Shut up & ride

Rookie question... I got a flat from one end of a small carpenter's staple. Put in a new tube. Inspected inside of tire but didn't find the hole. After reassembling and pumping up the tire to 120 I see the hole on the outside. It's a straight hole, not a slit like from glass and it doesn't bulge at all at that point. Is there a high, medium or low risk of that hole pinching the tube in the inside? What's your guideline for when you a) do the dollar bill thing to protect the tube or b) go to a new tire? Thanks in advance.

Nessism

The dollar bill thing is only to get home. It's not a long term fix.

Hard to say about the hole you describe. A photo would help. Most likely you will be fine.

cascade168

A much better solution (now that you're thinking about it) is to take a defunct tube and cut a 1x3" piece out of it. Stash it in your repair kit.

aaronbarker

hi all,

i did the dollar bill trick a while back with a puncture from a piece of glass. a fairly straight-on hole that i could see cord damage in the cut. i finished fixing the flat and rode comfortably for 30 miles to return home without incident. if it had been a larger hole or a gash, i wouldn't have been as confident.

have fun,
aaron

Bill Kapaun

What does using a $ Bill do that using a patch on the inside of the tire won't?
Curious minds want....

Al1943

Nothing and it can cost you a dollar. The only reason to use a dollar bill is if you blow a hole through the casing on the road and don't have anything better to use as a temporary boot. I carry a 3" section of inner tube to use as a tire boot. A hole in the casing part of a tire that is 1 mm or bigger probably needs a tire patch of some kind. A small puncture like from a goathead spine does not.

operator

The fact that you can use $ bill as a tire boot. Hardly anyone carries tire boots around with them.

jbrians

You would have need $2

jemoryl

Besides, it gets lumpy if you put a loonie in your tire...

GV27

I carry a chunk of duct tape backed by wax paper to use as a boot.

When I was a kid I once rode on a tire for a year like that - LOL

Al1943

All jokes aside, a friend of mine used a $5 bill and it got blown to bits a mile down the road.

masiman

I prefer a piece of plastic bottle. More puncture resistance but the edges can cause problems if left jagged or sharp.

langster 2008

i do this , works a treat

Dr.Deltron

I used the dollar bill trick when the tire casing separtated from the wire bead!

The blowout occured at the TOP of a big, fast descent. The $1 bill held throughout the descent (30+ mph) and the remaining 4 miles back to my car. Granted, I only had about 35 lbs pressure in the tire to keep the dollar from blowing out.

But it held as long as I needed it to. Now all my patch kits have $1 bills in them!

powers2b

Mylar energy bar wrappers are cheaper and contain tasty treats.
I have had a Mylar boot in my rear tire for several months now, since I hit a rock that cut the sidewall, with no problems 700cX23 @125 psi.
What ever you use it needs to be flexible but not stretchy

Shut up & ride

Mylar wrappers are my other method. I like the idea of cutting up my old tube and using strips, but those pieces would be much thicker. I guess not a problem since ya'll do it.

I've also ridden for several hundred miles with a dollar bill covering a small slit from glass shard and no problem. Sounds like most of you would only do that temporarily.

Open question is... Would anyone ride with that little hole that I described or is that a sure-fire 'nother flat?

cyclezealot

tire boots are designed for this problem and work better. that's no way to treat George.

Dr.Deltron

HEY..., I put George on the INside!

ken cummings

I booted with a $1 and took 2 miles to get home. Wear on the bill was obvious. When I was having more problems with flats I would carry a section of tubular tire to use as a boot. never needed it.

moxfyre

The dollar bill thing is only appropriate when the tire has a gash big enough that it will bulge visibly under pressure, or if the tube will actually stick out through a gash. And it's only a temporary fix.

If this hole is small and doesn't bulge, then it's not going to be a problem (some of my tires must have dozens of tiny pinpoint holes from thorns). This is because you have likely only punctured the rubber and not damaged the cloth matrix, so the tire hasn't lost any strength. If it appears that the hole is getting larger, it means you've damaged the cloth/cords that make up the strength of the tire... and it should be replaced. Fortunately, most puncture flats don't do this kind of damage in my experience.

adam

Lowest bill we can use is a $5.

Pretty hard to boot a tire with a few of these:



or

operator

haha adam

Unless you're one of the lucky ones to still have 2 dollar bills around

GV27

Yeah, stick a Looney in there........

Bob Dopolina 

I always carry a tire boot in my seatbag. The best boot is one cut from an old racing slick. You also need to cut the beads out as they cause a seating problem if left in. I have ridden 50+km with a boot in my tire and never worried about it.

I highly recommend carrying a boot with you. If not for your own use, then for your buddy who slices their tire on a group ride. Man, do you ever look like a genius when you sidle up to a bunch of dumbstruck riders all starring down at the gash in buddys' tire and you whip out on of these babies.

kmart

So that's, what, 100 pesos? 30 rubles?