Reverence: Park Tool Super Patch
The first tire patch kit I ever owned came in a big green box, had several patches of various sizes which were possibly made of old truck tires. It also came with a sheet of 60 grit sandpaper. The mild high offered from sniffing the glue while applying the patch almost made you stop caring you’d gotten a flat in the first place. Stoned on glue and hypoxic from the V is no way to mend a tire, and most times the patch would start to come off even before I pumped it up and I’d have to start over. Don’t even start me on peeling the clear cellophane off the patch.
The telephone capability of my iPhone is the least-used feature on the device; I email, schedule, text, voxer, browse, twitface, photograph, drop, forget, lose, and find my phone much more than I ever use it to place a call. It has replaced my wristwatch, alarm clock, and flashlight. For some of you, it has even replaced the cyclometer. All this is to say that in today’s view of the world, the value of a product is directly proportional to how useless its original function is.
By that measure, the Park Super Patch kit earns its place in the pantheon of the Reverence series by being more useful as a frame protector than it is as a inner tube patch. They are phenomenal tire patches – much better than the old orange-trimmed slabs of tire I used growing up, but who wants to use a tire patch, much less love one? Therein lies the answer; even as the world of Cycling irrevocably makes its departure from the tire and tube with one faction moving back to the tubular tire and another to the tubeless tire, these patches will continue to feature on frames around the world, dutifully keeping cables from scuffing paint.
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/frank@velominati.com/Tire Patches/”/]
Way to go, way to rub it in! One of the frame protectors on my Tommasini just lost its stickiness, I went to replace it…and my tool box is bereft of more. Darnit.
But oh wait, I have a bunch of those PT patches and have never dared use one on a tube. Frank, you’re a lifesaver with this framesaver idea! Nice.
(my phone doesn’t do anything more than make/take calls. I love old Nokia bricks.)
Fan-fucking-tastic idea! Heading to the shop immediately.
And they are phenomenal tube patches too? Hmmmm, that is news to me. I’ll have to try them again. But that would do away with the glue solvent brain damage. I guess I could keep a tube of the glue in the kit just to keep morale up on the side of the road.
Glueless patches are good for getting you home. Anytime I try to use one on the next ride they fail.
With the weight of those old patches, I often wondered if I needed to put another patch on the opposite end of the tube just to keep the wheel balanced.
On the frame protector: it seems the best ideas are obvious – after someone else suggests them. Well done.
@DerHoggz
Agreed. They always fail after a period of time. Also, good luck trying to make them work in the wet. I’ve gone back to the old style patches as I’ve found that they are more secure if done properly.
@mouse
My last use was in the wet, the Lezyne scraper that is in their patch kit seemed to do an okay job of cleaning it.
Incidentally, I have had more flats in a month on Gatorskins than the 5 months on Veloflex…
Excellent frame protector, but I’d never use em as a patch. Properly applied, the orange, solvent applied patches actually stay on…the stick on ones not so much.
Two words: Internal routing.
And what was it with peeling the cellophane off? Most times all it did was start to remove the patch you had so carefully just applied. I usually resorted to leaving it in place, justifying it as a means of preventing the patch from sticking to the inside of the tyre.
How many still patch their tyres? I do but get told off by the newbies that it’s old school.
Do these Park patches have a use by date? For years I’ve carried a pack as an emergency get me home fix if I ran out of new tubes. Never ever used one. If I repair when I get home it’s by the traditional feather edged patch, vulcanising solution and French chalk method. Done right that doesn’t fail. By all means leave the cellophane backing in place but not any metal foil backing. I’ve never even considered using a PT patch as a frame protector. Thanks Frank. Better than clear Lizard Skins?
iphone still predominantly a calling device for me.
@Rom
The “new” way of disposing and not fixing things gets my goat. The worst example of this is disposed inner tubes thrown away by the side of the road. Such people are not cyclists.
They are good for temporary repairs on the damaged screens of smart phones as well – as they are transparent the touch screen still works!
@JohnB
I used one that was 5 years old a couple of months ago. It’s still attached and working ok.
@Rom Patches are useful after the second puncture in a ride. That doesn’t mean I leave my tube by the side of the road, though.
Great idea as a frame protector frank.
@Teocalli
+1 on the discarded tubes on the side of the road. Unfortunately they are cyclists Jim, but not as we know it.
Hardmen used to carry their spare tubulars criss-crossed over the shoulders; no patches. Thought for some time that the spaghetti-western cliche was a spoof of such casual deliberance and elegance. “We don’t need no stinking patches”.
There is certain elegance in appropriate application of a tool or device outside of its original design intent. This is one. May Merckx smile upon you.
As a ‘get me home’ tire patch, the PT Patch is the device of choice for me. But for the long-term tube repair, I remain a committed user of Rema TipTop patches!
There are other applications of PT Patches as well including vibration damping shims.
Enjoy today’s ride!!
@Mike_P Good to know. Thanks.
What do you all use for permanent patches? I have a big box of punctured tubes.
@DerHoggz
As a rule, I never use a tire that’s been mended beyond getting home; I always replace it with a fresh tube when I get back to the house.
I bring the old tubes to REI for recycling with Alchemy Goods.
@The Grande Fondue
This. I ride with one spare tube; anything else is patch territory, though I rarely wind up using them. Lately I’ve been carrying the Lezyne patches because the package is smaller; they’re basically the same patches, but I keep the Parks around for protecting the frame.
@Bigthumpa
Did you look at the photo(s)?
@JohnB
Ironically, I just found my phone on the sidewalk when I took the dogs out this morning. I am very light on my gear for the most part, and generally don’t lose things or break them.
My phone somehow takes a massive beating and gets lost all the time. This is an inexplicable phenomenon.
@il ciclista medio
It wasn’t my idea; someone suggested it. But it works great.
@Teocalli
In my 30 odd years of cycling, I have never once in my life seen a rider discard their tubes at the side of the road. Seems to me an urban legend.
@frank
Ah…
@frank Park Tools patches are great for getting you home. But yeah, just replace the tube when you get home. As for the phone, I might make 10 minutes worth of calls per billing cycle.
@Bigthumpa
My theory is that for the first 30 minutes that an article is up, people read it. After that, 50% of the people glance at the lead photo, skip the article, and jump to the posts. 50% don’t even look at the photo.
It’s hard to track the analytics on this, so I have to rely on people doing things like that to gather the data. So really you’re just helping to support the theory.
Which is all to say that the quality of our writing is irrelevant to the experience of the Community. From this perspective, it amazes me that the book is selling.
@frank
Maybe it’s a UK ID-ten-T problem as I see all too many over here. I guess I need to start picking them up and try to find something like Alchemy or just bring a bag over when I’m out in Colorado and drop them in at REI.
Very timely @frank
Did a ride around the Breacon Beacons this morning in the best part of a gale – crap all over the roads and falling from the trees; sure enough I picked up a couple of punctures. 1st one – new tube, second one I used some crappy Zefal patches. Apparently you have to apply pressure for 60 seconds…in the pissing rain and gusting wind. It was a case of 3rd time lucky and a sense of humour failure.
Zefal, if you are going to sell something, make it fit for purpose.
I turned on the pc to buy Park Super Patches – they work everytime.
It’s not you, Frank. It’s us.
@frank
I avoid new articles for days because I’m too lazy to read them, which I do before posting. I enjoy them, but it is such a major commitment.
@frank
Hey, I always read the articles. ALLLLWAAAYYYSSSSS.
@frank Been reading articles intermittently, but also posting intermittently. My category — intermittent.
@DerHoggz
Fascinating. I had the exact same experience when Gatorskins first came out. Had the shittiest Vittorias for my commute that would last several months without a flat. Put Gatorskins on and had 5 flats in three weeks. Never have used them again. Using Ultremo ZX exclusively now on my commute (and racing – same bike) and – touch wood – have had exactly two flats in 18 months.
@mouse
Haven’t had a single flat in 18 months on Gatorskin and 4000 s, but convinced to try the Ultremo anyway. Are you riding thru scrap metal yards.
Very, very few flats on either Gatorshins or 4000s. But try descending on the former.
@Rom
I do. I learned in, oh, ’58? I’m comfortable riding on them as well. My record is five patches on a tube. I had to throw that tube out when I bent the teat at the top of the non-replaceable valve core. Serves me right for doing a road race that included a sand wash, which is where I suspect it got bent.
I don’t like frame protector patches. Its like people that leave that clear plastic film on their phone screens for as long as possible when then get them. I think they look worse than a wear on the frame. A little patina is good, no?
@PeakInTwoYears
Or riding in the rain. Last weekend during a rainy ride, we rounded a corner at a moderate speed and the rear tire of the guy in front of me just slipped over 15cm or so. He was riding on Gatorskins. He’s a skilled rider, so it didn’t mess him up. The guy in front of him was on 4000Ss, I was on Michelin Krylions, and neither of us had any traction problems.
@frank
@ frank I think the writing’s great, it’s what sparks the comments and sets the tone for the experience of the Community. When I first learned of the Velominati and read the Rules online, my S.O. ordered the book for me based on my reaction, before the U.S. version. I enjoy coming here.
Did someone say there was quality writing here?
@scaler911
Isn’t co-enabling great!
@Bigthumpa
One word: titanium.
I patch the shit out of the tubes for my training bike, but avoid racing on patched inner tubes – it’s just not the done thing. I’m more likely to pour on the heat and plow through shit (potholes, debris) in a race than in a training ride or club ride, when I’ll be more delicate and try to avoid stuff, and I don’t want a patched tube to start leaking if I hit something.
Gatorskins are training tyres, not racing tyres, and one of the properties that makes them a better training tyre is a harder tread compound. Less grip, more durability. Expecting it to ride like a soft Michelin is like grabbing the wrong end of the donkey for a ride at the fairground.
@Teocalli
I’m with @frank on this but as we only live a few miles apart I’m going to need to keep my eyes open for this disgraceful behaviour. Dont like the thought of verbally abusing another cyclist, but like you said, these tossers clearly aren’t on the path.
@Mike_P
Mike – there are a very small minority of sportive riders who seem to do it, which is where I see it mostly and as I regularly cycle sportive routes around here I see them left over afterwards. Doubtless hell bent on a Strava time and can’t be bothered to take their trash home. It’s not huge numbers but enough to be sad about the attitude of people who do it.
@scaler911
Many years ago I bought my father a Birthday Card which rather backfired on me. It went something like, on the front “Dad, I listen to every piece of advice you give me” then inside it said “I ignore most of it, but I do listen. Happy Birthday”.
@Teocalli I hear you. I rode my first Italian gran fondo last year and the organisers were very clear, if you’re reported as a litterer you’re banned from the next year’s entry. The route was virtually spotless other than around the bins at feed zones. I fear the explosion of events in the UK, many of which are poorly organised and simply jumping on the bandwagon of popularity, influence this shoddy behaviour. Plus UK society in general seems to be moving towards complete acceptance of the basest levels of antisocial behaviour. Time I got off my soap box. Rant over.
On the etape caledonia the number of tubes, bottles and wrappers strewn around was disappointing. After all its not a race so you can take a few more seconds to put stuff back in your pocket surely. It was the number of bottles I found amazing, obviously a lot of people get them FOC?
@norm I agree, up to a point; I was just servicing my well used CX and noticed that there was some cable rub around the head tube – the metal shining through the dark gray paint adds character, likewise the scrapes from stacking it. If this was on the #1 carbon I would have been distruaght.
Battle scars on an MTB or CX may be fine and I guess even on an older ride, but on a shiney new #1? no.
There is no excuse for breakig Rule #65 – pantina from use is one thing, neglect is something quite different.
@revchuck
I big part of that can be how he weighted his bike, not the tires.
But to that point, I do prefer GP4000 All Weather’s over the gatorskin, which seems to give up a lot of road feel for not much more protection.