Troul 

Seems like a typical new tire experience to me. For that one, I'd go new tire new tube. Sucky situation but it could have been worse.

GrainBrain

Meh I like the super glue/boot/bike tire idea. I shucked a GP4ks2 after 100 miles, that was a bummer.

Buy yourself a Continental 4 Seasons to replace this one after you've saved some cash.

skidder

I'd put on a new tire. It looks like you hit something and it cut into the tire rubber, maybe damaged the casing, too. Take the punctured one back to the shop you bought it at (if from a shop) and see if they'll replace it. I had a similar situation a few years ago, something sharp slit my brand-new tire only 3 miles into a pre-dawn ride, and REI exchanged it no-questions-asked.

FWIW: I've never had much luck with Continental bicycle tires, haven't used them is quite a few years. Biggest problem was the sidewalls kept rotting out and chafing the tubes when the cord started fraying after about 6 months (I keep my bicycles inside the house in a spare bedroom, so it wasn't sun exposure).

Wileyrat

I know if I showed that to my wife, he first comment would be " you're not going to ride on that, are you? ". Translation meaning, you're not going to ride on that....period.

79pmooney

For you maybe. I'd use a couple of dollar bills as a boot, replace the tube and ride home. (I ride with at least 5 bills of any denomination just for this.) Brand new tire? I'd make a permanent casing patch. One approach is to use dacron sailcloth. The stuff used for the past 50 years for small racing sailboats would work just fine. Odds are your local sailmaker will give you a scrap if you ask nicely. If you cut that patch big and glue it in with good contractor's contact cement (like the stuff for countertop laminates), that repair will easily go the distance of the rest of the tire.

I've ridden over 1000 miles on an Open Pro with a 1/2" casing cut and one of those patches. Granted, that pales in Gatorskin miles, but that 1000 miles took that tread to the casing and the patch inside was still doing it's job. And that was on a tire with a thin, light casing and probably higher pressure that most Gatorskin riders use. By contrast, the thick, sturdy casing of the Gatorskin would be a piece of cake for the sailcloth.

Ben

MePoocho

Flip Flop,

I have no idea. I just remember a 'crunch', couple of revolutions with a kinda 'clicking', then instant pancake flat. I run the same route every day and have had such good use out of my old Gator Skins (5,528 m's) I guess I was lulled into complacency or I would carry tubes, tools, and air stuff. Anyhoo,,,, I ride to maintain my present girth so I guess the walk did me good.....

Hey,,, all of you responders I really enjoyed reading all your posts and advise.

See Ya, bye

sdmc530

and wash the fork! If my wife saw I used a kitchen item in the shop she would put a fork in me lol

MugenSi

I would put a piece of gorilla tape on the inside of the tyre and fill the hole with Loctite rubber glue and stick the tyre on the rear wheel (if it isn't already on the rear)

TimothyH

Yes, Ben, for me it is garbage. I go 40 MPH regularly and would never ride a tire with a cut casing like that.

I just received two yards of silnylyon from Ripstop by the Roll to make a tent footprint. I'm familiar with sailcloth, seam sealing, gluing, etc.

Again, at $27 for Vittoria G+ on sale, I buy they by the half dozen and have zero qualms about throwing a tire like the OP's in the trash, slapping on a new one and riding with piece of mind.

The decision of whether to buy beer or a new tire would be easy for me and a new tire would have been on the bike in the time it took the OP to take photos and open this thread.


-Tim-

BrocLuno

+ 1

Slightspeed

I put a new set of Gators on for a 50 mile charity ride, and had 4 flats that day. Sometimes it's just not your day.😥
I had less than 200 miles on a new Pasela, and was bragging about how much I like them, when "Pow" the front popped. Unfamiliar with Mafac brake adjustnents, I had a brake pad rub a hole on the sidewall. Don't do that. It took awhile to find the problem after blowing out a spare tube. I didn't bother patching it, just hung it on the wall as a reminder.



It doesn't take much to ruin your day.

avole

Worked it out yet ? That's a genuine question, by the way. Try looking at it from Continental and the retailer's point of view.

Koyote

If I bought a new car and crashed it on the way home, I wouldn't expect the dealership to just give me another one.

The tire scenario is no different, other than that the tire is cheap enough that a shop might replace it just to keep a customer happy. But ethics aren't about what you can get away with - they are about what is right.

Just when do you think the purchaser becomes responsible? Is it after ten miles? A thousand miles? The only logical point at which the buyer becomes responsible (assuming the product is not defective) is when s/he walks out the door with it. Anything else is arbitrary and opportunistic.

SloButWide 

Always good advice! N+1.

avole

The art of using an example is to make it relevant. Yours isn't remotely so.

I'll try to explain, and do remember this is business, where a satisfied customer can equal satisfied customer plus 1, You let the retailer know because he sold you the tyre, in good faith, and neither he nor the rider would expect to have a tyre with such a good reputation written off so quickly. That gives the retailer a choice: he can give you a replacement tyre out of good will, leaving him with a happy customer who may mention this on forums, to friends, etc, or can take your attitude. Schwalbe are a major tyre manufacture with a good reputation, so it would be in their interests firstly to try and find whether it was a fault or a sharp stone, piece of glass or whatever, that had pierced what is meant to be a supremely tough tyre, and secondly to maintain that reputation.

My rear tyre blew out the first evening I bought the bike. I phoned the retailer, and a replacement appeared the next day, no charge. That was for me the end of the story, so you can imagine my surprise when two of the new model Schwalbe tyres turned up on my doorstep a week or two later.

Koyote

I don't know why your tire blew out -- but if was for no apparent reason other than a manufacturing defect, then yes, by all means, contact the seller or manufacturer and ask for a replacement.

The OP's tire was obviously damaged by something s/he ran over on the road. The tire was fine, no defects, no failure, no fault of the retailer nor the manufacturer. Not even the fault of the OP, since it's just the sort of thing that happens occasionally - it's called "bad luck." And it was the OP's bad luck, as s/he was riding the bike -- it had nothing to do with the retailer or the manufacturer. So why should one of them be responsible for the loss? (And I do see a direct parallel to my example, which you casually dismiss. Please tell me why it is not relevant?)

It sounds like you would still ask for a new tire, even in the situation described by the OP. And you might get it for free. I guess the difference between us is that I wouldn't ask, since I don't expect anyone else to bear the cost of my bad luck. And yes, I have been in those situations and responded just as I am describing.

Koyote

I mean, hell, if we expect sellers to bail us out each time we have bad luck, where will it end?

WNCGoater

That^^^ But most of society today expects someone else to 1. Be responsible for anything bad that happens. and 2. To pay for it.

anyway...

99% probabilty you could boot it and ride it down to the cords. But it's that 1% that will kill you. I'm cheap too but surgery costs more than a new tire, even with insurance. I'm too old for recovery/rehab/loss of wages/loss of riding time/ loss of quality of life, even if temporary. All for a $40 tire? Nah, personally I'd replace it and not look back.

But add me to the camp of, Why didn't you repair and ride home? Yeah, I'd ride it with a boot to get home but who walks 5 miles home?

avole

Koyote

You haven't given any critique of my "parallel" other than to state repeatedly that it is inapplicable..Which is the adult equivalent of stamping your feet and saying "Because I said so!" So I'm kind of done with that. It's not really the point anyway.

As far as the tire damage goes: from the OP's description, it is pretty obvious that he ran over something that damaged the tire. If you don't see that, then you probably haven't been riding very long.

You seem to be a person who likes getting something for free, and isn't troubled by the ethics. So be it.

Troul 

If the tire is backed by a warranty/guarantee that'd honor the OP unfortunate experience, ethics/morals however it's poked, it comes down to replacement eligibility.

ArmChairRider

The tube is toast. If all else fails for the tire then get a tube of Shoe Goo at WalMart and use only it to patch the tire. Put it in the hole in the tire and wipe off the excess. Put the tire aside for 3 days.
Comes in black also.
Mine hasn't hardened in the tube and I've had it going on 3 years and the stuff still works. Glued straps back on my shoes with less than 3/8" surface area. Continuous full on flexing against them and it doesn't give.
You might be able to save the tube with it also. Most likely there will be a pinhole to patch after it dries though.

spelger

BobbyG

Yeah, but it's not a carbon fork.

Lemond1985

I wonder if this incident could have been caused by one of those cheap Chinese 'sploding inner tubes? I would think having one of those rupture suddenly under 100 lbs of pressure could blow a hole into a tire. Where else is all that pressure gonna go, but straight through the tire? Though running over a nail or sharp piece of metal or glass is probably more likely.