Puncture repair using latex foam from a spray can

[Ali-UK]

This week my bike was booked in for a first service. That morning I noticed a nail sticking out of the front tyre, pulled it out and the air starts leaking. It did not go fully flat it stopped at maybe 15psi. As luck would have it, I had a can of emergency tyre repair foam I bought about 15 years ago. Worth a try I thought. 

I followed the instructions and squirted the stuff in. Some of it came out of the puncture along with some of the air. Lesson learned is to put finger over the hole to stop losing too much of the pressure coming from the can. But I had a foot pump to top up with anyway. The stuff did the trick and the repair has held. Some of the foam came out around the valve stem. I can guess its a bit of a mess in there. 

Question is, how much can I rely on the repaired tube? The can says it is good "for hundreds of km" until a permanent repair can be made. 

[Canzvt]

My guess is get it repaired ASAP. The front rim is NOT a safety rim, hence the tire can come off the bead if the pressure (or some other force like foam) gets too low (anything under 20 psi with my tubeless setup), which usually means you fall off. I personally would ride it VERY carefully home, or to your tire repair shop for a quality repair. Tubes are meant to be repaired (patched) or replaced, not foamed. Tires can be foam repaired and last quite a while. You may also have success with the foam in the tube/tire, but I personally wouldn't trust it. Also would not want to replace the tube/tire later. It will be an absolute mess to deal with.

[Ali-UK]

I was a bit stuck because of no centre stand, being unable to unmount the wheel let alone fix it. But since the dealers have fitted my centre stand I can now get the wheel off without laying the bike on its side. 

Yes I'll get the tube replaced. 

For the journey to and from the dealers I took it slow, pumped the front up to 36 psi and checked it a couple of times - there was no heat build up.

Just wondering in a different scenario and I replaced the tube myself, is repairing a hole in the tube the same as for bicycle tyres? I fix my mountain bike tyres all the time. Could I just use the same repair patches I use on my bicycle?

 

[Canzvt]

Yes. Perhaps a bit more care and attention to detail may be required as the risks of failure are greater, but its pretty much the same process. I would recommend carrying a spare front tube just in case you need one which can also do double duty as a rear tube in an emergency. Patching a tube on a road going bike (especially one without a safety front rim and/or tire pressure monitors) CAN be a recipe for disaster but MANY (including me) have ran patched tubes for years without problems. I've converted my T7 to tubeless (posted elsewhere on this site) so I can use tubeless tire repair solutions which are much quicker, and less risky, but they have their cons as well. If you choose to go this way, a good TPMS is almost required to keep an eye on pressures. Low front tire pressure can cause a great amount of pain when it comes off the bead.

[Ali-UK]

Carrying a spare tube is standard operating procedure on a mountain bike. 

Thanks for the answers