Originally Posted by
caloso
Mostly because I don't like foreign objects in tires. If it's the thing that's keeping the hole plugged, and it comes out during a ride, you might end up with a larger hole that sealant won't plug. I'd rather find that out in my garage than 10 miles from home.
Originally Posted by
tyrion
If you leave it in and forget about it, you might cut yourself when handling the tire in the future.
Both seem reasonable to me.
I asked the question because I recently noticed a tiny piece of steel wire embedded in a tire...probably a very small piece of steel belt from an auto tire. I dug at it with a pick and a tweezers for a few minutes, saw that I would only extract it by digging a much bigger hole in the tire, and so quit trying. The tire is set up tubeless, so I suspect it'll be fine -- the debris has become part of the tire, with sealant dealing with any air leaks.