Joined: May 2007
Posts: 200
Likes: 0
From: Watertown, MA (Boston)
Bikes: '00 Kona Yee Ha, '83 Schwinn World (fix), '96 KHS Montana Descent (w/ RS XC-32), '05 Fort Ro.SLC (totaled), '01 Burley Rumba tandem, '15 Mattioli R1, '14 Nashbar Big Ol' Fat Bike, '96 Fuji Marlboro folder (drops), '04 Jamis Satellite, '04 Giant TCX
Glue-on patch won't work with a big enough hole on high pressure tires. You will get blowouts right through the patch, which is too "expandable" to hold up to high pressure. You need cloth reinforcement. What I've found works perfectly is a piece of an old kevlar-belted road tire that's worn down almost to the belt. File the edges of the rubber on the boot to make a smoother transition so the tire won't "bump" as much, but don't expect it to ride perfect, because the section where the boot is will be stiffer and I suspect it will always "bump". Affix it in place with rubber cement between the boot and the inside of the tire, and then duct tape over the boot, and then shoe goo to seal the hole in the outside of the tire.
I put hundreds of miles on a 100psi 25mm slick booted this way, and then one day it finally flatted. "Oh well, I guess it wasn't meant to last forever," I said as I looked down at it, expecting to see a blowout where the boot was.
Not so -- the boot was still fine, but I had worn right through the tread and through the threads, in a TOTALLY DIFFERENT place from where the boot was!
I'm currently running another 100psi tire set up this way with a hole in the sidewall. The sidewall bulges a little where the boot is, but I've still got hundreds of miles on it since the boot, and hopefully will wear this one down to the threads too, knock on wood!