Commuting - How long would you ride a tire with a boot?

My rear tire (Gatorskin) got a small divot - like a cone shaped divot that's about 1/8 inch acrossed and goes to the threads of the tire. The problem is that it tends to pick up debris that normally wouldn't be an issue and I get a flat - esp when it's wet. So yesterday after getting a flat on the way to work i put a boot in (one of the Park adhesive boots that Iv'e been carrying around for years) and rode the rest of the way in.

To double the issue, on the way home I got another flat from a decent sized piece of glass that cut another 1/4 inch gash in the tire. So I used another boot on that to prevent it from picking up debris and causing more flats -- because the gash spreads open when the tire is inflated.

I was too busy to change out the tires last night, so rode it in this morning -- and other than an annoying little "bump bump" from the boots pressing out the shape of the tire (not enought to see, but enough to cause a tiny bump on smooth road surfaces), I had no issues.

Without the cuts and the boots, I'd say there's about 700 miles left on the tire. So would you keep riding it, or swap the front onto the back and put a new front tire on? (I have two or three extras on hand).

I know some people that have tried to use shoe goo and the like to fill cuts in. I'm not sure how well it works. I'd be inclined to replace the tire, especially since you've got spares. Sounds like the tire and you disagree over how many miles it's got left in it. ;)

No brainer to me - I would swap it out. A new tire is a small price to pay for peace of mind, especially if you are commuting on this tire. And in your case, you have extra tires so there's no price to pay...

- John

Until I got home to get a new good tire.

I used Gorilla Tape to boot a sidewall blowout awhile back; held just fine. I use Nashbar Primus 2 tires on my road bike(s) and continued to ride the tire for about a month until the Primus 2s were on sale for $9.99, then ordered some more.

my vote is to replace this damaged tire

The smart answer would be to replace it with a good tire ASAP. The stubborn idiot answer? See my sig. :lol:

Thanks...tha'ts what I was leaning toward - will replace tonight. I guess when I spent half the ride this morning looking down at the tire to see if it was looking flat that should given me my answer!

TS - ...good luck!

I'm curious to know what mileage you did with the tire so far. I had problems with a brand new gatorskin, 3 flats in 500 kms. I took the tire of the bike because I lost all confidence in it but I've been told by a lot of forum member that I was just unlucky with a very good tire. After a few weeks with another tire (and no flat) I decided to give the tire another chance so I put it back on the bike, first ride this morning with no problems but now I see this new thread....

I'm curious to know what mileage you did with the tire so far.

I'm not entirely sure for a couple reasons - 1, when I swap tires I take the front tire off and put it on the rear, then put a fresh tire on the front, and 2, I dont' tend to keep track of stuff like that. But trying to think back -- it's been on for most of my riding this year and I'm around 1,400 miles for the year -- and I'm sure it was not a new tire when I put it on this year (had been riding on a wider tire earlier in the year). So maybe somewhere between 2-3 k miles on the tire in a front/back combination.

The tire is worn flat, and the flat spot is probably just under 1/2 inch wide.

I've been riding gatorskins for a long time, never had the issues I've had with this one even w hen I've worn them down to the threads.

Change the tire. I booted my Gatorskin three month ago when a small piece of glass cut through. The cut was questionable so I boot and replaced it with a new tube. Three month later, I had a very slow leak in the same tire. Each time I filled tube, the air lasted about two miles. I filled the tube several times to get home. I took the tube out when I got home. The boot was wrinkle and probably cause by the rolling of the tire each time it rolls over the boot. The edge of the Park boot where it was wrinkle was cutting into the tube. The residue of the sticky adhesive from the patch was sealing the hole in the tube causing a very slow leak.

I have the same issue with my 700x28 Gatorskin in wet weather. The soft rubber picks up little chunk of glass like magnet and steel. My front tire is All condition Armadillo 700x25 and they hardly ever flat out or have glass embedded in them, however I do lose that cushy ride comfort in comparison with gaitorskin.

Thanks for the info Colleen...I might try the Armadillos when I run through the current stock of Gatorskins that I have. There seems to be more debris on my local roads than usual this year.

So maybe somewhere between 2-3 k miles on the tire in a front/back combination.

The tire is worn flat, and the flat spot is probably just under 1/2 inch wide.

I've been riding gatorskins for a long time, never had the issues I've had with this one even w hen I've worn them down to the threads.
I was told on this forum that I could easily hope to go between 7-8000 miles on a gatorskin. What do you think?

I was told on this forum that I could easily hope to go between 7-8000 miles on a gatorskin. What do you think?

That has not even been close to my own experience. But I'm a clyde, so that probably is part of it. I imagine the types of road surfaces you ride on have an impact as well. I get somewhere around 3k total miles out of a gatorskin (that includes the time on the front then the time after I switch it to the back) I think.

that includes the time on the front then the time after I switch it to the back

Just be sure that you always rotate to the back and not to the front. Seriously.
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-rotation.html

I tore the sidewall of my front tire when my front brake pad on my old brake calipers came loose, the pad rubbed through the side of the tire.

the tube popped, I replaced it with my spare and that popped as soon as I put weight on the bike and rode 3'.

I never knew about 'boots'..so I replaced the tube with a heavy duty really thick thorn proof rubber tube.

That was 8 months ago, commuting 15 miles a day...the tire/tube still bulges and has never lost air, the tire is a continental ultra sport that is now about 15 months old, still holds 100psi and rides like normal.

I have a short ~3 mile commute so if it catastrophically fails on me I'll just walk it home and take a different bike the next trip, lol. Stop stressing so much about the little things, you'll live longer :)

I rode a Paseala Tourguard with 2 boots back and forth to work for about 200 miles until I got around to buying a new tire.

I got 200 miles out of a Parks Boot on a 700 X 23 tire.
Tubes move some inside the tire and the boot wore out from the inside.
.258449

Until I got home to get a new good tire.

Me too.

I tore the sidewall of my front tire when my front brake pad on my old brake calipers came loose, the pad rubbed through the side of the tire.

the tube popped, I replaced it with my spare and that popped as soon as I put weight on the bike and rode 3'.

I never knew about 'boots'..so I replaced the tube with a heavy duty really thick thorn proof rubber tube.

That was 8 months ago, commuting 15 miles a day...the tire/tube still bulges and has never lost air, the tire is a continental ultra sport that is now about 15 months old, still holds 100psi and rides like normal.

I have a short ~3 mile commute so if it catastrophically fails on me I'll just walk it home and take a different bike the next trip, lol. Stop stressing so much about the little things, you'll live longer :)

Unless he has a blowout at 20 or 30 mph. ;)

Personally those kinds of risks just aren't worth it. The tire is clearly compromised. It MIGHT be OK to continue riding it that way for awhile but why?

The tire is literally where the rubber hits the road. A catastrophic failure probably won't cause him to lose control and probably wouldn't lead to any rim damage but a problem is clearly a matter of "when" and not "if".

I have a short ~3 mile commute so if it catastrophically fails on me I'll just walk it home and take a different bike the next trip, lol. Stop stressing so much about the little things, you'll live longer :)

Not stressing - just never used a boot before and wondered how long they might typically work. 3 mile commute you could walk. Mine is 14 miles one way. Or 9 miles if I take the hilly route on a 55 mph road with no shoulder. I prefer to have an idea of the condition of my tires - and the rest of my bike.

I also have anywhere from 1 to 3 descents where i hit 42 + mph on my commute (depending on route).

Stop stressing what other people do....you'll live longer. :rolleyes:

TJS - good point. Not to mention I have two or three brand new gatorskins hanging in my garage (get em on sale so I stock up when I can).

This thread reminded me of this Simpsons's episode when Homer found his car in NYC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvQaFSklu0A

Unless he has a blowout at 20 or 30 mph. ;)

Personally those kinds of risks just aren't worth it. The tire is clearly compromised. It MIGHT be OK to continue riding it that way for awhile but why?

The tire is literally where the rubber hits the road. A catastrophic failure probably won't cause him to lose control and probably wouldn't lead to any rim damage but a problem is clearly a matter of "when" and not "if".

The first time my tube went 'poof' because of the blown out sidewall was when I hit the brakes going ~28mph on a downhill leading to a 90* right turn near my office.

I did the smart thing and continued straight and used my other brake to slowly come to a stop...the bike doesn't explode when a sidewall of a tire blows out. Worst case I could imagine the tire coming off the rim and getting stuck in the brake caliper, but mine didn't even lose the bead seated on the rim, just a ~2" long hole in the sidewall 1/8" above the bead.

My CX tires whose treads I have worn out from street riding and have had 3 flats in the back are currently using a duct tape boot where a nail pierced. Only until my road tires come in from the bike shop though! I'm pushing my luck until another flat.

The first time my tube went 'poof' because of the blown out sidewall was when I hit the brakes going ~28mph on a downhill leading to a 90* right turn near my office.

I did the smart thing and continued straight and used my other brake to slowly come to a stop...the bike doesn't explode when a sidewall of a tire blows out. Worst case I could imagine the tire coming off the rim and getting stuck in the brake caliper, but mine didn't even lose the bead seated on the rim, just a ~2" long hole in the sidewall 1/8" above the bead.

Oh, I can imagine plenty of bad if a tire goes poof, - especially a front tire, - especially while cornering.

A back tire not so much. Pretty easy to recover from a back wheel skidding or sliding. Anything that causes one to lose traction on a front wheel is another matter.

This thread reminded me of this Simpsons's episode when Homer found his car in NYC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvQaFSklu0A

This thread didn't remind me of the video, but it's pretty funny anyway.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvQaFSklu0A

My rear tire (Gatorskin) got a small divot - like a cone shaped divot that's about 1/8 inch acrossed and goes to the threads of the tire. The problem is that it tends to pick up debris that normally wouldn't be an issue and I get a flat - esp when it's wet. So yesterday after getting a flat on the way to work i put a boot in (one of the Park adhesive boots that Iv'e been carrying around for years) and rode the rest of the way in.

To double the issue, on the way home I got another flat from a decent sized piece of glass that cut another 1/4 inch gash in the tire. So I used another boot on that to prevent it from picking up debris and causing more flats -- because the gash spreads open when the tire is inflated.

I was too busy to change out the tires last night, so rode it in this morning -- and other than an annoying little "bump bump" from the boots pressing out the shape of the tire (not enought to see, but enough to cause a tiny bump on smooth road surfaces), I had no issues.

Without the cuts and the boots, I'd say there's about 700 miles left on the tire. So would you keep riding it, or swap the front onto the back and put a new front tire on? (I have two or three extras on hand).

I suspect you already know the answer: replace the tire. Preventative maintenance on a bike is far less expensive than with a car, but the cost of deferred maintenance on a bike tends to be more expensive and very, very inconvenient. Personally, I'd be more than willing to pay $60-100 to ensure that I get to work on time every day for the next couple of years.

I was told on this forum that I could easily hope to go between 7-8000 miles on a gatorskin. What do you think?


Who told you that?

I suspect you already know the answer: replace the tire. Preventative maintenance on a bike is far less expensive than with a car, but the cost of deferred maintenance on a bike tends to be more expensive and very, very inconvenient. Personally, I'd be more than willing to pay $60-100 to ensure that I get to work on time every day for the next couple of years.

Yep - replaced it last night. Upon inspection one of the cuts appeared larger than it was the day before, so it's possible that at ~100psi and riding with my 220 lbs on it the cut actually expanded a bit (or maybe it was my imagination).

Not only did I have three brand new tires in the garage, but one slightly used as well....the slightly used went on the rear wheel. In about a month, before my August triathlon, I'll swap the front to back and put a brand new tire on the front.

Who told you that?
More than one forum member told me that but that's ok. I asked in a thread If anyone could suggest a long lasting tire and I got many suggestions. I went with the gatorskin because it was the first I found while shopping. with your experience how many miles would you guess?

Until I got home to get a new good tire.


What he said.

A lot of riders are pretty caviler about damaged tires but a new tire is a lot cheaper than having broken bones set in the E.R.
On my commute I routinely exceed 50 MPH on one of the steeper downhills. A tire failure there could easily be fatal.

More than one forum member told me that but that's ok. I asked in a thread If anyone could suggest a long lasting tire and I got many suggestions. I went with the gatorskin because it was the first I found while shopping. with your experience how many miles would you guess?

I used to get around 3500 miles out of a rear, and 5000 on a front. 28mm, fairly consistent for 115psi running pressure, 235 pound rider.

Regardless of the brand, that seems to be about the lasting limit for my tires. I've been on Pasela TG 32mm for a while, and I also get 3200 - 3500 out of a rear one.

More than one forum member told me that but that's ok. I asked in a thread If anyone could suggest a long lasting tire and I got many suggestions. I went with the gatorskin because it was the first I found while shopping. with your experience how many miles would you guess?

On a gatorskin, I say realistically around 2k miles (3k if you squeeze the life out of it.) I am only at 1200 miles on my first one, it has a lot of nicks and cuts in it by 2k miles I bet it's done and ready to be replaced. Some people praise the Conti. gatorskins like they are the holy grail of tires. Whenever it comes to tires or lube, take advice with a grain of salt.

Yeah, sure, ride as long as you want, just make sure your health insurance policy is current, life insurance is current and beneficiary is spelled out, and pension fund is in good standing.

On a gatorskin, I say realistically around 2k miles (3k if you squeeze the life out of it.) I am only at 1200 miles on my first one, it has a lot of nicks and cuts in it by 2k miles I bet it's done and ready to be replaced. Some people praise the Conti. gatorskins like they are the holy grail of tires. Whenever it comes to tires or lube, take advice with a grain of salt.
I know , I had the bad idea to blow out some steam in a thread about my gatorskin when I got the third flat in 4 days earlier this spring and I got nailed (respectfully) by few conti fans, but that's fine, no hard feelings . I have approx. 750 kms on my tire and I noted the same thing about the amount of nicks and cuts, My front tire is a cheap (20$ at my lbs) Serfas seca and after 1000 kms it look almost like new.

As others have said already, if you can't replace your tires, try shoe goo - 10 bucks on Amazon. I had some luck with it in filling several small holes around 2-3 mm size that penetrated past the threads down to the rim-strip on some Serfas Seca tires. I did replace these with some gator-skins, but I put the Secas on my backup bike and a year later they are still rolling; the holes have not opened further. Although there is a slight bump or 'blistering' around the filled holes, they don't seem to affect ride quality. I used the clear kind, but the black goo might look more natural depending on your tire color. I wouldn't depend on tire boots for very long unless they are the adhesive kind meant to be long lasting.

I know , I had the bad idea to blow out some steam in a thread about my gatorskin when I got the third flat in 4 days earlier this spring and I got nailed (respectfully) by few conti fans, but that's fine, no hard feelings . I have approx. 750 kms on my tire and I noted the same thing about the amount of nicks and cuts, My front tire is a cheap (20$ at my lbs) Serfas seca and after 1000 kms it look almost like new.

Interesting, I have had almost the exact opposite experience with Serfas Seca vs. Gatorskins. The Gators seem to be almost bulletproof, and the Secas take on holes like they are made of tissue paper. One could probably just chalk it up to the places we ride and road debris though. (This is not meant to hijack the thread into a tire vs. tire debate - just my personal observation!)

I've probably done 4000 miles on 700x28 Gatorskins, one with a boot that I forgot about until I replaced the tires when I started flatting more often. Although not advisable, I also rotated the tires cuz I ride fixed and wanted to spread the wear from skidding around.

Until I got home to get a new good tire.

:thumb:

Or if I didn't have any spares at home to the LBS to purchase a new one.

The first time my tube went 'poof' because of the blown out sidewall was when I hit the brakes going ~28mph on a downhill leading to a 90* right turn near my office.

I did the smart thing and continued straight and used my other brake to slowly come to a stop...the bike doesn't explode when a sidewall of a tire blows out. Worst case I could imagine the tire coming off the rim and getting stuck in the brake caliper, but mine didn't even lose the bead seated on the rim, just a ~2" long hole in the sidewall 1/8" above the bead.

Yep, that is pretty much the worst thing especially when it is a front tire it happens to. I had a similar thing happen to me once. I had a low psi mtn bike tire come off the front rim (it skidded sideways while I was on asphalt manouvering away from a dog that was charging me) and the tube did not blow but rather ballooned. It hit the back of the fork and the front wheel stopped rather suddenly. I didn't though, and did a great superman launch over the handlebars and slide for quite a while on the road. Ouch.

Incidentally, and on a totally different topic, I would strongly recommend Schwalbe Marathon tires over Specialized Armadillos. Every time I have used the specialized tires, I have had them crack apart and delaminate long before they wore out. My Marathons have several thousand km on them (4k or so?) and are going strong with no flats. I have used them for commuting, and hundreds of km of rail trail riding at 110 psi on my cross bike.

Think I'm gonna put this one out to pasture. I was able to ride this Pasela for another 200 miles after putting a 3/8" rip in the sidewall.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e26/sstulken80/hole.jpg

The dual-layer duct tape boot crept enough to allow a bulge, but appeared to be handling the pressure without stretching.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e26/sstulken80/boot.jpg

Oh well, at least I made it past the 1000 mile mark on this tire.

- Scott