Bicycle Tube Repair on the Go, Hack...ish

I love cycling, and i do it many days of the week for fun, unfortunately for me and the friends on my crew we ride trough areas where people go to entertain themselves, so result... a lot of broken glass on the road which means flats almost every ride (bummer). Well repairing a flat isn't that difficult and most people who ride bicycles know how to do it, its more of a hassle, of course there are alternatives like making your tires tubeless and filling them up with sealant, an option I've considered but decided not to do because(for me), few shops do it where i live, the valve will be changed to a special one that i cant use any of my pumps or compressors on, and the goo just leaks everywhere and its annoying also the fact that you have to flush your tires every few months and redo everything again, no thank you!!! The other option is buying tubes with sealant, which have an expiry date of a few months also, and did i mention the goo!!!... No thank you again.

Because of this i decided to upgrade my aftermarket puncture repair kit with something that never comes with it, SOAP. This little change will reduce your repair time and in the end you can wash your hands ;).

Step 1: The Why's and the How's...

So this is a very simple hack that i came up with to reduce the time it takes to find the puncture that caused the flat, believe me once it took me almost 20 min to find one(sad i know), it simply involves adding a bit o dish-washing soap to your kit, and with a few drops of your drinking water... VOILA, we got bubbles!

You're gonna need:

1 - A small toothpaste tube, needs to be small enough to fit in the repair kit and needs to be made of plastic. I got mine from a complementary travel kit from one of my many airplane trips. Free;

2 - A old syringe, no needles required. Free;

3 - Dish washing soap, any brand. Free-ish.

Step 2: Flushing the Old...

So you will only need the tube so the toothpaste needs to go, squeeze out the toothpaste without damaging the tube.

Once its all out using the syringe pump water into the tube to dissolve the remains of the toothpaste still inside(be gentle not to blow the tube or give yourself a shower with toothpaste water, remember water does not compress so make sure u release the pressure as u pump the water), will take a few minutes for all of it to come out. Once its out rinse it with a bit of soapy water and there you go, a clean container.

Step 3: Ready to Go.

Using the syringe again, load up the equivalent of the volume of the tube with dish washing soap into it and gently pump it into the tube. Be patient this stuff is thick and will refuse to go in, but since its a small container it'll fill up fast.

... And we're done, once you squeeze the tube dish washing soap comes out, You will only need a drop of it plus a few drops of your water and you'll find your pesky puncture hole in a jiffy, and... you can wash you hands afterwards or... anything that requires soap.

Hope it helps someone in the same situation, its such a simple hack that saves a lot of time, in my opinion all puncture repair kits should come with something like this. What is the point off all the tools to repair a flat if you can't find the puncture, right?

Have a great day ;).