goRide’s Quick and Easy Guide to Bike Tools. Let’s gain some knowledge about the puncture repair kit. Learn what it is, why you would use it and how to use it.
What is a Puncture Repair Kit
A small tool kit design to be portable and have all you need in it to fix a puncture (hole) in your bike tube. This kit will have some or all of these things…
- patches
- glue
- a scraping tool and/or sandpaper
- small rubber tube to dry the area before the patch goes on
- small piece of chalk to mark where the hole is
- the boot
If you see the term vulcanising it is referring to the process that takes place between the patch and the tube when glue is applied. This is a better type of patching than what happens with a self adhesive patch.
A puncture repair kit doesn’t have to be a part of the basic tool kit you carry with you everytime you ride – you can choose to carry a spare tube and replace the tube if there is a problem. If you do carry a tube it’s a good idea to back this up with self adhering patches – which are really small & so easy to carry.
However, a puncture repair kit is smaller than a spare tube so this may be a better choice for you. Whatever you choose to do at some point you will need to fix the puncture so you can use the tube again…So its a great idea to have a repair kit in your home bike tool kit.
Why you would use it.
To cover any holes in your tube that let air escape and therefore result in a flat or soft tyre. Once these holes are correctly covered with the patch you can pump up the tube and use it again.
How do you use it.
- To find the hole, you need to gain access to your tube
- Step One: Remove your wheel. For help with this see ‘How to get a wheel off & back onto a bike’
- Step Two: Then remove your tyre with tyre levers This gives you access to the tube.
- Step Three: Look for what may have caused your hole…it may be obvious can you see any – glass, nail, gorse stuck in your tube If not, finding the hole can be a little trickier you may need to pump some air into your tube and submerge it in water give it a little squeeze and you will see air bubbles where the air is escaping. Mark the hole with chalk/marker if you have some.
- Prepare the surface for the patch. To get a good stick you need to roughen up the surface of the tube with your scraping tool and/or sandpaper. Make sure the surface is dry – use the small rubber tube it you have one.
- Apply the patch either by using a little glue or pealing off the protective layer of a self adhesive patch. The patch needs to be firmly pressed or held in place for about a minute.
That’s the basics of a puncture repair kit covered. I hope it helped you gain a little more understanding of the mechanics of your bike.
Roughening up the surface before applying glue.
Video Support
This video by Park Tools Company give you a comprehensive look at the cause of a puncture and how to repair the puncture using repair kits
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