Bicycle Mechanics - Balloon tire punctured, is it re-usable?

Yes, a noob question. Got some Schwalbe Big Apple tires for commuting for the express purpose of avoiding what I hit yesterday... homeless dude 40 oz beer shatterings on my bike path. A nice 1/4" perfect wedge sliced neatly through the rubber & kevlar and punctured the tube. Can these tires be repaired?

I get and already have patched the tube, just concerned the slash will degrade the tire... or will it hold up.. is there something preventative I need to do?

You can put a patch on the inside of the tire, made from a piece of an old tire. However if the threads in the carcass of your tire are cut this repair will only be temporary. The best prevention is to use a broom to sweep the glass off the path.

Yes, a noob question. Got some Schwalbe Big Apple tires for commuting for the express purpose of avoiding what I hit yesterday... homeless dude 40 oz beer shatterings on my bike path. A nice 1/4" perfect wedge sliced neatly through the rubber & kevlar and punctured the tube. Can these tires be repaired?

I get and already have patched the tube, just concerned the slash will degrade the tire... or will it hold up.. is there something preventative I need to do?

Is the tube poking through this gash when you pump it up? If so you may need to boot it. If the gash is too large, the boot won't help and you'll need a new tire.

Can you take a picture of the gash?

My test is to install a new tube and inflate the tire to operating pressure. If I can see or feel a blister or bump in the tire, I know that some of the tire cords have been cut and the tire has been ruined. Patching or booting the inside of the tire won't keep it from blistering or bulging if the cords have been cut.

Well, what I would do, if the hole in the tyre is not too large: patch the tube (of course) and patch the tyre from the inside. I use the normal tube patches for that, too. But pay attention at thoroughly degreasing the surfaces you will patch - this is critical for a good vulcanization.

1/4" doesn't sound too bad, IMHO, but as operator said, we'd have to see the "aperture".

Target sells boots for tires, they're pretty cheap. Try one or cut a piece from an old tire and see how it works. If it works, it works. Where you have a cut in the tire, and have a boot on the inside, the cut will spread slightly when inflated, that's okay. If you get an objectionable bump-bump-bump when it's rolling or something like that, trash the tire. If it was a $5 tire from Walmart, I wouldn't bother. And if I was starting on a cross-country trip or riding downhill at 60 mph, I'd be more particular.

Well Big Apples' are $40, so not ready to toss it just yet. Tube isn't bulging through, and it's level... but gash is clearly open now it's inflated, and I can see the kevlar and the tube. Seems like if I rode this without some patch it would get grit, dirt or even more glass in there. I understand adding the boot on the inside so I'll do that, is there something to do to fill the gash from the outside to keep it from getting another splinter in there?

Thanks for the info.