Tire Question

Paul Cassel said:

Here is a pic of my Conti 4000 after today's ride.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/dryadsdad/tire.jpg

The cut in the tire is deeper than the wear indicators. It's right down
to what I suspect is the armor shield. Because it's this large and also
down to the belt, I am figuring that the tire isn't safe any more. It
only has about 1,000 miles on it.

I believe I cut it when I hit a bit of a hole going down an alley in the
semi-darkness right at dawn. OTOH, it may have been a simple piece of
glass which we have many of due to the celebratory nature of beer
drinking whilst driving. In either case, the 'improved' Kevlar belt
seems to have done its job admirably.

I'd like to hear that this tire still does have some life left in it so
I don't have to toss a tire which cost me U$50 only a short while ago.
Comments? Thanks.

-paul

I would not do any descents on that one, but I would still use it on
flat terrain and fortunately we have a lot of that here in the
Netherlands. Maybe move it to the back.
[censored] happens.

Lou
--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu

Paul Cassel said:

Here is a pic of my Conti 4000 after today's ride.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/dryadsdad/tire.jpg

The cut in the tire is deeper than the wear indicators. It's right down
to what I suspect is the armor shield. Because it's this large and also
down to the belt, I am figuring that the tire isn't safe any more. It
only has about 1,000 miles on it.

I believe I cut it when I hit a bit of a hole going down an alley in the
semi-darkness right at dawn. OTOH, it may have been a simple piece of
glass which we have many of due to the celebratory nature of beer
drinking whilst driving. In either case, the 'improved' Kevlar belt
seems to have done its job admirably.

I'd like to hear that this tire still does have some life left in it so
I don't have to toss a tire which cost me U$50 only a short while ago.
Comments? Thanks.

-paul

Looks kind of ugly. I would think the tube will tend to poke through at
some point, and really be a sitting duck for the first piece of glass you
encounter.

You could probably"boot" it with a piece of Powerbar wrapper between the
tube and the tire, and put it on the back wheel to reduce the impact of a
blowout. But that would be more of a temporary fix. I would toss it,
really.

Ron Abramson

Lou Holtman said:

I would not do any descents on that one, but I would still use it on
flat terrain and fortunately we have a lot of that here in the
Netherlands. Maybe move it to the back.
[censored] happens.

Not practical as I live in the mountains. I guess it's gone. Thx.

-paul

ron said:

Looks kind of ugly. I would think the tube will tend to poke through at
some point, and really be a sitting duck for the first piece of glass you
encounter.

You could probably"boot" it with a piece of Powerbar wrapper between the
tube and the tire, and put it on the back wheel to reduce the impact of a
blowout. But that would be more of a temporary fix. I would toss it,
really.

There is a layer of some sort there covering the tube. I think it's the
Kevlar layer which did its job well. I guess I will trash it. Too bad
really as the tire is almost new.

Thanks.

Paul Cassel said:

ron said:

Looks kind of ugly. I would think the tube will tend to poke through at
some point, and really be a sitting duck for the first piece of glass you
encounter.

You could probably"boot" it with a piece of Powerbar wrapper between the
tube and the tire, and put it on the back wheel to reduce the impact of a
blowout. But that would be more of a temporary fix. I would toss it,
really.

There is a layer of some sort there covering the tube. I think it's the
Kevlar layer which did its job well. I guess I will trash it. Too bad
really as the tire is almost new.

Thanks.

No need to. Use a small water bottle with smooth sides: cut out a
1-sq-inch piece of the bottle sidewall, round off any corners, and tape
it on the inside of the tire with duct tape. Try to get the piece of
plastic as large as possible, bead-to-bead ideally so as to distribute
the load the best. I've done this with many 100-mile tires that
customers throw out, hence my never having to buy tires. I've never
had a failure. I've done it on an MTB tire with a .75 square-inch
square abrasion patch that ruptured a large number of the outer cords.

Plus that area will likely be impervious to glass (but not nails).

If you don't boot it, the tube will fail from abrasion with the tire
casing. As mentioned before, use it on the rear.

Phil

Phil said:

Paul Cassel said:

ron said:

Looks kind of ugly. I would think the tube will tend to poke through at
some point, and really be a sitting duck for the first piece of glass you
encounter.

You could probably"boot" it with a piece of Powerbar wrapper between the
tube and the tire, and put it on the back wheel to reduce the impact of a
blowout. But that would be more of a temporary fix. I would toss it,
really.

There is a layer of some sort there covering the tube. I think it's the
Kevlar layer which did its job well. I guess I will trash it. Too bad
really as the tire is almost new.

Thanks.

No need to. Use a small water bottle with smooth sides: cut out a
1-sq-inch piece of the bottle sidewall, round off any corners, and tape
it on the inside of the tire with duct tape. Try to get the piece of
plastic as large as possible, bead-to-bead ideally so as to distribute
the load the best. I've done this with many 100-mile tires that
customers throw out, hence my never having to buy tires. I've never
had a failure. I've done it on an MTB tire with a .75 square-inch
square abrasion patch that ruptured a large number of the outer cords.

Yep, I've been loathe to throw away 100-mile tires myself and ended up
running through the natural life of my tires by booting as described.

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

Phil said:

No need to. Use a small water bottle with smooth sides: cut out a
1-sq-inch piece of the bottle sidewall, round off any corners, and tape
it on the inside of the tire with duct tape. Try to get the piece of
plastic as large as possible, bead-to-bead ideally so as to distribute
the load the best. I've done this with many 100-mile tires that
customers throw out, hence my never having to buy tires. I've never
had a failure. I've done it on an MTB tire with a .75 square-inch
square abrasion patch that ruptured a large number of the outer cords.

Plus that area will likely be impervious to glass (but not nails).

If you don't boot it, the tube will fail from abrasion with the tire
casing. As mentioned before, use it on the rear.

When I removed the tire, I noted I was wrong. The slit is all the way
through the tire and nicked the tube. You may be ok riding 40+ mph on a
tire split all the way through, but I'd never feel comfortable. It's
like motorcycles. I won't ride a plug, but most will.

I'm shopping now for another set of tires. I hope to find some which go
on and off easily. These are impossible.

Paul Cassel said:

Phil said:

No need to. Use a small water bottle with smooth sides: cut out a
1-sq-inch piece of the bottle sidewall, round off any corners, and
tape it on the inside of the tire with duct tape. Try to get the
piece of plastic as large as possible, bead-to-bead ideally so as to
distribute the load the best. I've done this with many 100-mile
tires that customers throw out, hence my never having to buy tires. I've
never had a failure. I've done it on an MTB tire with a .75
square-inch square abrasion patch that ruptured a large number of
the outer cords. Plus that area will likely be impervious to glass (but not
nails).

If you don't boot it, the tube will fail from abrasion with the tire
casing. As mentioned before, use it on the rear.

When I removed the tire, I noted I was wrong. The slit is all the way
through the tire and nicked the tube. You may be ok riding 40+ mph on
a tire split all the way through, but I'd never feel comfortable. It's
like motorcycles. I won't ride a plug, but most will.

I'm shopping now for another set of tires. I hope to find some which
go on and off easily. These are impossible.

I had a 3/8" sidewall cut that I sewed up and then put a boot behind it. Tire
lasted another 2000 miles.

Phil said:

Paul Cassel said:

ron said:

Looks kind of ugly. I would think the tube will tend to poke
through at some point, and really be a sitting duck for the first
piece of glass you encounter.

You could probably"boot" it with a piece of Powerbar wrapper
between the tube and the tire, and put it on the back wheel to
reduce the impact of a blowout. But that would be more of a
temporary fix. I would toss it, really.

There is a layer of some sort there covering the tube. I think it's
the Kevlar layer which did its job well. I guess I will trash it.
Too bad really as the tire is almost new.

Thanks.

No need to. Use a small water bottle with smooth sides: cut out a
1-sq-inch piece of the bottle sidewall, round off any corners, and
tape it on the inside of the tire with duct tape. Try to get the
piece of plastic as large as possible, bead-to-bead ideally so as to
distribute the load the best. I've done this with many 100-mile
tires that customers throw out, hence my never having to buy tires.
I've never had a failure. I've done it on an MTB tire with a .75
square-inch square abrasion patch that ruptured a large number of the
outer cords.

Yeah, but... your water bottles all leak! LOL

(I'd try booting it with a Genuine Park Tire Boot, and only run it on the
rear. If it lasts 2-3 weeks, then it should last the life of the tire.)

Bill "riding with Phil: thunk, kathink, kathunk" S. <eg>

Neal said:

Paul Cassel said:

Phil said:

No need to. Use a small water bottle with smooth sides: cut out a
1-sq-inch piece of the bottle sidewall, round off any corners, and
tape it on the inside of the tire with duct tape. Try to get the
piece of plastic as large as possible, bead-to-bead ideally so as to
distribute the load the best. I've done this with many 100-mile
tires that customers throw out, hence my never having to buy tires. I've
never had a failure. I've done it on an MTB tire with a .75
square-inch square abrasion patch that ruptured a large number of
the outer cords. Plus that area will likely be impervious to glass (but not
nails).

If you don't boot it, the tube will fail from abrasion with the tire
casing. As mentioned before, use it on the rear.

When I removed the tire, I noted I was wrong. The slit is all the way
through the tire and nicked the tube. You may be ok riding 40+ mph on
a tire split all the way through, but I'd never feel comfortable. It's
like motorcycles. I won't ride a plug, but most will.

I'm shopping now for another set of tires. I hope to find some which
go on and off easily. These are impossible.

I had a 3/8" sidewall cut that I sewed up and then put a boot behind it. Tire
lasted another 2000 miles.

Yup. I use dental floss and contact cement to hold the boot down. My
better repairs are almost invisible. As others have said, it's prudent
to run the repaired tire in the rear, even though I've never had a
repair fail.

PS - in the original photo, you can *see* the tube bulging through the
middle of the cut. That's what it looks like.

Mark

Mark said:

Quoted message said:

I had a 3/8" sidewall cut that I sewed up and then put a boot behind
it. Tire lasted another 2000 miles.

Yup. I use dental floss and contact cement to hold the boot down. My
better repairs are almost invisible. As others have said, it's prudent
to run the repaired tire in the rear, even though I've never had a
repair fail.

PS - in the original photo, you can *see* the tube bulging through the
middle of the cut. That's what it looks like.

Good eye. That's what it was. I missed it when taking the shot.

Paul Cassel said:

I'd like to hear that this tire still does have some life left in it so
I don't have to toss a tire which cost me U$50 only a short while ago.
Comments? Thanks.

When I get a cut which goes right through the tyre, I patch it inside with
a piece of the sidewall from another, worn-out one, so that there's still
a layer of kevlar there. I've done this several times, and so far it's
lasted the life of the tyre.

Cuts that don't initially go right through have never caused me a problem
down the track.

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

Sorni said:

Phil said:

Paul Cassel said:

ron wrote:

>
> Looks kind of ugly. I would think the tube will tend to poke
> through at some point, and really be a sitting duck for the first
> piece of glass you encounter.
>
> You could probably"boot" it with a piece of Powerbar wrapper
> between the tube and the tire, and put it on the back wheel to
> reduce the impact of a blowout. But that would be more of a
> temporary fix. I would toss it, really.
>
There is a layer of some sort there covering the tube. I think it's
the Kevlar layer which did its job well. I guess I will trash it.
Too bad really as the tire is almost new.

Thanks.

No need to. Use a small water bottle with smooth sides: cut out a
1-sq-inch piece of the bottle sidewall, round off any corners, and
tape it on the inside of the tire with duct tape. Try to get the
piece of plastic as large as possible, bead-to-bead ideally so as to
distribute the load the best. I've done this with many 100-mile
tires that customers throw out, hence my never having to buy tires.
I've never had a failure. I've done it on an MTB tire with a .75
square-inch square abrasion patch that ruptured a large number of the
outer cords.

Yeah, but... your water bottles all leak! LOL

I notice the sarcasm, but on a serious note, I was referring to
Aquafina/Dasani water bottles, or any 2-liter bottle. Often the
3-liter value bottles have thicker plastic due to the increased hoop
stress and can better hold the slit. The Aquafinas seem to hold up
well, with minimal creep.

I forgot to mention, too, that the bottle can be cut along the sweep
axis of the bottle profile, that is, the curve of the cut-out piece
should match the curve of the tire's circumference for better
conformance.

Sometimes my newly-made plastic boot will bulge a little bit when the
tire is inflated to pressure. This is an indication that the boot was
too small in proportion to the hole since it tends to get pushed
through the hole instead of being flattened against the tire, and thus
a larger patch of plastic needs to be procured.

Quoted message said:

(I'd try booting it with a Genuine Park Tire Boot, and only run it on the
rear. If it lasts 2-3 weeks, then it should last the life of the tire.)

I have found the Park Tire Boots to be too thin and pliable to last a
decent amount of time. They creep and eventually begin to push out
themselves.

Quoted message said:

Bill "riding with Phil: thunk, kathink, kathunk" S. <eg>

Thunkin/thinkin Phil

Phil said:

Sorni said:

Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote (of tossing a ripped tire):

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

No need to. Use a small water bottle with smooth sides: cut out a
1-sq-inch piece of the bottle sidewall, round off any corners, and
tape it on the inside of the tire with duct tape. Try to get the
piece of plastic as large as possible, bead-to-bead ideally so as to
distribute the load the best. I've done this with many 100-mile
tires that customers throw out, hence my never having to buy tires.
I've never had a failure. I've done it on an MTB tire with a .75
square-inch square abrasion patch that ruptured a large number of
the outer cords.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yeah, but... your water bottles all leak! LOL

I notice the sarcasm, but on a serious note, I was referring to
Aquafina/Dasani water bottles, or any 2-liter bottle.

Oh. Well that's not nearly as funny then. Rats.

Quoted message said:

Often the
3-liter value bottles have thicker plastic due to the increased hoop
stress and can better hold the slit.

Family newsgrou---- aw, I'm out.

Bill "D'oh!" S.

Paul Cassel said:

I'd like to hear that this tire still does have some life left in it so
I don't have to toss a tire which cost me U$50 only a short while ago.
Comments? Thanks.

Like others have said, that tire should be fine if you patch it from
the inside. I'd just use a thick rubber automotive patch.

Bike tires have wear indicators?

- -
Comments and opinions compliments of,
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

My web Site:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

To E-mail me:
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Chris Z The Wheelman said:

Bike tires have wear indicators?

Some do, even some slicks:

http://store.bikefriday.com/images/parts/9005.jpg

--
I do not accept unsolicited commercial e-mail. Remove NO_UCE for
legitimate replies.

Victor Kan said:

Quoted message said:

Bike tires have wear indicators?

Quoted message said:

Some do, even some slicks:

Quoted message said:

http://store.bikefriday.com/images/parts/9005.jpg

My wear indicator is a trace of cords showing through the tread
rubber. That's enough life to take another ride before changing to a
new tire. Of course the smaller the tire the faster the wear,
especially when climbing. I ride 25's and they give sufficient
warning.

Jobst Brandt

Michael Warner said:

Paul Cassel said:

I'd like to hear that this tire still does have some life left in it so
I don't have to toss a tire which cost me U$50 only a short while ago.
Comments? Thanks.

When I get a cut which goes right through the tyre, I patch it inside with
a piece of the sidewall from another, worn-out one, so that there's still
a layer of kevlar there. I've done this several times, and so far it's
lasted the life of the tyre.

Cuts that don't initially go right through have never caused me a problem
down the track.

Well, it's trash now so it's all academic. Just to clear, the slit was
completely through the tire. I could see daylight looking from the
inside to the outside. I am skeptical that such a tire, even if it was
lined by a water bottle, would maintain its integrity.

-paul