needawheel2

Those of you who ride a lot, do you accept a cosmetically bad tire as normal? I did just one 60 mile organized ride and my tire was all cut up. (didn't flat). I read about using shoe goo,superglue to seal the (tiny) cut but maybe I should leave it alone if its small (1mm).
Does the tire eventually "die" from a thousand 1mm cuts?

10 Wheels

You can try Duct Tape on the inside of the tire to back up the cut area.

I look for tires on sale and buy them about one year ahead of time.

unterhausen

I don't look at my tires enough to worry about tire cuts. My criteria is if they start to get flats, they get replaced. But generally I just go until the manufacturer's wear indicator says they should be replaced.

pdlamb

If it's really just 1 mm, I wouldn't worry about it. Does the cut go all the way through the fibers to the inside of the tire? Go ahead and try the Shoe Goo.

Leebo

Try some super glue.

Carbonfiberboy 

I check my tires after every ride. Sometimes I'll find and pick out a little piece of glass or flint, thus preventing a flat on my next ride. Personally, I hate tires that cut easily.

I've tried using urethane caulk and superglue to close tiny cuts, on the idea that leaving a cut will allow future debris to find a home and thus cause a flat. I don't think it does any good. In fact, I've had flats from superglue slivers. So I don't bother anymore. I just clean the cuts after a ride along with looking for newly lodged debris.

If a cut is large enough to cause a bulge in the tire carcass that I can feel with my hand, I toss the tire. I've tried booting over these things in the inside but that doesn't work, either. The problem is that the tube squirms in the tire and the edge of the boot eventually wears through the tube and causes a flat. And yes, the Park boot material will do this. If you can get a glued tube patch to stick to the inside of the tire, that sometimes works, but not all tire material will accept patches successfully. And riding on a tire with cut cords in the carcass gives me a bit of the willies. There's enough stuff to go wrong already.

etw

I found Shoe Goo to work better than Super Glue. It seemed to stay a little more supple and also was easier to fill the gap in the rubber. Tiny cuts I have not worried about, but I will deal with those that are a little bigger.

mander

1mm is certainly tiny. I wouldn't worry about it too much. But:

A cut that is a little ways bigger than tiny can cause a sudden blowout, which may be catastrophic if it occurs in the front wheel. So, use common sense and be careful. If I'm in doubt, the tire gets replaced.

Boots are nice to get you home but not a long term solution for patching a bigger-than-tiny cut.

rm -rf

Replace the tire if it's bulging around the cut--the casing threads are cut or broken. (Back the cut area with a folded dollar bill to get home.) Otherwise, ride it.

Superglue is too brittle. It comes off at the first ride. I've used shoe goo, when I had a tube that wasn't hardened.

Rapido

Shoe Goo and an old toothbrush to first clean up the gashes. Visually inspect and determine if the cut is deep enough to affect the tires cords.