Cheap way to patch a tube?
 

Are there any tricks or should I just buy a patch kit?

Not that I know of (which doesn't mean anything). I use sticky-patches for trail-side repair, and the regular glue kit at home.

I think the kit counts as cheap though. It's like 3 bucks, and there's enough stuff in it for half a dozen patches.

I guess I'll have to get one, damn my luck. Didn't even ride one these two tires and both got flats (2 days after I put the air in no less). :(

Patch kits are like $1.99. Anyways, i heard you can cut up old inertube as long as you make sure to clean them and give the cut up tube a good sanding.

I'm patch challenged. I have never been able to get a patch to hold on a road tube. :( I have had success with MTB tire I don't know if the pressure or what but I just carry spare tubes now on the RB.

I bought a spare tube, went out and got 3, but 20 bucks later only one is holding air. Guy I bought the rims from never had a problem but thought it might be the powder coating flaking off. I'm about to play with them more.

I've had success with rubber cement and a cut piece of a donor tube :thumbup:

I wish I had some rubber cement...I wonder if that stuff I use for art whose name I forget right now might work...

Contact cement would probably work too... Possibly even a liberal application of super glue. But really, a patch is just temporary until you get a new tube - in my opinion :p

rubber cement, contact cement, any of it will work.
The trick to making a patch hold really really well is that you have to apply some serious pressure to it after it has been stuck on. If I'm at home I'll lay it flat and pound on it with a rubber mallet or something similar. If I'm on the side of the road I'll bash it between (whatever I can find) and the heel of my hand.

Oh, and make sure you're following the instructions as per the rubber or contact cement. Apply it to both pieces, then let it dry. Only after it's COMPLETELY dry do you stick them together.

Is this different rims then you have been using? Check and see where the holes are. The problem could be the rim?

New indeed! I tried. Iono, I'll play with it more later. I'll let people know how it goes in a second.

Do they have rim tape in them covering the spoke holes?

Nope, don't think I need rim tape since they're deep Vs and the spoke are recessed. Mehbe my theory here is wrong.

You can have a bur on one of the holes or just when you pump them up to 130 PSI the tube will push into the holes. Might ask the bike shop but I would go with the rim tape.

Makes since. I'd heard conflicting reports and hadn't thought about it. :thumbup: Silly me.

When I was riding MTB quite a bit I used tubeless tires. You could take a regular tire and make it tubeless. It work great. At the time I think I converted them for about 20 bucks. I never tried a road bike tire but they have kits for that now too. They have a video on the site that shows you how to do it. It can be mess to set up but once you get it they work as advertised. Highly recommended if offroad or riding in areas with lot of debris:turtle::turtle:

I was thinking about getting clinchers the next time I bought rims, but Iono. I'll check out the tubeless stuff now.

I bought hundreds of heavy glue on patches for not too much on eh4y. The stick on patches don't last for too long and are 'spensive IMO.

Lazarus is right, you NEED rim tape. Those little spoke nipples may not seem like much at 0psi, but at 100psi they're flat tires waiting to happen. Even with deep-V rims the tube will get forced around the sharp edges of the holes that the nipples are recessed into. Rim tape is super-cheap too, my LBS always has it right next to the patch kits.