on it, discard for a new tube.

 

[Dalton]

I always go new, but I want to start patching. Its just so much less work to buy a new one and make a strap or belt out of the old. :thumbsup:

 

[mtbxplorer]

^^Think of it this way...if you patch a tube in 5 or 10 minutes instead of always buying a new tube for $5, it's like paying yourself $30-60/hr for the labor :thumbsup:

 

[oromis]

I have gotten to where i always throw in a new tube first. When i get home i will patch the tube but it must hold the same amount of air for 24 hours before it is deemed worthy to use again.

 

[AndrwSwitch]

I use a spare tube, and then patch & test later & then use as a spare.

Ditto.

I have enough tubes kicking around that I generally wait until I have six punctured ones, then patch them all at once. It's like paying myself even more in an hour - it's a little more efficient than doing one at a time.

 

[Blind]

on my commute with my road bike, even with using continental ultra sport 27" tires, and pumped up to 110psi, I have been catching goathead thorns about twice a week.

I'm pretty good at patching, but if I'm time crunched I just swap to the spare tube and patch when I get into work. I think all my tubes have 5-10 patches on them? Never had an issue with a leak after patching. Just have to use the nice glue patched with the orange rings around the patches, those are the ones that work the easiest for me.

 

[Nenbran]

I get too many flats to do anything other than patch all of my tubes as well as carry a spare. I think my rear tube has like 4 patches and it's running perfectly.

 

[Schmucker]

I don't get flats. Buy decent tires.

 

[Nenbran]

Buy decent tires.

Try living in the desert.

 

[spartacus001]

I rarely get flats on my rides. Secrete is Mr. Tuffy tube liners on all 3 of my bikes.
But in that rare occassion I get a flat I change the tube and always patch the old one.

 

[Shalom]

New tube. The joys of working part-time in a bike store is that tubes are dirt cheap. Old tubes are used round the garden, tying things onto the truck, etc.

 

[cyclehorse]

tube - quicker!

... I used to try roadsite patch-ups but no more. It's all about speed and it's quicker to take the tube off and start over again.

 

[highdelll]

"Pay bike shop to install tube?"
Anyone that does this does not deserve to own a bicycle

 

[Fix the Spade]

"Pay bike shop to install tube?"
Anyone that does this does not deserve to own a bicycle

I make a lot of money fixing punctures, so don't knock 'em

 

[highdelll]

I make a lot of money fixing punctures, so don't knock 'em

That's good for you
but, anybody that has to take their bike into the shop for a flat is either: super pro elite rich that cannot be bothered with doing ANYTHING to their own bike OR a frikken moron.

I suspect the latter is usually the case.

 

[jseko]

That's good for you
but, anybody that has to take their bike into the shop for a flat is either: super pro elite rich that cannot be bothered with doing ANYTHING to their own bike OR a frikken moron.

I suspect the latter is usually the case.

Then there are the mechanically inept. By trade I'm data systems engineer, I can build an entire virtualized server farm as long as the networking part isn't too complicated, but put me around something mechanical and I'm lost.

Ok, I can change a tire and tube out ok, but try to get me to adjust a derailleur or my brakes and I'm lost if it involves more than the barrel adjuster. I can wipe down the chain with Simple Green every couple weeks and put Triflow on it, but that's about it.

 

[Khai]

On the road it's always a new tube - way faster. I'll patch a tube when I get home, but I don't want to be dealing with that crap on the side of the road unless I have to (I generally carry patches as well, but haven't had to use one roadside yet).

Stans in the tube helps too.