Tire Bead-Rip Repair

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sleddriver

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Is this possible? Still plenty of tread left.

Tube popped while neighborhood riding. I fix the tube, inflate and notice a bulge coming out of the tire side, close to the bead. Remove the tube and patch from the inside with UL-181B (commercial grade) duct tape. Reassemble...it still bulges. Haven't tried stitching then gluing it. Any suggestions?

I hate to spend another $20 on a Michelin tire...bummer.
 
My $0.02:

I 100% agree with Johnny. Carry a spare tire. You will not successfully repair a tear in the sidewall of any bicycle tire. I have used Gorilla Tape (the Black stuff)on the inside of a tire to cover small cuts in the tread long enough to get to a new tire. I recently did that on a tread cut that was about 1/4th of an inch. But I would NEVER do that with a cut in the sidewall. And there were signs that it would fail when I pulled the tire off after the maybe 20 miles it took to finish my ride.

When my wife and I are touring, we always have 2 tubes and one spare folding tire. You can get a very good tire for $50.00 and a great tire for under $100.00

While I am on a rant, why do people try to make DIY studded bicycle tires. You can get a good studded tire for maybe $50 more than a comparable tire without studs. Why take a needless risk for $50.00???
 
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If you ride on the road get a new tire, roads are hard and you could fall in front of a car. Do it and don't look back. If you just have to do it put it on the back.

I bought a new mountain bike in 2016 with the big 27.5x 3.0" tubeless tires. In the first month I got a 1" cut in the sidewall on the rear. These tires are close to $100 so I cleaned it up, stitched it with something my wife had and patched it on the inside with a large patch. It's held up to a bunch more offroad riding but it's about to go finally. Glad I did it but wouldn't think of it on a bike ridden on pavement.
 
The bike is an old Rockhopper. Tire-in-question is on the rear. Split is about 3/4". Ridden mostly on neighborhood pavement and smooth trails. Max velocity is less than 20 mph on gentle hills. Way too hot past couple of months (and more to come until late Sept.) for the serious hills I do in the cooler season.

I saw one guy use zip-ties around the tire. Another used HD duct tape. Won't work on my ride due to rim brakes.

I'm liking the stitch/glue/interior patch just for curiosities sake. I have a spool of Dacron left I used for sail work. I also have some NP1, which is incredibly tenacious while remaining stifly flexible ITMAS.

It the tire's indeed a goner...why not experiment?
 
The "why not" is that sudden catastrophic failure of a bicycle tire can result in serious personal injury. It can blow out when you are inflating it and cause injury. It can fail when you are riding and cause injury.

Just the severe imbalance in that tire can make it start a speed wobble, which can cause you to crash and be injured. It was the speed wobble that made good and sure that the tire I patched on the inside under the tread went in the bin.

That said, if I was going to make a permanent repair to a tire I would start with a vulcanizing patch. On your bike you might also be able to stuff a pool noodle or a "Huck Norris" in there. That may reduce the likely hood of serious injury from a catastrophic failure. They are fine off road.

Again, for me the maximum benefit is under $100 and the risk is huge. The probability that you will have a satisfactory patch that survives is low. Good luck and have fun experimenting.
 
You bring up good points about safety. Being an old Rockhopper the tires are likely 26x1.95 and I'd think a speed wobble is unlikely at neighborhood cruising speeds. Inflating to 40 psi or so a blowout causing injury while inflating is unlikely as well. It could still blowout while riding obviously. Nothing wrong with not throwing out a tire you can get more life out of but if I could get a new one for $20 that's what I'd do.

The 27.5x3.0 tire I sewed is inflated to 14 psi so little danger of catestrophic failure.
 
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
The bike is an old Rockhopper. Tire-in-question is on the rear. Split is about 3/4". Ridden mostly on neighborhood pavement and smooth trails. Max velocity is less than 20 mph on gentle hills. Way too hot past couple of months (and more to come until late Sept.) for the serious hills I do in the cooler season.

I saw one guy use zip-ties around the tire. Another used HD duct tape. Won't work on my ride due to rim brakes.

I'm liking the stitch/glue/interior patch just for curiosities sake. I have a spool of Dacron left I used for sail work. I also have some NP1, which is incredibly tenacious while remaining stifly flexible ITMAS.

It the tire's indeed a goner...why not experiment?



A safe tire is all there is between the road and an emergency room visit. Replace it.
 
Split is more like 3/8". That's half of 3/4"

I re-taped on the inside with UL-181, inflated to 60psi and rode a few miles. No buging, no blow-outs, no 'wobbles', no panic, no drama, no ER visit either. After all, it blew out the first time on the same neighborhood ride. Same as above.

No worries.
 
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