tire repair (tire, not inner tube)

lucasf09

I have some gatorskin tires my bike, which were bought and pit on in about September/october kind of time, and aren't too badly warn yet.
However after a puncture today I found a shard of glass that had cut pretty nice gash on the tire. The gash is to on side and goes into the side tread gatorskins have.
I will try and post a picture tonight.
My question is, is the tire a gonner? I heard there are boot kits or something for this kind of damage, but have heard mixed reviews about them.
I don't race or go to many sportives, but am doing the London to Brighton, and don't want to have a million punctures there as my team mates won't be happy at me!

ratsbeyfus

I got a hole (about 3mm) in my Pro Race 3's first time out from a piece of glass that worked its way right through the centre of the tread. I made a tyre patch by wrapping a small piece of inner tube in gaffer tape. I then gaffer taped the boot to the inside of the tyre. It's worked fine so far for about 700 miles.

oldwelshman

Although a repair may appear fine for slower speed I would not trust it on a fast descent or fast cornerring as you needthe side walls to be strong for that as the bike is banking heavily and sidewalls take the brunt of the force.

desweller

Depends how big the hole is, if it's up to about 8mm I'd probably wrap a piece of cut-up toothpaste tube around the inner tube in the affected area (double layer beneath the gash).

Monty Dog

You can 'boot' a tyre temporarily to get you home. Regular patches are unsuitable as they aren't strong enough but a tubeless tyre repair kit might be worth trying - never got round to doing it myself but as the patches are reinforced, there's no reason (in theory) why it shouldn't work.

sungod

has the cut damaged the carcass? the woven fabric body of the tyre

if not, then the cut shouldn't affect the strength of the tyre - the rubber is there for grip and to protect the carcass

it's the carcass that provides the strength to resist the inflation pressure

if the carcass is cut, that's when i look very close to decide if i need to replace the tyre

you can use a boot to stop the inner tube pushing through a bad cut, but imho that's a temporary measure to let you get home

lucasf09

Hey,
Thanks for all the recommendations, the tare is about 8mm, though not sure if it got to the fabric or not
a pic (quite bad one to be honest), can be seen here, if anyone is interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63523854@N ... hotostream

Will probably do a temporary boot patch with old inner and gaffer tape

nickyhoward55

If the rip is completely through the tire i would just replace it. While a quick bodge will probably do short term, all it takes is one stone to be in just the right place while your on a lean and your gonna be off.

Just my opinion anyway.

cyco2

I've had a few of these in my time and hated using the tyre after a repair. You'll need to use a patch that holds the cut together when the inner tube is inflated or it'll get worse.
As a thought....if the inner tube was restricted from pushing the patch out through the wall then this would help. So, wrap some plastic insulation tape around the inner tube were it is going to fit in the tyre against the cut.

sungod

if it's the bit right in the middle of the picture, doesn't look that bad

with the tyre off the rim, you can bend it to open up the cut and see inside, it should be clear if the carcass is cut and to what extent

with a small penetrating cut, the main risk is the tube poking through under pressure, booting it will prevent that, really small ones don't even need that

with a larger cut to the carcass, the tyre is weakened, it will bulge in the area of the cut - the carcass is no longer holding, so the rubber stretches due to the internal pressure - for me that's new tyre time

lucasf09

managed to get a better pic:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63523854@N ... otostream/
but it is basically the middle of the old photo.
looks like a new tire might be in the cards then . Was hoping the would last at least a year!!!!

sungod

can't tell from the picture to what extent the carcass is cut

could still be ok, i'm sure i've got similar length cuts in the rubber

Headhuunter

Tyre everyone, TYRE! We're not the 51st state (or whatever number) yet!....

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. That cut doesn't look too bad, the risk is that if you leave it unrepaired you'll get punctures in the same spot as bits of glass and stuff get stuck in the crack.