tyre cuts - best fix?

itsnotarace

The trouble with superglue is that it's brittle and will eventually fail. I use Aquaseal which is wetsuit repair glue, if the cut goes right the way through you can use Aquaseal to glue an inner tube repair patch on the inside. Put this stuff on with the tyre deflated and then pump it up to seal the cut

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aquaseal-Uretha ... VV84JJY80Y

Daz555

As a kid, even if our tyre had a two inch long hole which showed the tube sticking through we'd just patch up the hole with a piece of an old tyre underneath.

None of us ended up killed to death as a result.

People worry about this stuff way too much.

slowbike

itsnotarace wrote:

The trouble with superglue is that it's brittle and will eventually fail. I use Aquaseal which is wetsuit repair glue, if the cut goes right the way through you can use Aquaseal to glue an inner tube repair patch on the inside. Put this stuff on with the tyre deflated and then pump it up to seal the cut

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aquaseal-Uretha ... VV84JJY80Y

Ah - just what I need thanks - I've got a small cut in my nearly new 4000s having suffered a puncture on a fast downhill - by the time I stopped the rim had cut through a couple of mm of the tyre.
I replaced the tyre, but it pains to bin what is otherwise a perfectly good tyre - so thinking of repairing it and relegating to rear wheel commuting trips ...

Elfed

Daz555 wrote:

As a kid, even if our tyre had a two inch long hole which showed the tube sticking through we'd just patch up the hole with a piece of an old tyre underneath.

None of us ended up killed to death as a result.

People worry about this stuff way too much.

Is there a way of being killed and not dying?

Sorry, couldn't help that, hope you see the funny side

rolf_f

Daz555 wrote:

As a kid, even if our tyre had a two inch long hole which showed the tube sticking through we'd just patch up the hole with a piece of an old tyre underneath.

None of us ended up killed to death as a result.

People worry about this stuff way too much.

No you did. Your entire life after being killed to death by an inner tube exploding out of a botched tyre repair has actually been a Hollywood style death dream sequence. None of us are actually real.

I got a hole in the side of a tyre on my commuting bike a couple of years back. I had no spare tyres so whilst I waited for a delivery, I patched it with cardboard (that I happened to have in my pack). Of course, i couldn't be bothered to fix it when I got home so I kept getting punctures as the cardboard failed and the broken wires of the carcasse rubbed the tube.

After at least two punctures, it took a proper inner tube explosion to get me to make a better repair. None of this killed me to death either.

I've currently got a piece of old tyre booting the inside of a Rubino Pro that had a bulging cut on it. That seems fine too.

craker

Rolf F wrote:

I've currently got a piece of old tyre booting the inside of a Rubino Pro that had a bulging cut on it. That seems fine too.

I tried that on some Gatorskins that had a low mileage. Kept on getting punctures, it wasn't til I'd noticed that each puncture was the same shape that I realised my boot had sharp enough edges to get through a 100 psi tube.

Initialised

Slowandsteady wrote:

Wee dab of super glue on the bigger ones for me.

If you're out on a ride though and a tyre splits, say on the side wall, causing a puncture, what do you use to repair the tyre so the tube doesn't blow our the split and puncture again?

A gel wrapper bought me 30 miles, enough to swing by a bike shop and get a spare tyre and get me to within a mile of home before the tube exploded through the wrapper.

I'll forgive the Spesh Espoir Elite as it had just done a mixed terrain 60 miler and was into the 4000 miles + range. It's now been downgraded to a tyre liner for my 28s.

For cuts I use superglue, I did have one puncture which may have been wear on the tube from a glued cut so maybe the superglue gel is a better option.

wishitwasallflat

I was killed to death recently but fitted a life boot made out of an old dream, its ok but I do worry on fast emotional descents that it won't hold. Recently tried to price match a new life on wiggle but they said it was existentially compromising and they wouldn't do it so holding of to get a 2014 life in the sales when the 2014s and 15 models come out.

gubber12345

rickeverett wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

adr82 wrote:

littledove44 wrote:

I'm sort of glad to hear this! I had a theory that repairing a cut using a material which had the properties of a shard of glass might lead to punctures but I'd never heard of it actually happening! With hindsight, it isn't exactly a sensible solution to a problem that probably doesn't actually exist........

Dont know if I have miss-understood you but the problem is the stuff that gets back into the cut and the cut opening slightly.

We are talking a few mm here, not massive cuts. But the other day I had bits of grit and glass working there way down old cuts towards the threads.

I have the same suspicions about super glue too. It dries like plastic and sharp. Puncture / rubber glue is flexy but doesn't last.

what I did with mine at the weekend was take the tyre off and stuck a patch on the inside of the tyre where the cuts were, not sure if its gonna work but I certainly hedging my bet that it will.superglue is a complete no no in my book, really cant see how it can work.

itboffin

if only i'd seen this thread earlier i wouldnt have wasted my money buying Rolf something nice for xmas instead i could have sent him my MASSHOOF collection of dirty tyres, i bin them once they get mucky just too be safe :roll:

jermas

For small deeper cuts that have penetrated the carcass I've used these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-NEW-TYRE-PUNCTURE-REPAIR-PATCHES-45mm-UNIVERSAL-CAR-QUAD-BIKE-LORRY-TRUCK-/321176334847?hash=item4ac799f1ff:m:mY7FqUevBXadFemqXymUgyg with success. I wouldn't use on large sidewall cuts, but on others they make a permanent repair as they're reinforced. Just roughen/clean the inside of the tyre and use normal vulcanising cement (puncture glue).

rolf_f

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19766335#p19766335]itboffin[/url] wrote:

if only i'd seen this thread earlier i wouldnt have wasted my money buying Rolf something nice for xmas instead i could have sent him my MASSHOOF collection of dirty tyres, i bin them once they get mucky just too be safe :roll:

Oooooh, goody! Pressies! I wonder what you got me. Don't worry - I like nice things as well as crap things. Can I have the tyres too?

stevewj

a small amount of silicon filler (like what goes round the edge of the bath) works perfectly. Just put a spot in the dry cut, smooth it over and leave to dry overnight. It flexes with the tyre and leaves the hole permanently filled.

itboffin

An inner tube patch on the inside works perfectly too

itboffin

Schoolboy error today I flatted 5 miles into a ride but took plenty of time to check for the cause, finding nothing I popped in the new tube gassed up and went about my way, 15 miles later I had that familiar soft rear feeling, this time I looked at where on the tube the puncture was and compared it to the first tube, yep same spot.

On closer inspection a small flint in the tyre small enough to hide but big enough to gently poke the tube.

Grrr 20 miles home on 80 psi into a brutal headwind wasn't much fun

meanredspider

Ooh - I hate that when you dont find the cause. These days I'm almost paranoid about finding it.

GP4000S - I flat on just about every ride I do on those things - I won't touch them now. That said, I'd rather those than the Bontrager Hardcase tyres - fitted one once as an emergency tyre to get me the 15 miles (it felt like 30 they're so grim) home - flatted TWICE!

But I'm with those that just leave cuts as they are. I'm running a set of Open Paves that have served a year in Amsterdam city centre (plenty of glass) and they are shredded but haven't punctured. I certainly wouldn't be trying superglue - entirely the wrong application for the stuff.

Spinning the wheel in good light is definitely worthwhile though. Probably one of the reasons the AMS Paves lasted is that, whilst waiting at lights, I'd roll forward slowly inspecting the front tyre for shards of glass. Better 2 minutes doing that than fixing a flat on (inevitably) a cold wet day b