Patching a Bicycle Tube

STEPS

1.Locate the flat. This can be done by inflating the tube until it expands as big as a car tire.
2.Listen for any hissing noise or feel for any air coming out of the tube. You can also plunge the tube in a bucket of water and look for bubbles coming out of the tube.
3.Once the flat is located, check if it was caused by a foreign object (a piece of broken glass, a thumb tack, etc.) or a pinch flat (a snake bite looking puncture). Check the inside of the tire for any protruding foriegn objects.
4.Mark the hole in the tire.
5.Open up a patch kit. There should be sanding paper, glue, and the patch for glue patch kits and just patch and sandpaper for glueless patch kits. .
6.Roughen up the vicinity of the hole as wide as the patch to be used.
7.Follow the instructions of the patch kit. Glueless patch kits usually just stick to the tube and patch kits that require glue usually takes longer but works better.

TIPS

•Glueless patch kits usually work for a short period of time, until the air from the hole manages to bypass the patch itself. Glued patch kits however chemically bond the patch to the tube, avoiding this situation to happen.
•The glue that comes with the patch kit is skin safe, don’t be scared to touch it.

THINGS YOU’LL NEED

•A patch kit
•A pump