Spare tube or patch kit?

[23jayhawk]

Rookie question here - which is best to pack for an enduro?

 Keep in mind this has nothing to do with being fast - if I get a flat I'm only fixing it to help me get out of the woods. Takes me about 45 minutes to do a tire in the comfort of the basement with a cold beer, so my day is done if this happens.

 

[Reesknight]

I would think a patch kit would work better in that situation because you don't even have to take the wheel off the bike to do a patch job. :thumb:

 

[John Harris]

I am old and maybe out of touch, but I would carry neither in an enduro. Travel light and fast. By your own statement you are out if you have a flat. Just ride it slow and easy out of the woods and get a support vehicle ride back to the start area. Just my $0.02

 

[Enduro_Nut]

John is on the right track, however I would ad using inserts as apposed to tubes. The Michelin runs about $150 per and last 1-2 years - well worth it to me. The idea of changing a flat sounds miserable!
Prior to using inserts I ran heavy duty tubes with SLIME - either way - no flats since the 70's :yeehaw: !

 

[WoodsRider]

I carry a patch kit and don't remove the wheel and can usually repair a tube without pulling the wheel. At the last enduro I rode I got a pinch flat after gas, but the glue in my patch kit had hardened in the tube. My day was done.

Even using this method, at an AMA enduro a flat tire will mean the end of your day unless the club is generous with resets. At Brand X enduros it will only affect your score in one section.

 

[Highbeam]

Does anyone recommend the motorcyle specific fix-a-flat. That little lightweight can also acts as your air source. I have had great results with it. Small can let me avoid using tire irons and an air pump.

I have seen people stuff branches into the tire once the tube went flat to ease the load on the rim on their way out of the woods.

 

[Smit-Dog]

Just curious..... how do you determine where the leak/hole is in the tube, with it still inside the tire/rim, and with the wheel still on the bike? In the middle of the woods yet!

Also, I'd think that I'd want to get the tube out, either to really inspect/fix it completely before filling it with perhaps your last CO2 cartridge before setting back out on the trail again.

Never had to confront this problem, so just wondering...

Offhand I'd prefer to just carry a spare 21" tube and just replace it. This way you know it's fixed right.

 

[KaTooMer]

I used to carry a spare 21" tube at enduros, mounted to my front fender. Normally I would duct tape it to the fender, but one time I forgot to bring duct tape (how the King of Duct Tape could ever forget duct tape, I don't know) so I zip-tied it instead. Never occurred to me that the forks could bottom out and the tire could hit the zip tie underneath the fender and break the zip tie, but that's exactly what happened. The impact made the tube shoot up in front of me and for a second I thought I was being attacked by a very large snake. Freaked me out.

 

[Timr]

:) That would've freaked me out too!  I hate snakes.  I've seen snakes on three different occasions during a race.

As far as a flat tire goes, I don't change them.  I limped into the last check on a flat front tire a few years ago.  If I get a flat, I head for the truck and the beer.  It's not like I'm trying to qualify for the ISDE.  I couldn't do that because I hate to change tires.

If you get a flat, just limp out of the woods to the nearest dirt road, and park it.  Send message with another rider to the club, or to your friends and wait for the calvary to come pick you up.

 

[WoodsRider]

Originally posted by Smit-Dog
Just curious..... how do you determine where the leak/hole is in the tube, with it still inside the tire/rim, and with the wheel still on the bike? In the middle of the woods yet!

Ah grasshopper I too wondered the same thing until I spotted an elusive A-rider fixing a flat one time.

The trick is to unseat one bead, which usually isn't a problem on a tire that's gone flat. Pull the tube out. Fill tube with air. Locate all leaks and mark with chalk (very important step). Remove air from tube. Find chalk mark. Apply patch to leaks. Let glue dry for a minute or two, then fill tube with air to make sure leak is fixed and no other leaks exist. Reinstall tube. Spoon bead back onto rim. Fill tube with air to seat bead. Adjust to correct air pressure.

 

[23jayhawk]

I thought I was being attacked by a very large snake.

My nightmare scenario - crashing over a log crossing, and rolling up face to face with a giant copperhead.

 

[Smit-Dog]

Thanks Woods...

Unless I had no other option, I'd think I'd just limp back to camp or park it. I've stretched a tire over a rim in the best conditions, with the wheel off the bike, with a couple of large tire spoons, and soapy water, and it still was a pain!

I can't imagine trying this same feat with the wheel still on the bike, with the swingarm, chain, fender, sub frame, etc. in the way. And I'm assuming that the bike is laying on it's side during all this? I can see the front tire possibly, but the rear would be a bitch.

 

[Timr]

Woods,

How big is your fanny pack that you can fit two 16" tire irons?  :scream:

...And yes, I have seen Fredette change a tire with a pair of popsicle sticks! (in under a minute no less)  He's not human.  :think:

 

[WoodsRider]

Timr - Normal sized fanny pack, two 8-inch tire irons and a bottle of hotel shampoo. Never had any problems mounting the tires I run. It usually takes me 30-minutes to change both front and back tire, except for that darn K490 with the ice screws and a liner.

I have learned a lot of tricks watching Fredette and Mark Hyde change tires though. Can't say I'll ever be that fast, but I no longer dread changing tires.

 

[D Lafleur]

Tim,
I agree the ISDE folks seem to know some tricks or possess some skills us mere humans do not. I have seen it also, and I still dont believe it.
I limp back to the truck and beer or wait it out. I rode out over 6 miles at Breezy Hill last year with two flats.

D

 

[Danman]

This stuff works for punctures. High lifter ATV tire seal

Its for ATV's, but it sure works. I ride in an area littered with Catcus, mesquite torns, and rocks (west texas). I have been running a cheap Chen Shing tube (its all they had and I was in a bind) for about 4 months or better now and still no punctures. Now sure that it would do for a pinch, but if it was not that big of a tear you sould be good to go. Its about 8 bucks more than slime per 32 oz bottle.

P.S. 8 oz is all you need per tube.

 

[Fred T]

in 1977 at the Jackpine Enduro it was a 2 day 350 mile event. I got a rear flat early in the day on day one. I rode the damn bike the rest of the day with that rear flat. Probably like a100 miles! (I had a Metzler tire on it with stiff sidewalls and it was a 125) anyway I finished the first day. Fixed the tire and rode the second day. Got 3rd place! Thats my flat tire story. We tried to fix it but the flat fix stuff in a can failed and we didn't have time so I just rode the damn thing. Now that I think of it that was prettty amazing that the tire held up that day and it's even more amazing that I used the same tire the next day. Are Metzlers still that tough???