Folding Bikes - First ever puncture today(!) (tyre question)

Somewhat remarkably in several years of casual riding around london I'd never had a single puncture until today, something I felt quite smug about. Alas, it had to happen eventually. Having inspected the tyre (Maxxis grifter folding) the cause of the puncture was rather obvious, a small, flat piece of glass around 5mm in diameter was wedged in it creating a small tear. Question: when is a tyre structurally compromised? Am I OK to just replace the inner tube or is that tear going to quickly turn into a gaping hole whilst riding? Can I patch it somehow? Or do I need a new tyre?

Sometimes a piece of duct tape will work depending on the size of the cut.
A large cut might require a boot such as a short piece of an old tire.

A short piece of an old tyre? How about a puncture repair kit patch on the inside of the tyre? Though I'm not sure how easy it will be now to find it again, should have marked it before I took the glass out.

I imagine the tear is around 3-4mm and is about 6mm from the center, i.e. probably would have contact with the ground.

How bad it is you will see when pumping it back up. A bad cut will open up under pressure (actually all cuts will) and if you see the tube, it won't work.

The size you have should be no problem, it will gape a bit and some cloth tape for reinforcement would be prudent. You could even see if you can get hold of some Shoe-Goo or silicone and fill the gap a bit. Or superglue. I have never done any of these. See this thread of how badly cut my rear tyre was:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/juried/misc/IMG_0063.jpg

more:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?436896-Sunset-on-the-Big-Apple&highlight=sunset

I'm considering installing a tyre liner. Was just looking at the instructions here:
http://www.zefal.com/SITE/BASES/NOTICE/document/noticeBandeAntiCrevaison.an.gif

Is that really a good way to go about it, with tyre already on the rim?

Edit: hang on, I thought they had an adhesive area to keep them in place but I guess they don't.

Edit: hang on, I thought they had an adhesive area to keep them in place but I guess they don't.


No need. Pressure from the rubber tube will keep it in place nicely.

Warning about the tyre liner: I use them and these cause punctures themselves by the edges of the liner rubbing through the tube. Especially the ends of the liner MUST be sanded to smooth tapered edges; square edges will eat through a tube in no time.

As long as the tube isn't bulging out of the tyre like a rubber hernia, you should be fine. The tyres on my road bikes have been punctured well in excess of 30 times to no ill effect. The pressure holds the tyre taut, so only the worst gashes will be a real problem.

Somewhat remarkably in several years of casual riding around london I'd never had a single puncture until today...



The next guy will get a puncture in the first five minutes. There's no justice.

Warning about the tyre liner: I use them and these cause punctures themselves by the edges of the liner rubbing through the tube. Especially the ends of the liner MUST be sanded to smooth tapered edges; square edges will eat through a tube in no time.


Yup, I found that quick enough when I tried tire liners out for the first time when my Swift was brand new. I was the guy with the 5 minute puncture to even things out for Chagzuki.