Categories: Accessories and GearReverence

Reverence: Park Tool Super Patch

Tire patches? Try frame protectors.

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/”/]

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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DCR says:

Nov 4 2013 at 6:47 am

The last set of park tool levers I bought had a set of these. I hope they haven't been tossed. I am still trying to figure out a good purpose for the old/scrap bar tape I have in a box... Any suggestions?

@razmaspaz

@frank

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.

For a long time I was just reading the articles, not actually reading the comments. Which is all to say that the quality of the writing, while irrelevant, is superb.

It took me a minute to catch on to how the site worked. I spent a bit of time looking for a message board or forums section. The true gems on this site come from the comments IMO. No offense @frank your writing is superb. But the true hilarity ensues when people start posting neon kits and arguing about tire sizes. I have also gleaned more knowledge about the good ol' days of cycling in a couple days from the messages than I could in a week of internet browsing.

Cheers to the Velominati!
PeakInTwoYears says:

Nov 4 2013 at 7:30 am

@razmaspaz

For a long time I was just reading the articles, not actually reading the comments. Which is all to say that the quality of the writing, while irrelevant, is superb.

The writing is sad drivel, written by self-appointed guardians of the elitist notion that cycling is the purview of racers and pretend racers who are more concerned with expensive fashion than they are with just getting out and riding a bike for fun and sustainability. It drives a wedge into the cycling community and does a disservice to people and the planet.

At least that's what the trolls all say.
Cyclops says:

Nov 4 2013 at 8:14 am

The Park Super Patch also works awesome for fixing your shower curtain when rod loop thingy tears the hole out.
Teocalli says:

Nov 4 2013 at 8:21 am

@DCR

.............. I am still trying to figure out a good purpose for the old/scrap bar tape I have in a box... Any suggestions?

Christmas decorations? The perfect door Yuletide Wreath for a cyclist - twigs rapped in old bar tape add a bit of mud, road grit and the odd picked up twig or two, what could be better? I must go and copyright the idea immediately............
scaler911 says:

Nov 4 2013 at 9:01 am

@DCR

The last set of park tool levers I bought had a set of these. I hope they haven't been tossed. I am still trying to figure out a good purpose for the old/scrap bar tape I have in a box... Any suggestions?

Not sure what to do with "scraps", but when I change mine out, I've used it to wrap wheel barrel handles and my lawn mower handle when the foamy wrap wears out.
freddy says:

Nov 4 2013 at 9:40 am

@eightzero Are you trying to hijack this thread? It's like when an attractive woman with a revealing top walks into a pub....nice welds!
xyxax says:

Nov 4 2013 at 10:59 am

@freddy

And if that woman happened to be...

Tuesday Weld?
razmaspaz says:

Nov 4 2013 at 11:05 am

@PeakInTwoYears

@razmaspaz

For a long time I was just reading the articles, not actually reading the comments. Which is all to say that the quality of the writing, while irrelevant, is superb.

written by self-appointed guardians of the elitist notion that cycling is the purview of racers and pretend racers who are more concerned with expensive fashion than they are with just getting out and riding a bike for fun and sustainability.

Why do you think I like it so much?
Bigthumpa says:

Nov 4 2013 at 12:41 pm

@roger

@frank

@Bigthumpa

I participated in a recent sportive that had a great idea to prevent littering: They gave you a free gel if you brought your empty wrappers back to the finish.

A free gel per empty wrapper would have been nice, but it's a good start.

Based on this post, I have to ask a question: are you Scottish or Dutch? You cannot be of another origin, being that cheap.

Oh Frank, how you neglect Asians in this equation. Why, I bet you there were families of them out there picking the wrappers out of garbage bins and heading to the finish line with them, trading them in for a full one. In true Asian spirit, it would have been each member of the family making an exchange, 1 at a time...acting like they didn't just come through the line 10 minutes earlier

Och, I shoulda thought of that!
Cyclops says:

Nov 4 2013 at 2:10 pm

Meanwhile, behind the facade of this innocent looking bookstore...