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Tyre side wall repair


Burt de Ernie's picture

By Burt de Ernie - Posted on 11 August 2012

NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.

I am have issues with side wall tears on my front tyre.

I recently replaced my Kenda Nevegal with a another kenda Nevegal because of a side wall tear. I have had about 5 rides when i noticed today that i have managed to get another small tear.

I tried to repair the tear with an inner tube patch (from the inside of the tyre) which has made the tear substantially better (enough to get me through tomorrows ride) but now realise that those patches have no strength/reinforcement and are designed to stretch. The result has meant that the inner tube is no longer poking out but there is an overall bulge which is unacceptable for the long term.

Does anyone know of a patch that is built for this purpose or alternatively have any other ideas that may work better?

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pharmaboy's picture

go to auto-one or other car parts place, they sell tyre repair patches

Pete B's picture

I've not tried it but maybe a fibre glass repair patch that you can get from super cheap auto would work, you know, the ones that are for patching up your bumper on your car?

Something else you could use is a thin piece of plastic like a screen protector for a smart phone.

N.B. Neither suggestion has any scientific merit but after the several beers I've had, they both seem like a good idea!

jaseh's picture

I've got a mate here that sews them up. Small ones he just sews up, bigger ones he sews a patch cut from an old tyre sidewall to the inside of the tyre. Works a treat and hasn't had one fail yet.

beetle's picture

Go to the bike shop and buy a new one . They are not that expensive and u spend more time and money fixing it than what it's worth getting a new one. Plus I would not risk it on a front tyre!

Burt de Ernie's picture

I have ordered one from CRC that is on its way but I guess i was just trying to put off the inevitable.

hawkeye's picture

Go the offcut and sew approach, while you're watching the Time Vanisher. We've lost the art of doing more with less, and it doesn't take that long to do.

It's not like you need to give a show your full attention these days... they deliberately write the plots so you don't!

fastfreddie's picture

If the tear is not too big ShoeGoo works really well,online or Rebel Spotrs,it is used for resoling shoes so has good fleibility.Clean the area with some solvent to degrease and away you go!Freddie.

cambowambo's picture

Ideally a fabric so you can get a bit of warp/weft strength going, but as long as it isn't stretchy or too slippery then pretty much whatever you have lying around will do.

I've used a patch of backpack waistbelt material once and a bit of a groundsheet another time.

I have heard of people using $5.00 notes Shocked

hawkeye's picture

From memory I think we talked justabuzz into using a $20 as a trailside tyre sleeve when he got a sidewall tear on one of our Elvina Track explorations Eye-wink

It worked, too. Now, for the $64 question, can anybody guess which brand of tyre it was? Sticking out tongue

TrekWrekka's picture

Anyone have any successful repairs to sidewall tears in tubeless tyres (Maxxis Lust Ignitor) or would the above methods still apply?

jaseh's picture

Sewing a patch works on tubeless no worries. The sealant seals up any remaining holes, Just use a good strong thread.
Good tyres are not cheap, they are worth repairing. If it was your POS steel bead maxxis that came on the bike, yeah, turf it but if it's the $90 Schwalbe or Conti with good life left in it, I'll be repairing it.

pharmaboy's picture

i have read somewhere that using an old road slick makes a good patch - thinner and maleable so it fits the inside of the tyre nicely. With the std tube repair patches, as long as the hole isnt too big, and also leave the plastic cover on the patch as well.

marto71's picture

if you bought the tyres locally, then maybe look at returning them to the lbs where purchased, it sounds like a problem with the tyre to me, or your riding through glass and rocks, a tyre shouldn't tear that easily, i know a while back there were problem with tyres bulging, i think it was maxxis(CST who make maxxis) it does sound like a tyre problem to me

hawkeye's picture

Given he's a Red Hill local, I'm betting it's rocks more than a tyre manufacturing fault.

Some tyres are known to be better than others. For example, Schwalbe are light and spin up well, but the weight savings are at the expense of light sidewall constructions and I'd never run a non-UST Schwalbe anywhere but a bike path.

Maxxis are robust and survive Sydney sandstone well, but are heavier. Kenda UST are bricks! But never having used one I don't know what their sidewalls are like.

marto71's picture

have used a few kendas over the years and know personally they have better sidewalls compared to maxxis,(another ex tyre i have used)that is why i posed the question and they both are far better then shwalbe(most overated tyre out thee), but for a tyre that spins up better then them you need to try conti's. As for the OP's original question yes you can buy a tyre patch, but finding one is the problem try the sewing method, by all accounts it should work, if not go with some duct tape, the proper stuff with the material in it

pharmaboy's picture

Heh - stop dissing schwalbes! the only problem with schwalbes is there is 4 or 5 diffrent models of the tyres for different purposes. The OEM models are nearly always racing ralph evo's - which are a hugely fast tyre with low rolling resistance and very fast at low pressure over small rocks - but they are only that fast because they have deformable sidewalls - which means the sidewalls tear easily.

The UST sidewalls are way thicker and will only tear after the sidewalls are worn down to the material. then there are the snakeskin varieties, that nearly every schwalbe user I know will only ride snakeskins says a lot. Anyone taking delivery of anew bike with racing ralphs on it, should immediately get online and order snakeskin versions of that plus a noby nic or rocket ron, pull the evo RR's off and put em on ebay. If you are buying from the LBS though, stick with maxxis and kenda for value - schwalbe are good but they aint worth twice the price of the maxxis.

hawkeye's picture

Ha! It's the triple compound UST versions I've been running...

Am about to try some of the new-to-market Rubena rubber. Will be a first foray for me into the land of "tubeless ready" ... will be interesting to see how well the sidewalls survive.

Scottboy's picture

I will be getting some Rubena soon too Hawkeye but you might have yours on b4 me I think .

lgt's picture

I had a side wall cut repaired by a friend who repairs truck and earth moving tyres as well as car tyres, he uses natural rubber and valcanises it. So if you see your local tyre shop they maybe able to tell you if someone near you repairs tyres.

hawkeye's picture

I've got Kratos to run on the front and a Scylla to go on the rear (or maybe the other way around), both 2.25 as the distributor reckons the bags are small for the stated size (ie, 2.25 more like a 2.1)

MrMez's picture

I certainly like Hawkeye's "doing more with less"
I have a few UST type patches, which will obviously? work even better if you use a tube.
Got some from Weldtide, and another from Park Tools (from crc). Haven't tested yet, but either way, I always carry a tube. I figure its just a matter of time before i shred something.
As said, a decent tyre can cost close to $100, and id rather use a $2 patch and spend the rest on coke and hookers Eye-wink

Also, been using Maxxis LUST UST for ~6 months now, and I've put dings in the rims and the tyres are still fine. Money very well spent. Also, i don't use Stan's etc. I figure id rather stop and put a tube in that have the annoyance of goo sprayed over my bike, and the hassle when you change tyres.

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