sdimattia

Last week, I hit a pothole (or something). Back tire pinched and I had to replace the inner tube. I checked the front tire for damage and found nothing. As of today, after i topped off the air in the tires, I noticed the front tire has a very slight bulge to it. The wheel is true but the tire is definitely off. Took the wheel off and deflated/refilled the inner tube and reseated the tire and all but it's still got a tiny bulge. Haven't had any issues in the week I've been riding the bike before now. I actually can't see the bulge unless the tire is rotating.

Did I damage my front tire and it's just taken a week to appear? I'm 99% sure everything is seated correctly and nothing's being pinched but I'd rather not risk blowing out my front tire while bombing around NYC streets.

Options are to figure out the issue and fix, replace the inner tube, or take it to my LBS (not ideal, I'm rather broke right now). Thanks in advance.

suncruiser

Is the bulge in the sidewall or the tread?

79pmooney

Sounds like some of the tire cord threads are broken. If that is the case, it will almost certainly get worse. Maybe just a little and the tire goes until it dies of other causes. Or it mayu get a lot worse, leading to a hole being worn at that point in the tread, then the cord being warn dow the same way until the tire blows out. Front tire blowouts can have bad outcomes.

There is something you may be able to do. I"ve made many boots - structural patches for the tire casing - using dacron sailcloth. Not the fabric at a fabric store called "sailcloth" but the real, stiff stuff used for racing sailboat sails. If you have a sailmaker nearby and ask nicely, you be able to go home with a scrap of dacron, say for sails of a racing dinghy. Now, get ourself some contact cement. The good stuff contractors use for things like laminate countertops. Cut your patch as large as you can fit without wrinkles. Glue in as per instructions on the can. You may still have accelerated wear due to the bulge that was already there, but until you can see sailcloth, the tire will be good. This repair will almost certainly outlast the tire. (And that can of contact cement you had to pay for will repair many more tires.)

Ben

Iride01 

Are you certain what you are seeing is a bulge? Might be the tire is not quite seated correctly, which can be something quite common. When one side of the tire is seated too deep or too shallow, it will show as uneven as you spin the tire.

sdimattia

In the tread. Overinflated maybe?

sdimattia

I’ve checked the tire seating and all that, it seems ok. I also have a crappy tire pump/gauge so the psi is questionable. I’ll keep working at it. Thanks for all the thoughts so far.

sdimattia

I decided to change out the inner tube. Now, looking at the old tube, it is very soft, spongy, and stretchy. That probably isn't good. But it's weird, they've only been on the tires for 75 or so miles, they shouldn't wear that quickly. I'll keep an eye on the tire, hopefully it'll hold. Thank you for all your suggestions! I will try the boot next if the tube exchange fails .

Cyclist0108

The tube isn't going to change the tire profile.

If you are worried about a front tire blowout and are too cheap to replace it, put the suspect tire on the back, and the healthier tire on the front.