Should I replace this tire?
 

Today I was riding and ran over a large roofing nail. By the time I got stopped and found a place to change the tube, I discovered the nail has torn a small hole in the sidewall of the tire (Schwalbe Marathon) near the bead. I was wondering: should I replace this tire, or will it be fine? The tire is inflated to ~55 PSI and isn't bulging out too much. These tires are practically brand new (purchased them back in November - less than 100 miles on them) and I'd hate to have to replace them so soon. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...70f067b644.jpg

You will probably get a variety of opinions here, but so long as it's not effecting the beading on the rim and isn't in the tread wear area of the tire, I wouldn't hesitate to run it. I might put a piece of patching on the inside of the tire while it was off to protect the tube and keep it from coming through the sidewall. I had a tire do that to me once. Even then it last quite a while because it wasn't running against anything. Good luck.

Put a boot in it. https://www.google.com/search?q=bicy...hrome&ie=UTF-8 Lots of ways to skin this cat. I would use it. With only 100 miles on your tire it should be good for another 20k miles...or so, being a Marathon.

The carcass plies (which are what give the tire its strength) have obviously been compromised so I would replace it but I am picky about both tires and brakes. If you do decide to use it I would suggest you put it on the rear, where is will have less effect on handling if it should fail. A boot would not do any harm and should extend its life.

The tire is already on the rear. Whatever I do, I'll keep a close eye on it and I'll replace it if the expands or the tube pops. The tube is barely visible, but it is nonetheless bulging. I may place something in there next time I have the tire off, but the hole is very close to the bead.

At 55psi I would boot it and ride it.

I don’t like taking chances. A tire does not cost so much that I would be willing to take chance riding it.

If there is an industrial supply place close to you buy a piece of 1/32" reinforced rubber gasket material and super glue to the tire. Put one or two plies of duct tape over it. The super glue makes the boot stiff and it will fret a hole in the tube. Keep it on the back.

I try to live economically, and try to spend the minimum on bikes and everything else. Unless people are into racing, or competition, bike tires are so cheap. Why do they even ask? I have had flat tires 10 km or more from home, and had a very long walk. I would just replace a damaged tire, and not think twice about it. Next time I have a flat tire, I may be 20 km from home. I would not risk it.

The thing about tires is: tires are what hold you onto the road, and failure can result in a catastrophic crash. Might well just happen at 5mph on the MUP. Might instead occur at 25mph on a curve ...

On that basis, alone, if it were on my own bike I'd replace. (Just isn't worth it, if the damage is more than a 'surface' thing.)

Bad place to get a decent effective repair, but Marathons are pretty robust. Some other tyres it'd be toast. You could buy some light Kevlar cloth from ebay (like 5oz grade) and glue it over the hole, with a little tuck up over the bead. Work some glue into the cloth and roughen the inside of the tyre and spread the glue as well. when it's tacky bung 'em together.

My method of repairing/reinforcing damaged tires is to glue in a patch of either nylon or nonwoven fabric on the inside with liquisole.
Sometimes both in- and outside for nonwoven. It is weaker than the nylon cloth, and I’m not found of doing testing-to-failure on the roads.
If that keeps the bulging under control I’ll happily ride the tire for the remainder of its natural life.
If it doesn’t control the bulging I scrap the tire.

How does the cost of doing a repair compare with buying a new tire. Is this false economy?

$10 for a lifetime supply of kevlar and 20c worth of glue on what is pretty well a new tyre versus a brand new tyre, Would I run a tyre repaired like this on the front, no. On the rear, sure.
If it was a little further away from the bead I'd recommend a reinforced tyre patch like the Rema Tip Top Universal Patch

I'd base my decision on what the tire looks like on the inner surface. If the damage extends to the inside and has cut through the casing I would probably replace it. Because it is so new, though, I would probably reinforce, ride, and watch it. Trust it? Probably not.

But the OP will probably only use it once. So that is $10 for the kevlar, and a whole container of glue, maybe $5 for a small container of glue. Then the repair might fail, and it was all wasted.

How much is a tire like that worth in the US?

To me it is false economy, particularly because you can't be sure it wont fail. Not to mention the time spent on it.

I always try to fix stuff first, before I throw it out. Sometimes I lose, but mostly I win. Cheapest Marathon is about $30 or so, given the tyre in question is still working ok, ie not bulging, a repair would be low risk.

IMHO there is a big difference between being economical and being cheap. If this tire will be only used for short slow rides with wife and kids around the neighborhood, sure, why not? Otherwise, it will, of course, as it usually happens, fail in the worst possible moment - somewhere 50 miles away from home, during fast turn on the descent etc. Just getting back home may easily cost more than a price of a new tire, and if it'll cause a crash with possible subsequent repairs to the bike and medical bills... I personally like long rides on roads with less traffic, which often means far away from home and in some places without cell coverage - I'd never ever consider riding something like this.

Different people have a different ways of doing things, and that is OK. It is not a case of one is right and the other is wrong.

I sometimes rescue bikes from the trash, then use these bikes which others have thrown away. But I never use tires which show any indication that they may fail. Tires are so cheap. It is not expensive to buy a new tire.

Here's some more pictures - both outside and inside, this time. The nail must have moved around and torn the hole in the very small time between the tire going flat and me trying to get stopped. The tube was torn beyond repair.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3938a3624e.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...00ce92bda7.jpg

Also, I found a gash on the inside of the tire, which reveals the green "puncture protection"/thorn-resistant layer. It's in the tread area of the tire. I have no idea how this gash happened, as it isn't even in the same area of the tire of the nail puncture and I don't think there has been any punctures in that area. There are no problems on the outside of the tire - no holes or gashes. This tire was setup tubeless for a month or two and held air pretty good, but I swapped it back to using a tube.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5c82fc7869.jpg

Thanks to the second set of pictures I'm firmly off the fence of patch-and-ride vs. chuck in the bin ASAP.

Chuck it.

Yep, looking at the inside it's toast. I'm switching camps. If I was somewhere remote I'd patch to get home or if things were desperate financially I'd patch it but if you can afford another one.... I'd run it on my pub/shopping bike but not anything else.

With that, I think I'm going to go ahead and replace it this summer. Because of the coronavirus I'm in a tight spot financially. But I'm also a college student and my university has halted package delivery because of the virus.

Is there a way I can fix it so that I can still ride it until the summer - so a few weeks? I picked up some gorilla tape tonight during my bi-weekly emergency run to the store so that I can at least do a temporary fix. The bike doesn't go very far - less than five miles or so. But I still need something durable enough that it won't leave me stranded on the side of the road a couple miles from home...

I'm wondering how that gash happened on the inside. There is no damage on the outside, and no punctures in that area. Perhaps the rim did that when it went flat? I didn't notice it before so I don't think it could be a manufacturing defect...

If you have any large patches you can try applying them to both the gash and the blown-out area. I'm talking about the same kind of patches you'd use to patch an inner tube. If the patch is thick enough, and well-enough adhered to the inner tire surface, it could well prevent the tube trying to bulge through. Maybe put on one slightly smaller patch and one larger one that extends a little further around, for reinforcement. The strength of the tire casing is compromised, but if you're doing short, 5-mile rides to the store and the tube isn't bulging out the side of the tire you should be fine. It wouldn't be my preferred choice, but if you gotta do what you gotta do, then, well, you gotta do it.

Is there a fibreglass supply shop near you? They might give you a little piece of kevlar cloth to patch the hole near the bead. The tread gash, try a tire shop and see if they have a Rema Tip Top Universal Tire patch or another tubeless tire patch of reasonable size. These are stronger than a standard patch. Available from most good car parts stores. Use sand paper to roughen the glue area for both patches. If you can find it (the tire shop might be able to help you) use Rema Tip Top Special Cement BL as glue. It is sold in 5g tubes for a dollar or so. Or use the glue from the tubeless tire patch kit. With the kevlar work the glue into the fabric until it's saturated and let it tack off while you put glue on the tire. Wait for them both to be fairly tacky to almost dry then apply the patch. I'd wrap the kevlar around the bead so it's held by the rim too. It'll look kludgy but be stronger.