Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

Finally flatted.. do I need to replace my tires as well?

Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Finally flatted.. do I need to replace my tires as well?

Old 01-15-13, 12:51 AM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 73

Bikes: Louis Garneau Revolution 4.5

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Finally flatted.. do I need to replace my tires as well?

Took the bike out for one last ride of the season before strapping it to the trainer for the winter. We had an abnormally warm day here in Toronto on Saturday.
7km into my ride BAM!!, something is horribly wrong, I stop, and sure enough front is flat. I've never had a real flat before in some 8 years of road biking.

Anyway, judging by the color of the glass shards I pulled out of my tire, I ran over the remnants of a beer bottle. Front and back both took a couple of cuts each, but they are tiny little cuts, maybe 2mm-3mm max, no big slices or gashes, one made it all the way through and punctured my fronts tube. My tires are a set of GP4000s, and relatively new 1.5 years, in excellent condition plenty of life/tread left in them.

Tube replacement aside, do I also need to discard the tires after this? is it ok to continue to use a good set of tires after a puncture? I've heard stories on here of people booting sliced tires with dollar bills in an emergency to make it home. What about small repair? Is it acceptable to say, use my tube patch kit on the inside of the tire(not the tube) where the puncture is and continue to use the tires?

Or is a case of, once they've been pierced through no matter how small, they should be tossed?
Davinci.. is offline  
Old 01-15-13, 01:03 AM
  #2  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 767
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Toronto, ON
Road debris are cutting through our tires right now no matter what tire you get. I use some Vittoria Rubino pro and have had 2 flats since November (had about 3500km on the tires). I've switched my front to the back because the rear has way too much cuts now...and guess what? I find a deep cut again. The punctures I had were from staple wires of some sort. Nothing huge.

I did ride on Saturday when it was warm and thank God I didn't get any punctures/flats. Maybe I'll change to some Gatorskins/Slicks next Winter. These tires are going to be used exclusively for the trainer/winter use until I do club rides again sometime in May.

To answer your question: it is entirely up to you.
Biscayne05 is offline  
Old 01-15-13, 01:05 AM
  #3  
In Real Life
 
Machka's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Down under down under
Posts: 52,152

Bikes: Lots

Mentioned: 141 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3203 Post(s)
Liked 595 Times in 329 Posts
Can you see a hole in your tire? Can you see daylight through the hole? If not, don't worry about it.
Machka is offline  
Old 01-15-13, 01:24 AM
  #4  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cobourg Ontario Canada
Posts: 2,206

Bikes: ParleeZ5/Parlee Chebacco/Trek Farley/Cannondale Slice/Burley Tandem

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 19 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 10 Times in 4 Posts
Put a new tube in and pump it up, if tire has bulge or you can see tube coming through get a new tire, if not keep on riding.
youcoming is offline  
Old 01-15-13, 01:59 AM
  #5  
Mr. Dopolina
 
Bob Dopolina's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Taiwan
Posts: 10,217

Bikes: KUUPAS, Simpson VR

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 149 Post(s)
Liked 117 Times in 41 Posts
You can use some super glue to close up the gashes in the tread but if the casing is cut it will unravel over time.

On the plus side, you may have just found your trainer tire.
__________________
BDop Cycling Company Ltd.: bdopcycling.com, facebook, instagram



Bob Dopolina is offline  
Old 01-15-13, 07:33 AM
  #6  
weapons-grade bolognium
 
thinktubes's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Across the street from Chicago
Posts: 6,335

Bikes: Battaglin Cromor, Ciocc Designer 84, Schwinn Superior 1981

Mentioned: 44 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 984 Post(s)
Liked 2,353 Times in 882 Posts
Time to buy a new bike....
thinktubes is offline  
Old 01-15-13, 08:40 AM
  #7  
Super Moderator
 
Homebrew01's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Ffld Cnty Connecticut
Posts: 21,845

Bikes: Old Steelies I made, Old Cannondales

Mentioned: 12 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1173 Post(s)
Liked 923 Times in 609 Posts
Check that there are no remaining bits of glass in your tire that may cause another flat.
__________________
Bikes: Old steel race bikes, old Cannondale race bikes, less old Cannondale race bike, crappy old mtn bike.

FYI: https://www.bikeforums.net/forum-sugg...ad-please.html
Homebrew01 is offline  
Old 01-15-13, 09:15 AM
  #8  
Throw the stick!!!!
 
LowCel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Charleston, WV
Posts: 18,150

Bikes: GMC Denali

Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 176 Post(s)
Liked 92 Times in 31 Posts
"Relatively new 1.5 years" doesn't mean much. How many miles (or km's) do the tires have on them? If you start getting more flats then you will need to change them. Time means nothing (unless they are dry rotting) when it comes to your tires, I wouldn't know what to do if I got 1 1/2 years out of a tire.
__________________
I may be fat but I'm slow enough to make up for it.
LowCel is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
u235
Bicycle Mechanics
7
08-02-17 01:25 PM
BobbyG
General Cycling Discussion
10
02-20-17 06:45 PM
SkvLTD
Commuting
5
05-20-15 09:27 PM
graytotoro
Bicycle Mechanics
4
09-25-11 06:21 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.