Road Cycling - Do I replace bulging tire?

Ok I have 400 miles on my relatively new OCR2. The 700x25 tires still look ok except the back's got a few tiny cuts in it as well as the front. When I inflate them to 90psi (105max), there's a small crack on the front about 2.5mm x 1mm that goes almost down to the threading. I can feel a small bulge around the area, it's a little off of center. Is it safe to still ride ~20mph average?

Money's pretty tight and I'd hate to see a tire go after only 400 miles :(

I'm on a tight budget to :( (so many bikes/acc. so little money) but the fact your asking means its worrying you. I think imho it would be dangerous to leave as is, even if you had to settle for a cheaper tyre for now. What would happen if you hit a pothole on that area?

Ok I have 400 miles on my relatively new OCR2. The 700x25 tires still look ok except the back's got a few tiny cuts in it as well as the front. When I inflate them to 90psi (105max), there's a small crack on the front about 2.5mm x 1mm that goes almost down to the threading. I can feel a small bulge around the area, it's a little off of center. Is it safe to still ride ~20mph average?

Money's pretty tight and I'd hate to see a tire go after only 400 miles :(


Take it from someone who's had an innertube blow through the casing during a 40MPH descent... you should replace the tyre as soon as possible. I would not ride with it. You may be able to get away with the dollar-bill (or PowerBar wrapper) trick though.

I had a slash put into my Michelin Pro Race within 400km of riding.... I now have a patch and a piece of cardboard on the inside...like hell I can afford another 80bux! Its had at least 500km on it since and NO problems.

Brendon

Obviously the best thing to do is to replace the tyre, but if not, at least make sure it's on the rear; it goes without saying that it's much worse to blow a front than a rear.

It depends how huge the cut is, but I usually patch them up by cutting a small piece of plastic from an old A4 plastic school folder, then stick it on the inside with a couple of bits of gaffa tape. I always keep an eye on the section of the tyre after I patch it up, just in case. I have never had a problem doing this, and I use 20mm Continental GPs pumped up to 155lbs!

Wouldn't a tire boot create a lump where the area is?
40mph is just about the absolute fastest I'm ever going to reach in my area, for now and that's only on that small hilly descend.
The cut isn't huge bit it's big enough to squeeze the tip of a ballpoint pen into.

Wouldn't a tire boot create a lump where the area is?
40mph is just about the absolute fastest I'm ever going to reach in my area, for now and that's only on that small hilly descend.
The cut isn't huge bit it's big enough to squeeze the tip of a ballpoint pen into.

I have had a blowout, it is no fun. I think it is foolish to risk your life for a few dollars. You can usually get decent, safe tires at Nashbar.com for about $9.00 on sale. Split for the money.

http://www.nashbar.com/results.cfm?subcategory=1085&category=121&browse=&storetype=&estoreid=&brand=&searchbox=&start=1&orderby=price1&pagename=

Sweet, some of those tires are only 5 bucks!
I have a continential ultra 3000 as a backup but parting with money and a new tire's always such sweet sorrow.

Wouldn't a tire boot create a lump where the area is?

Not if it's a amall cut. Sometimes it does create a lump that you have to put up with.

So it's 2.5 x 1 mm, in the rubber (tread) only? No problem. The threads in the casing
are what holds the tire together, the tread is just decorative ;)

I'd need a garage full of tires if I replaced my commuter tires every time they got a nick in the tread. However, my rule of thumb is to toss a tire if the casing threads are damaged.

Ok I have 400 miles on my relatively new OCR2. The 700x25 tires still look ok except the back's got a few tiny cuts in it as well as the front. When I inflate them to 90psi (105max), there's a small crack on the front about 2.5mm x 1mm that goes almost down to the threading. I can feel a small bulge around the area, it's a little off of center. Is it safe to still ride ~20mph average?

Money's pretty tight and I'd hate to see a tire go after only 400 miles :(

If you can feel a bulge in your inflated tire, that means that you have a cut cord. Booting or patching won't fix it. Sooner or later you'll have to replace that tire. If it was my bike, it'd be sooner.

Before switching to kevlar belted tires I used to get about 400 miles out of a rear tire before damaging it out of use. There is just too much crap on the side of the road to use the nice road tires in anything but a ride where the streets have been cleaned and you are not riding on the side of the road in my experience.

http://www.specialized.com/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=5612&JServSessionIdroot=bitpnv14q5.j27008
Any experiences with the specialized trisport tire? It's got flakjacket protection plus it's only 10 bucks.

Haven't used the Tri sport, but I did use the All Condition Pro, which was a very good durable tire.

The OCR 2 probably came with Michelin Dynamics. On my OCR 1, I managed to cut through the threads and flat on a sharp rock after only about 150 miles. I saved the tire for my trainer. The Dynamics are relatively inexpensive tires. Spring some better tires and you'll be replacing them less often.

Wow, do the really suck that much. I guess I'll keep the dynamics on the back and replace the front with a spare continental ultra 3000. My life is worth more than the 10 bucks the michelin dynamics are worth.. but not by much!

Dynamics are not good tires.

If money is a problem, go for a good wire-bead tire. Wire-bead tires sell for considerably less then the equivalent kevlar-bead tire. I generally go for kevlar-bead tires, since they're foldable--good for long-distance riding when you like to carry a spare.

Currently, I'm using Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps. They seem to be very tough, durable tires. I'm not even getting the usual number of nicks and shallow cuts. That's really good considering the number of broken beer bottles that decorate the sides of Arizona highways; something they never show in the magazine of the same name.

NYC streets are even worse, I'm still trying to learn how to bunny hop the occasional body on the side of the street so I don't have to go around it.
Are kevlar beads easier to put on? The steel bead takes forever to move.