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Tyre slash - to glue, or not to glue?

(22 posts)
  • Started 13 years ago by kaputnik
  • Latest reply from kaputnik
  • This topic is resolved

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  1. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I've picked up a nasty looking gash on this Conti Gatorskin 700x28c tyre.

    It's a matter of months old and probably only done a couple of hundred miles (that's "cyle paths" for you!) so I'm keen to try and keep the tyre. I wonder if carefully gluing this section back together will help, internet opinion is so far divided.

    It's cutting across the tyre at an angle, with an entry angle on the wound varying from about 45 degrees to very shallow, leaving a flap that can be pulled back with the thumb. This didn't puncture the tube and I can't see any of the tyre fabric... ...what does the panel recommend, any experience of such a wound?




    Posted 13 years ago #

  2. wingpig
    Member

    Which direction does it peel back in relative to the direction of normal forward rotation?

    I've heard that some people use superglue to mend superficial tyre wounds but I've always preferred puncture repair kit glue . It'll add very little strength but would hopefully prevent the flap being opened enough to give something puncturious a slight head start. Perhaps a tyre patch on the corresponding inside surface too.

    I once caught an Allen key lying on the road near Murrayfield at the wrong angle in a newish example of a usually very puncture-resistant tyre type. Despite the severity it was a cleanish wound and a patch on the inside and some vulcanising gloop to the outside let it live on for a couple more years until the tread was worn through.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  3. kaputnik
    Moderator

    It peels forwards (so in the pictures, front of bike is left, back of bike is right)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  4. wingpig
    Member

    Definitely glue it then, or it'll scoop up wee bits of sharp.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  5. kaputnik
    Moderator

    In which case does anyone have any experience of the merits of vulcanising solution against superglue?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  6. wingpig
    Member

    I'd've thought the former would result in a more flex-resilient heal than the latter...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  7. wingpig
    Member

    I might have to try something a bit stronger on mine. The wee holes were only small but the odd skid from worn-brake-black-induced wheel-lock over the past few days must have been a bit too much...

    IMAG0373 by wingpig, on Flickr
    It still got me into work, though.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  8. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    Deflate the tyre before using superglue so you can bring the edges of the cut together properly. Squirting superglue into a cut on an inflated tyre can cause more punctures as the glue hardens into a hard, hole shaped object.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  9. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Yeah I deflated the tyres to squeeze / coax the bits of glass and flint out. The rubber compound in gatorskins seems quite soft and flexible but remarkably resilient considering it's not that thick, particularly for a tyre that's not that heavy. There were a couple of entry wounds in the front that I put the smallest amount of glue in, gave it a quick blow (someone told me once that moisture helps the setting action of superglue?) and then pumped it back up to 100psi, hopefully that pressure squeezing on the cut will go some way to sealing and stopping other things getting in the holes.

    Perhaps it might be worth flipping the rear tyre over, so direction of rotation will naturally push the flap shut rather than pull it open?

    Posted 13 years ago #

  10. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    Wouldn't the force on the cut be from the rotational direction of the tyre i.e pushing backwards? That would suggest leaving the tyre as it is.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  11. PS
    Member

    Gatorskins have an intended "direction of roll" marked on the tyre wall, presumably to make the most of the tread (such as it is). Not sure whether their performance would be significantly affected by turning them round, though.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  12. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Right. Decision made then. I'll leave the direction as is and try some glueing. I'll inspect the tyre from the inside first incase there's any damage that I can't see from the outside. Will leave direction as is. I found it amusing that those little patterns on the tyre pass as "tread"

    Posted 13 years ago #

  13. DaveC
    Member

    I thought Superglue was water soluble? It appears not as everything on the t'interweb says not...??

    Posted 13 years ago #

  14. kaputnik
    Moderator

    OCH! The tyre faeries are obviously giving me a visitation. Popped over to the Gyle (on another bike) to pick up some lunch. Spun the back wheel around to give it a quick check and there's a bulging bit of sidewall with - I think - a tiny piece of inner tube peeking out. I've not had bad use out of those tyres, lasted a year and were £8 each so will investigate when (if!) I get home but I think it needs replacing...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  15. Stepdoh
    Member

    Think with my Schwalbe cityjets the direction of travel controlled which way the water channels flicked the water, or something. Hopefully none of the pixie arrows will be fired sideways.

    If I see you laid out by the roadside I'll help, but you may have to help me if i'm sitting on the curb greetin' over a broken chain :)

    Posted 13 years ago #

  16. Dave
    Member

    The tread on a bike tyre is cosmetic *unless the rubber of the tyre is harder than the surface you're riding on*. For 99.99% of us, that means the tread on a bike tyre is always superficial.

    You can't aquaplane on a bike at any realistic speed either.

    As to the OP tyre - once the casing goes I'd be inclined to replace, whereas the worst that can happen from a torn tread is that it will turn into a MTB-style (inverse) knobble.

    That said, I have ridden for weeks before on a booted tyre (I think I used a cut up bit of toothpaste tube, IIRC).

    Posted 13 years ago #

  17. kaputnik
    Moderator

    I've still got the never-used pair of Michelin Lithions that the bike came with that i can swap over to. I'll breathe in on the way home so that the added weight of air in my lungs doesn't make the tyre do a "bang!"

    Posted 13 years ago #

  18. ruggtomcat
    Member

    Im sure I saw a report on a Finnish company that said tread *does* matter... looks kosher too.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  19. Stepdoh
    Member

    your face will match your bibshorts, but can you make your ears go yellow to complete the look.

    Posted 13 years ago #

  20. Dave
    Member

    As a slight aside, I switched from a 23mm slick (with, interestingly, a slight herringbone tread) to 25mm after a cattle-grid related incident yesterday. I put an extra 20psi in against further mishap, and yet I'd swear the tyre was vastly more comfortable.

    However, the wasted tyre was a cheap 120tpi casing and the replacement one a (very) expensive 320tpi casing, which probably has as much, if not more, to do with it.

    If only they made 20" tubulars. Sigh!

    Posted 13 years ago #

  21. kaputnik
    Moderator

    On inspection I'm frankly amazed the tube hadn't punctured - there's a c. 5mm C-shaped rip in the sidewall through which the inner tube was beginning to poke. Go Vittoria Rubino £8 tyre and go Specialized turbotube!

    Anyway, the £11 (!) Schwalbe Blizzard Sport that Thebikechain sold me for special price (last on the shelf) is now going on in its place. It best not fail me, even if it is blue on a red and white bike...

    Posted 13 years ago #

  22. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Well it's done now. Hope I haven't glued the inner tube to the tyre! Can't say I'm impressed with the sticking power of rubber on rubber with superglue. Rubber to skin though? Haven't had superglue callous like this since I used to make plastic aeroplanes in my youth.

    Posted 13 years ago #

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