jefnvk

After 2200 miles in 2 years and no issues, the flat scenarios have finally caught up to me, with two in three weeks! Unlike my last full on blowout, this was a relatively benign slow leak puncture (thankfully, as I forgot to put the saddlebag with a spare on the bike )

Quick question: at what point is patching a TIRE actually necessary, versus just making sure the debris is clear and patching/replacing the tube? If it is just a small puncture, is a boot/tape necessary? Also for future reference, at what point is a puncture in a TIRE too sever to fix?

TimothyH

If the hole is big enough for the tube to push through and flat again then you need a boot.

Assuming the tire will be serviced more thoroughly when you get home, it doesn't hurt to put a boot over a hole even if you think it might not be needed. It is better to err on the side of caution than to get stuck.

I've never patched a tire and never seen anyone do it. I tend to throw away tires that most people would use.


-Tim-

Juan Foote

You pretty much answered your own. A boot for a hole or rip as a temp fix to get a new tire.
I have read of people on tour who were away from supplies use an old inner tube as a liner, but rarely hear of it working well in respect to pinch flats, etc.

Beach Bob

Saw a good trick on the road a few weeks ago. Fellow had worn a hole right through the tire which left the tube exposed. A passing rider stopped to help the guy out with the tube replacement and told him to fold up a dollar bill to slide over the hole to protect the tube so he could ride back to his car/bike shop/whatever for a new tire.

Filed the trick in the memory bank in case I saw a similar breakdown...

BlazingPedals

I've heard that a Gu package works as a boot, too. Anything that is strong and flexible - but not so flexible as to push out the hole. Boots are just to get you home.

jefnvk

So people replace their tire every time they get a flat is the impression I am getting? Seems incredibly pricey.

Juan Foote

Well, no....I was of the impression the question was about a boot on a worn or damaged tire.

In respect to repeated flats on the same tire, look for embedded debris/metal in the liner of the tire poking through.

One of the reasons to line up the writing on the tire with the valve is so that when you pull the tube, find the hole, you can also inspect the tire itself at a precise area. It gives you reference.

Maelochs

I never replace a tire no matter how many pinhole punctures it has. Tires can stand up to that stuff all day long for years.

If the sidewall or tread is torn, or if the tread is worn down to the cords, the tire needs to be replaced. This could happen from a panic stop flat-spotting a tires, of an piece of roadside debris catching and tearing it, or riding over something substantial---not a single-point puncture, but say, a piece of angle-iron or something---which cuts the body of the tire.

You can run over a dozen roofing nails ... just pull them all out, pop in a new tube, and ride that tire for however long you want. No problem.

Leebo

Or they replace them after 2 years and 2,200 miles when there are worn out. You replace your car tires when they wear out? I do.

wphamilton

Two flats in three weeks can be random, not necessarily having anything to do with your tires. Actually, this time of year I see more debris on the road (sticks, branches, seed pods etc) which makes flats more likely. As a general rule I don't ride over sticks, or anything really, and my incidence of flatting has gone way down.

I ride tires until I see the layer of threads in patches. No way would I replace a tire just because it has 2200 miles and I had a flat or two!

BobbyG

Tire liners may help. I've been using them for a few years now (Mr. Tuffy's). Before tire liners I would get about 2K miles from tires (maybe 50% more if I woulda thunk about rotating them). Now with liners and rotation, I can use tires even longer barring catastrophic damage.

tgmcmonigle

A dollar bill works well as an emergency boot because it has threads in it to keep it from just tearing and letting the new tube protrude through the hole. I found these neat little patches from Park tools that I think work a little better, especially since they have an adhesive back to keep them in place. Depending on the size of the hole, you may be able to use these as permanent tire patches:

Park Tool TB-2 Emergency Tire Boot (Pack of 3)

Homebrew01

No one said that. I wear my tires down to the cords. I replace damaged tires, that I deem unsafe or unroadworthy..

As mentioned, there are various "boot" methods for temporarily fixing damaged tires.

GlennR

Replace if there is a obvious hole.

A "boot" is a temp fix to get you home.

bulldog1935

As the rubber wears down on your tire, incidence of flats picks up. There's simply less rubber there for sharp and abrasive debris to get through to your tube.
When this happens, jack it up and put a new one underneath. If you got 2200 miles from a tire, you did well.

Drew Eckhardt 

After just 2000 miles the front should be like new and rear may have plenty of life left. I get about 4500 miles out of Continental GP4000SII tires on my rear wheel after a similar distance in front.

Tires aren't worn out until they look like this GP4000S with 1037 front miles followed by 5257 rear or the flat rate becomes unacceptable which is less likely on tires that aren't relying on rubber thickness alone to prevent punctures:


Two flats in three weeks could still come from environmental problems that'll cause problems with new tires too, like rain which has washed debris onto the road or a stretch of regular route that hasn't been swept recently.

demoncyclist

If you can see damage in the casing of the tire (the fabric under the rubber tread), then boot it until you can replace it. A pinch flat usually doesn't damage the cords, and neither does a simple puncture. Dollar bills work in a pinch, but I keep some small strips from a tyvek envelope (like the kind that FedEx uses) in my flat kit. They are really strong and flexible, and free to boot.

Drew Eckhardt 

Just note that dollar bills need to be doubled over. I blew one out trying to use a single layer on a small cut.

TimothyH

Some cuts require a five dollar bill.

Twenties work every time.



-Tim-

practical

When you get a slow puncture flat, it is likely that the source of the puncture is embedded in your tire and will cause another flat. You need to inspect your tire very closely and thoroughly to find that small pebble of glass or whatever. If you don't find it, chances are you missed it and look again. I agree with previous posters who say you don't need to replace tires until the cords show or there is significant damage. Does anyone know if there is a product that will fill small holes in the tires?

Homebrew01

I've heard people using various glues like ShowGoo, Superglue etc., not sure which is best.

79pmooney

My approach to road flats is pretty simple and timeless. I carry: 2 plastic tire irons, a small patch kit, 2 tubes in a sock (more on the sock below) and at least 5 bills in my wallet. Zephal HP or HPX on the bike. When I flat, I find the problem and check the tube. Then patch the tube if possible. (We get epidemics of that fine steel wire from truck tires, often less than an 1/8" long and very hard to find when neither end is protruding from the casing. Patched tubes make finding those wires far easier, both because the marker is easy to find and multiple flats from the same piece of hidden wire become very obvious.)

Now, punctured and cut tires: For small stuff I just use a tube patch. Bigger and I use the bills. Really big and I have been known to use up to the 5 hooking one or more under the beads.

The bills are just to get me home. THen I do a full repair with sailcloth (ask any sailmaker for some dacron sailcloth appropriate for dingies -a foot or so of scrap probably won't cost you anything and it is A-1 first class patching material for permanent tire casing repairs, even large ones). Cut the boot oversize. I often go bead to bead and and inch or more beyond the cut. Glue in with contractor's contact cement. (The stuff with real warning re: fumes. Take the warnings seriously.) This will last as long as the rest of the tire except that taking the tire on and off tends to be hard on the gluing and will sometimes need to have the edges glued down again. Sailcloth matches the feel and performance of tires really well and you will not notice it at all riding.

I regularly ride tires to the end of the tread with cuts early on that many posters here would tell me to scrap. I like riding $75 tires. I cannot afford to just toss them because something happened at 500 miles. Tires that get cut go into a pile. About once a year, I pull out the sailcloth and glue and go at it. Then I have a stack of nice tires for a while. (And to Demon Cyclist - using bills is just a low interest loan, it doesn't actually cost anything. They are completely usable later (and will do even better run through the laundry if needed).

Ben

wphamilton

One would think so, but in my experience with road bike tires there is no correlation between the tire's rubber thickness and flats. Until the cord is showing - that layer can wear through quickly and then you get flats.

jefnvk

Oops, guess I wasn't clear enough. 2200 miles extraneous information, it is spread over multiple bikes, just frustration that I went for so long with nothing and then had two in three weeks!

Hole itself was just a tiny shard of glass that stuck itself through. No obvious damage to the tire other than a tiny hole that appears to seal itself up, the question was more if there was any process that was warranted to ensure it stayed sealed. It appears there is not!

rm -rf

Only replace it if the cut is a longer slice in the tire. I look for bulges in the tire after I pump it back up. That means the fabric under the rubber tread can't hold the pressure any more.

I've tried patching a new tire with one of those fabric cuts. It rarely works. EDIT--but see my post below, responding to 79pmooney's sailcloth method.

~~~~
As tires get old, there will be slits in the rubber from hitting sharp stuff on the road. It's hard to fill the slits--super glue is too brittle, and falls out in the first ride. Shoe Goo can work, but the tube of goo dries up after it's opened. So now I just ignore them. I might check the tire tread occasionally, and use a tiny screwdriver to examine the slits, to make sure there's no glass in them.