asmac

I was riding along minding my own business when my rear Kojack picked up a 3" drywall screw. It penetrated right at the bottom and exited through the sidewall about 1/8" from the rim.

Ironically, the flat happened about a block from my destination bike store so decided to walk over. I hadn't noticed the screw -- didn't really look -- and, with every rotation of the tire, it scratched my nice halo dyad rim. Damn!

I was able to fix it in a/c comfort -- needed a screwdriver to remove the screw -- and made use of a Filzer adhesive tire boot that had been rattling around unused in my toolkit for five years.

After riding the clearly labeled "for emergency use" booted tire for a few days, I see that the adhesive side of the boot is gradually forcing itself out of the tire and making a small 3/16" bubble on the sidewall just above the rim.

It's a nice tire and I'd like to save it. I'm considering the following and would appreciate any better suggestions or advice:

1. Cut a piece of sidewall from an old tire and glue it to the inside of the damaged tire using vulcanizing glue
2. Cut a piece of sidewall from an old tire and glue it to the inside of the damaged tire using crazy glue
3. Add a small regular tire patch on the outside of the tire to seal the puncture and reinforce it.

Or, is this tire toast?

SkyDog75

If a drywall screw completely penetrated the tire -- in two places, no less -- there's almost certainly some cord damage. Once cords in the tire's casing are cut, the tire is irreparably damaged. Most of us here would probably toss the tire, but you could certainly try booting it. (I wouldn't trust that damaged tire for fast riding like mountain descents, though.) Tyvek envelopes supposedly work well as boot material. I've got some Kevlar fabric from used drum heads.

ThermionicScott 

Dang, that sucks. But I also know the feeling of wanting to hump a damaged tire along as long as possible.

For starters, patching the tire from the outside won't do much except cosmetically, since it's in no position to resist the pressure from inside. And Krazy Glue isn't flexible, so it's out for this kind of repair. I think using a large piece of sidewall as a boot is probably the best bet, and I would cover that with a layer or two of duct tape from bead to bead to protect the tube from abrasion and spread out the pressure.



But I'd also save up for the replacement tire.

spdracr39

Think of this. If you are riding and it blows causing you to veer into traffic and get hit by a car or off the trail into a tree how much have you saved? Or, not so doom and gloom, how much is it worth to not have to walk home at the most inopportune time for it to fail? It might be fine but it might not. How much are you really saving in the end.

fietsbob

On A Long tour, I Brought a 3rd Tire and abandoned the sidewall Blown out (Rear) tire in a Tractor shed at a farm in Lower Scotland.


If you can write about it on this Forum You can find a New Tire to replace It .. Put the New Tire on The Front.

dabac

I've had very good results repairing sidewalls with a piece of nylon cloth as reinforcement and stuck in place with Liquisole. You want the patch fully saturated. Maybe both in- and outside on a high pressure tire.

asmac

$60

rmfnla

Count yourself lucky.

Last time I hit something that big it was a nail and it went through the tire and the rim!

davidad

I use 1/32 reinforced rubber pipe flange gasket material and super glue it in the tire. I cover the boot with duct tape to keep it from fretting through the tube.

asmac

That makes mine the second nastiest flat ever.

rmfnla

Sangetsu

I had an identical type of puncture on my first group ride long ago. Worse yet, it was a brand new Specialized Turbo S tire (a lot of money for me at the time). The flat happened out US 27 in south Florida, the middle of nowhere, and my patches weren't enough to repair the flat. A fisherman coming back from an early morning of fishing gave me a ride back to town, and I put in a new tube, booting it with my last dollar bill. I rode the bike a few more months until getting another puncture, by then the tire was worn out anyway. I thought about using the dollar bill to buy something to drink, but it had glued itself to the tire, and came off in small pieces.

You can probably get more life out of the tire, but booting it, or repairing it in some other way will leave it slightly out-of-round, with a high spot, or a low spot. Replace the tire when you can.