Originally Posted by
dabac
The tube is soft and squishy, it will fill and assume the shape of whatever casing you put it in. Replacing the tube won't do squat if you have a tire that's damaged or about to split open. Look your wheel over real close see if you can spot it bulging somewhere. Then pull it off for further evaluation. Some people carry cut-off sections of old tires with them to use as liners if they spot a sidewall trying to split on them during a ride. Dollar bills folded over and placed over the crack on the inside of the tire have helped many riders finish their ride.
Agreed. You can likely reuse the old tube, but the tire almost definitely needs replacing if it is bulging (I don't know anything about installing a "boot" to repair the bulge or cut. but I assume it is for temporary emergency repairs only).
You will also need to determine what caused it to bulge. The most frequent cause of a tire bulge is being torn by a misaligned brake pad, or by a brake pad that hits the tire in one spot because of a dent in the rim. Other possible causes are riding with the tire pressure too low so that the edge of the rim pinches the sidewall against the ground (or against the edge of a pothole), or an improperly installed tube that is pushing the tire over the sidewall of the rim. Any way you look at it, riding with a cut or bulging tire is bad news and needs to be corrected soon, as it will eventually cause a blow out.