ThermionicScott 

It would seem that my streak of issue-free riding has come to an end. Ran over a small piece of debris on my way to the Wednesday club ride and sliced the sidewall of the rear 700x28C on my go-fast bike:



Just missed the TG strip in the center too, too!



If I'd had my little roll of duct tape along, I'd've tried booting it and riding carefully straight home. Thankfully, a buddy spotted me and was able to run home and grab a spare tire, allowing me to do the club ride after all.

And then after commuting home today on the Mule, I noticed what just looked like a bump on one of the sidewalls. Turned out to be the beginning stages of a split:



I guess after 4,000+ miles and 4 years of sitting in the sun all day while I'm at work, it had had enough. While it doesn't owe me anything, I'd be interested to hear if anyone thinks a boot would be worth trying.

After this week's events, a smart person would be considering different tires, but I'll probably just replace them with more of the same, maybe even the fancy-pants Compass versions.

jyl

That's the great thing about Paselas - they are reasonably priced, so you just slap on a new one and don't screw around with booting and praying.

eschlwc

after a few years of riding exclusively on paselas, i got my first sidewall tear (on the rear) going fast around a turn with small rocks in the road.

ordered two new kevlar ones for $51 (delivered) from outside outfitters. it took over a week to send me a tracking number, but i'm ok with that.

repechage

I would blame the guy(s) ahead of you in the paceline for not pointing the problem out.

artclone

The first damage looks pretty fluky. Some metal slices anything but Armadillos. The second - - 4000miles and 4 years in the sun!? Remarkable.

Time for a new pair for sure.

mountaindave 

The sun has damaged more than just that one spot. I'd guess the sidewalks are kind of crusty. It's only a matter of time and it will be sooner rather than later.

The othet tire, could maybe boot it.

gomango

I'd try the Soma Vitesse or Gravel Kings first.

I rode GK 700x32 file treads today and it's a nice tire for $32.99.

The Soma Vitesse 700x38s can be had for $55ish a pop and that surely beats the $75 for a Compass tire.

jimmuller 

What jyl said. They are inexpensive enough that you should just get another.

You can pay me for the advice whenever is convenient.

ThermionicScott 

I knew I could count on the C&V brain trust to talk some sense into me.

I've got another fresh 700x28C Pasela lying around, the second tire is a 26"x1.75", so there aren't a lot of amazing choices. $25 for another Pasela works for me.

Paramount1973 

Bell's Bike Shop is selling Panaracer made Soma New Xpress folding tires in various sizes on Amazon for <$30. I just got a pair of 700x28c tires in terra cotta for about $28 per tire. Free shipping.

Lascauxcaveman 

I'll boot just about anything if I feel like it. I run so many different sizes that I don't always have a matching spare at hand for everything. I'm just really careful about pressure on those tires.

Once the sidewall's getting dried out and flaky, I don't ride at any faster speed than I want to have a blowout.

I like my Paselas too, but they are among the most fragile tires I've ridden, and wear out relatively quickly. I always had much heavier tires in the past.

eschlwc

better than saying you'll mount just about anything.

B^)

Velognome 

Paselas are like underwear:

They work great

No one really notices them

Buy new ones once a year whether you think need them or not.

Bikedued

That one in the first picture looks plenty dry actually. Like dry rot cracks in the tread, etc. 4 years and 4,000 miles sounds like a nice expectable life span.,,,,BD

hairnet

I love my Paselas but I think the tan sidewall ones are too fragile. It seems like the rubber dries out rather quickly and then tears appear soon after. They never lasted too long for me, but maybe the nasty city air accelerated this issue. Anyway, I tried the black sidewall Paselas and I have been trouble free!

Bikedued

Mine stay in the garage unless being ridden, and I think most of the ones I have bought over the last ten years are still usable. It's when they see a LOT of miles, and/or get left outdoors excessively is when they begin to go bad. I have so many bikes that the actual mileage from wear is negligible. I alternate from bike to bike as the mood hits.,,,,BD

I have some blackwall 26 inch Pasela's that got left outdoors a good year or so, and they are showing mid dry rot cracking now, and turning grey instead of black.

jimmuller 

I don't understand the idea that Paselas are fragile. I've had Paselas on three bikes plus the tandem starting five or six years ago. I tore the sidewall on only one and that was because I stupidly let the front wheel fall into a deep chuckhole on the edge of a bike path. Purely my fault. We've ridden 8000 miles on the tandem which wears 32mm Pasela TGs and never had a problem. We've worn out a few sets. Had one very, very slow leak. Had only once real flat, and that was within a mile of home as we headed out in the morning.

I seem to have torn the outer skin of the sidewall of a Veloflex Criterium tubular on a recent ride. Don't know how. When I noticed it I pumped the tire to about 60psi, tacked down the cut section with mastic, let it dry overnight, then wearing noise-canceling headphones I pumped to my preferred 140psi. It held and did not develop any bulge. I rode my commute on it that morning.

Mind, all my bikes live indoors, typically in the basement.

Bad Lag

Look at this as an opportunity to try some new, different and better tires.

PolarBear007

I'd simply buy a new pair - install and ride worry-free!

They're bicycle tires - consumables - and reasonably inexpensive ones at that.

Besides, new "shoes" always look nice!!!

ThermionicScott 

That they do!

When commuting to work, these tires have to stay outside for that 6-8 hours while I'm inside, so the sun just dries out those sidewalls, and then they're more fragile. It's kind of funny how much better the DS sidewalls look -- perhaps I should start parking the bike facing the other direction every other day...

Regardless, it's kind of a bummer to have to pitch tires before you've worn out the tread all the way. I think that's what really drove this lament -- affording the next set of tires isn't a problem, and in the case of the 700x28C in the first picture, I had an extra waiting to be installed at home. Perhaps the real issue is that I don't ride enough to wear off the tread before they "age out"!

hairnet

My opinion comes from experience. I have gotten lots of miles out of my Paselas on multiple bikes but I have not ridden one to the end of it's life before a sidewall tear ended it. I dont know if they were tears from external sources but they all ended that way. Luckily I am able to get them cheap and I enjoy how they ride, so I keep buying them.

79pmooney

Boot the first, toss the second. If you boot the first with a strong, non stretchy fabric whtat will not creep (duct tape will), that tire will go its full life. I make large patches of dacron sailcloth (ask any sailmaker for a scrap of one-design racing dinghy jib dacron) and glue them in with contractor's grade contact cement. (The stuff with all the bad solvents for laying say linoleum countertops.)

I ride Paselas for just the reasons given above. Good, good compromise tires. Decent ride, decent wet weather adhesion, decent glass and cut resistance. Not great at any of those things. But at less than $40/tire (I've passed on paying for the kevlar, I simply have had few enough cuts that it seems dumb to pay for it), a solid tire for everyday use.

Ben

ThermionicScott 

Aw man, I figured the first one was a goner, so it went into the trash at the bar where our club met! I would have worn it home like a 1930s racer if I'd known anyone might think it was saveable.

As for the second one, the replacement won't get here for another week or two (there had to be a reason for the cheap price), so I elected to make a boot out of two layers of duct tape at a slight angle to each other from bead to bead, and a thin coating of Shoe Goo on the outer layer to protect the inner cords from any more abrasion. It seems like only the outer layer of fabric got damaged, so I feel like it could be ridden watchfully but sparingly until the new tire comes in. I know that there were no votes for booting this one, but the engineer in me just couldn't resist the urge to tinker. I'll post a pic when I get home.

+1, apart from being foldable I haven't gotten any added benefits from the ones I've used.

eschlwc

those i purchase online are usually less than $25/tire (shipped), even for kevlar.

my most recent kevlar folding paselas were $25/tire, shipped.

the lbs charges more than twice that.

Darth Lefty 

My Pasela failure was at the sidewall, but the cause was easily traced to a badly cleaned-up weld on the rim. I didn't blame the tire.