Be aware that these patches are for inside your tires, not the outer surface of your tubes, in situations where you can actually see the tube through a hole in the tire. If you're looking for glueless / pre-glued patches for your tubes, I recommend Park Tool brand for that as well though several other brands also make good pre-glued patches.
These patches are a great solution even in the worst of cases where the tire has such a large gash in it that there would otherwise be no way to inflate the tire without the tube bubbling out of the cut and exploding. The patches themselves are tough enough to hold up to debris (even glass) getting in the cut, and there is effectively no expansion out of the tire--whereas the old solution of using a dollar bill isn't nearly as good or durable.
They are rather thick--at least as thick as a tire sidewall--yet using one doesn't leave a big bump the way many glue-on tube patches do.
SIZE: I thought I would buy these three patches and try them out and then buy more immediately if they did, but each of the three is so large that you can cut several patches out of them--as suggested on the packaging. In fact, one whole patch is actually too big for a road tire, and really wouldn't be necessary in a mountain bike tire--unless it was a big three incher and the cut was reeeeeeeally bad.
CON: The only source of disappointment with this product is that the glue is only about as adhesive as that of a Post-it Note, perhaps not even that strong. The glue doesn't even hold the patch in place while you're installing the tube. However, the solution is not to glue it in place; just slip it in between the tube and the tire when you have the tube partially inflated and installed, then put the tire back on the rim and inflate to normal pressure.
Note that I haven't tried this on a mountain bike tire with low pressure yet, but have never personally had a mountain bike tire (2 inches in width or greater) with a hole that big in it.
BOTTOM LINE: Some riders pay $50 or more per tire, and when one gets a gash in it, even if the tire is brand new, that usually means putting it in the trash right away and spending another $50 or more. That's exactly what happened to me, but I didn't throw away the first tire thank goodness before buying these patches.
My replacement tire also got rather cut up over time to the point that I actually had to patch the tire itself in a couple of places. But with these patches I was able to reinstall the first tire which was otherwise completely new. And though I can actually see the patch through the gash in the road tire, it doesn't bubble out and I'm completely confident I could ride it like that for the remaining life of the tire.
I now carry one of these patches with me on every ride--just in case.
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Yesterday, I was 60 miles away from home (and 15 miles to public transit) in a rural area and got a blow out. Got 3 gashes in my tire. One was so severe, the tube was bubbling out. Got the patches out and completed the ride (20 more miles) These patches really work, and you don't know its worth until you are stuck out there in the middle of no where. My riding buddies were impressed. The dollar bill or powerbar wrapper might have worked also, but these things don't have adhesive so a tear could continue to propagate and cause a disastrous blow-out. These are highly recommended.
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These saved my but a couple weeks ago and they are cheap, you should definitely have one of these in your seat bag.
Honest reviews on Park Tool TB-2 Emergency Tire Boot (Pack of 3)
I have been in the situation of being in the middle of a ride and having the sidewall of a tire fail. People have used a dollar bill, a piece of paper, or some other item to attempt to "limp" home. This item is made for just such an emergency. I hope I never have to use it, but I ride just little easier knowing I have it.
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Many people think this is a 'patch', and it is, but it's for your tire, not your tube! You may not need to use one of these on most typical fl@ts, but when you do need one of these, if you don't have one with you, you're not going anywhere (unless you want to try the paper money trick).
They are easy to use, and I found them to make a great item to carry in my kit as a just-in-case item. Comes in a nice foil-type package, so it'll stay in your kit for a long time without going bad.
Will buy these again as I need them.
