I carry a patch kit. I'm old fashioned and still use good old butyl tubes. If I can find what caused the flat (nail, glass, screw, splinter, thorn, goathead, etc) I can patch a tube faster than I can change it, and you don't even take the wheel off the bike. I've been riding over 40 years, and 9 times out of 10, the cause of the flat, is still in the tire. Locate it, pop just enough tire bead off to pull the tube out, scratch, apply glue, it's dry in seconds, apply patch, don't forget to remove offending object, shove the tube back in, pop the bead back on, inflate and go. Living in Kansas, the land of goatheads, one gets really really good at this.
I have to comment, that the above used to be common. 40 years ago we all did it. I'm blow away these days, that almost no one does it. "Wow... you can do that?" is usually the reaction I get. I'm back on the road quicker than some folks have their back wheel off.
The only time I replace the tube on a ride or race, is when I can't find the offending object in the tire, and that's rare. Like I mentioned, I probably patch-and-go 9 times for every wheel/tire-removal-tube change.
Being old fashioned, one thing I've never tried, are the no-glue self-adhesive patches. Most of the reviews I read on them are not very good. A good galvanizing glue patch will last the life of a tube, but the reviews on self adhesive patches, sound very temporary. But in a race, they would make getting back on the road about 30 seconds to a minute quicker (no waiting for glue to dry), in the above scenario.
Athlinks / Strava
I have to comment, that the above used to be common. 40 years ago we all did it. I'm blow away these days, that almost no one does it. "Wow... you can do that?" is usually the reaction I get. I'm back on the road quicker than some folks have their back wheel off.
The only time I replace the tube on a ride or race, is when I can't find the offending object in the tire, and that's rare. Like I mentioned, I probably patch-and-go 9 times for every wheel/tire-removal-tube change.
Being old fashioned, one thing I've never tried, are the no-glue self-adhesive patches. Most of the reviews I read on them are not very good. A good galvanizing glue patch will last the life of a tube, but the reviews on self adhesive patches, sound very temporary. But in a race, they would make getting back on the road about 30 seconds to a minute quicker (no waiting for glue to dry), in the above scenario.
Athlinks / Strava