25 May 2014
Park Tool Glueless Patch Kit GP-2 won’t hold air in tube from pin-prick hole
These sticky patches would not hold air in a tube from a pin-prick-sized hole on a small bicycle tube, even after lightly roughing the spot with some sand paper and holding the patch in place for a minute.
Park Tools calls them ‘pre-glued’ because of the adhesive coating that is already on the patch, before you peel the back off and stick it on your tube.
This blogger removed the first defective patch, tried another Park Tool Glueless Patch, but even after holding it in place for a minute, and then inflating the tube in the tire, the patch failed.
Air escaping around the patch was confirmed by re-inflating the tire and submersing it under water, whereupon we saw a continuous escape of bubbles.
Eventually, this blogger and girlfriend had success with a Price Point patch that uses glue that you have to apply to the tube before putting the patch on. I’ve had plenty of success with Park Tool’s patch kits that use a separate glue application, as well.
Hafta ask the obvious: Did you touch the adhesive side at all during application, or the surface area where the patch was to adhere to?
That said, I’ve had the same experience with the PARK brand glueless patches.
I think “Slime” makes some glueless patches called “Scabs” or something like that. I’ve had those hold long enough to get me back to the car/trailhead, but not much beyond that.
Used the rubber cement/sandpaper/rubber patch for my entire life and never had a problem with them either.
And then, the other obvious question: Have you considered tubeless? 🙂 I’m a recent convert, though I still carry a tube with me because no method is yet perfected.
…yet we have 27.5 inch wheels now. 🙂
Jerry Hazard
May 25th, 2014 at 8:31 pmpermalink
Jerry the surfaces definitely had a little contamination from fingers and a Sharpie pen, but that’s saying that having a completely sterile/clean way to apply them is very difficult.
The pin-hole area on the tube was circled with a red sharpie and lightly sanded before the first patch. Taking the backing off of the patch is difficult to do without touching the adhesive on the patch without, say, a pair of tweezers.
I’ve been running tubeless on all of my mountain bikes for several years, but the tube that we tried to patch with these glueless patches was for an old Schwin cruiser/commuter bike that’s probably over twenty years old.
You are wise to carry a tube!
Carrying a tube, a single-use bottle of sealant and a CO2 cartridge pump is something I’ve been doing as a precaution while mountain biking lately. Last flat I got was sealed up with a small bottle of Stan’s and a small Co2 pump. The little Co2 pump has minimal pressure, though, so sometimes I carry a little hand pump, too.
Carrying all of that might be a little overkill, I suppose, but I’m not trying to win any races out there.
Adam Howell
May 25th, 2014 at 9:04 pmpermalink
Are you rolling with 27.5’s yet?
How’d that One Up chain ring work out on your ten speed cassette?
Adam Howell
May 25th, 2014 at 10:24 pmpermalink