First flat tire - repair kit help?

I don't have any tips on patching, but that scenario is why I carry a spare tube in my bento box.

It's a lot easier to get rolling again on a known-good tube than hope that you can repair/patch one on the fly.

Here, carry this stuff with you on every ride:

Wow...I feel kinda dumb.  Yeah, I'll be getting a couple tubes, thanks.

This is awesome, thank you very much.

^ That's basically what I carry (minus a lever + a dollar bill)

It helps (and may be necessary) to jam the dollar bill between the tube (the park tool glueless/pre glued ones have worked for me) and the tire if it pierced the tire.

The head on the ultraflate that I use will accept a threaded CO2 cartridge without the case (the clear thing, labeled 'ultraflate inflator unit'.  I find this pretty handy when trying to cram all of that stuff into a saddle pack small enough that the fashionistas don't get upset with me 

During spring rides (when there's a lot more debris on the road) and/or when commuting, I'll use two old bike bottles that I've cut in half and carry two tubes, plus a good old fashioned patch kit in one of my cages - it's no fun to be stranded 10 miles from anywhere with a double flat and no means of repairing it.

SYJ

• 3 tire levers


• Allen wrenches


• 2 or 3 CO2 cartridges


• CO2 inflator


• 1 tube for short rides, 2 tubes for long rides


• Park Tool VP-1 Vulcanizing Patch Kit


• Dollar bill


• Maybe cell phone

Tips on the patch kit - 

Don't trust the 'sticker' patches. They are notorious for failing after application. 

In contrast, the normal patch kits with the separate tube of rubber cement work extremely well, and are almost failsafe. However, it can be hard to do this on the side of the road, with all the debris and dirt to get stuck in the glue etc. 

I would highly recommend bringing extra tubes on the ride, and then patching tubes at home. Batch patching 4-5 tubes at once is the most time efficient since it takes only 2x as long to patch 5 tubes as it does 1. 

I always carry at least one spare tube.  I used to bring back punctured tubes and patch them on my workbench, but for the last few years have just pitched them instead.  Guess I'm either lazy or the fact that I stock up on tubes whenever they're on sale at Nashbar or Perfomance Bike.   I still carry patches along when I ride, but only for the doomsday scenario if I puncture all my spare tubes.  At that point the limiting factor would be how many CO2 cartridges I have with me.

Mark

Thanks also for the patch tips.

The sticker patch was useless with all the debris getting on the tube.  Makes much more sense to swap tubes and patch at home.

And thanks for the glue and vulcanizing recommendations.

Will be much better prepared next time.

Oh and the dollar bill too - thanks!!

I carry only one tire lever.....never, ever, had the need for another, much less three as some have said.  

Just curious, why would you need more than one?

Ha!  That's how dumb I am....after all these years I never knew what that little hook was for (clip it to the spokes)....learned something, thanks.

I just wedge the tire out, go around the rim with the same one, and then use my hands for everything else.

The only thing I carry, that I haven't seen, is some folded tin foil.  If a tire gets cut, you can put the foil between the tube and the cut to keep the tube from popping out.  I was taught it by my dad and have only used it once in many years.....but it works and takes no space/weight to carry. It'll get you home in a pinch.

I don't flat much either - probably about 3-4x/yr which isn't much for how often I'm outside (it's Norcal so year-round.) 

I do like saving my flatted tubes for batch patching though. Have said it before, but sometimes you'll get an errant shard in the tire that is hard to find and will take out 2-3 tubes at once. Annoying (and not cheap) unless you have a patch kit - super easy fix. 

I actually do accumulate tubes and do like 4-5 at a time. I usually do it once per year.

maybe i'm lucky, but i just carry the stick on patches unless it's a race.  I would say my patch success rate is >90%.  I do have trouble if they start to get old though, so i try to buy a fresh pack each year.

-Mike