Is this tire toast?

[bcroslin]

I hit a pot hole pretty hard on the ride last night (thanks to the d-bag railing a corner and not calling it out) and ended up with a flat a few miles later. No big deal but when I looked at the tire I nearly lost my mind. Is there anyway to seal up a slice like this? The tire only has a few hundred miles on it and it kills me to replace it. I'm guessing it's done but thought I'd ask.

[Michael Maddox]

Ugh. Why chance it? The cut will progress through the tire, then you'll have a bulging tube and a flat.

[FlashUNC]

Time for a new tire.

[saab2000]

Does that cut go through the casing? If so, yeah, it's shot.

You could put a boot in there but it's going to get worse, not better.

Put a new one on and move on.

[bcroslin]

It doesn't go through the casing but it's close. I'd like to wrap it around the neck of the a-hole who didn't point the pot hole out.

[FlashUNC]

Way too close to the sidewall for my taste. If it were closer to the center of the tread I might risk it with a boot.

[leftyfreak]

I hit a pot hole pretty hard on the ride last night (thanks to the d-bag railing a corner and not calling it out) and ended up with a flat a few miles later. No big deal but when I looked at the tire I nearly lost my mind. Is there anyway to seal up a slice like this? The tire only has a few hundred miles on it and it kills me to replace it. I'm guessing it's done but thought I'd ask.

The way I'm reading this, it's fortunate that the tire was the only casualty. It seems to me that someone could have gone down as a result of this pot hole, or the lead rider could have taken everyone down if he lost control while taking his hand off the bar to point out the pot hole in the middle of railing a corner. Maybe I'm mis-interpreting.

Sorry that you'll need to replace your tire, but glad that was all that happened...

[Vinci]

If it isn't through the casing or hasn't degraded the casing significantly, I'd still ride it. Hell, I've ridden much worse.

That said, I wouldn't put it on the front wheel and I wouldn't use it if I were planning on any fast descents. Since I ride in Florida, that wouldn't ever be a problem for me... :p

[Mark McM]

That's not pothole damage, that's a cut from running over something sharp. that the tire was slashed so close in time to the pothole is more likely just a coincidence.

The tube/tire cuts caused by potholes are caused by the edge of the rim rupturing the tube/tire. These ruptures most frequently take the form of slits that are parallel to the rim edge. The cut shown in the photo is in the radial direction, which is more frequently caused by the tire rolling over a sharp object (such as glass or a piece of metal).

But yes, if any of the tire casing threads are cut, the tire is toast.

[Lewis Moon]

The way I'm reading this, it's fortunate that the tire was the only casualty. It seems to me that someone could have gone down as a result of this pot hole, or the lead rider could have taken everyone down if he lost control while taking his hand off the bar to point out the pot hole in the middle of railing a corner. Maybe I'm mis-interpreting.

Sorry that you'll need to replace your tire, but glad that was all that happened...

My interpretation, too. Just bad luck.
I'm a cheap bastard so I'd boot it with some sticky rip-stop nylon repair tape, spooge some Aquaseal into the cut and ride it until I couldn't. I've raced Durango/Silverton on a tire like that.

[sweet_johnny]

I'd boot it and ride it until I got a new tire (which I'd make a priority). That being said, don't be grumpy when you flat and the group ride leaves you behind.

[ultraman6970]

You can use it if you put a patch at the inside, it will get a bump tho.

[cinema]

I'd ride it as is. Looks okay, may get wider in which case I'd toss it. Maybe put a little epoxy in there. Then again I have a wide comfort zone. I hate tire boots I can always feel them.

[redir]

Maybe the guy is a d-bag I don't know but people sometimes miss things especially when they are on the edge. I like a little melted butter on my toast. That tire is toast.

[thwart]

I don't know...

Put it on the front. Chicks dig scars.

[Ken Robb]

I really hate having any doubt in the back (or the front) of my mind about the status of my equipment when I go for a ride and an iffy tire would really worry me.

[JAllen]

I'd boot it and ride it until I got a new tire (which I'd make a priority). That being said, don't be grumpy when you flat and the group ride leaves you behind.
+1 to both of these recommendations.
I don't know...

Put it on the front. Chicks dig scars.

[MattTuck]

Looks like you just got a new tire for trainer duty next winter.

[Dead Man]

I would ride it. Back wheel anyway.

Sometimes you can't point stuff out... Sometimes you even miss stuff. It's your duty to point stuff out if you see it, but sometimes you need to be watching the edge of the road or traffic or other cyclists or whatever, and you don't see stuff until it's too late.

In the end, it's a hazardous sport, and we can't always blame the dude in front of us. But I have no idea what your situation looked like. Maybe said d-bag is your mortal enemy and you know he deliberately tried to crash you, for all I know.

[El Chaba]

If I were you I would retire it....You can put it on the classifieds so that one of the guys saying that you can ride it can buy it to ride themselves....

[Dead Man]

If I were you I would retire it....You can put it on the classifieds so that one of the guys saying that you can ride it can buy it to ride themselves....

Because there's no difference riding it to save time and money, and paying to ride it. :rolleyes:

[bcroslin]

I'm going to replace it. I don't want to chance it. The slice may not have happened when I hit the pothole but I don't remember hitting anything else and I definitely felt the wheel bottom out.

I realize we can't always point stuff out but there was no excuse. We were having to detour around some road construction and the civilized thing to do would have been to ease up into the turn but the dude on the front thought he'd try and drop some people so he hammered the turn and the hill around the corner. I won't be back on that particular ride again until the road construction is wrapped up.

[Ken Robb]

If I were you I would retire it....You can put it on the classifieds so that one of the guys saying that you can ride it can buy it to ride themselves....

This gave me a chuckle!:)

[OtayBW]

I'm going to replace it. I don't want to chance it.Ding! Ding! Ding! :banana: