SylvainG

What about if you added a Park Tool TB-2 to it? The tube itself didn't go through the slit, it simply got pierced and is patchable. Tire is less than 2 months/1,000 km old.

sweeks

I would probably "boot" the tire at that spot with a piece of Tyvek just to be on the safe side.
Steve

EDIT: After looking up the Park Tools item, I'd give the same advice. Tyvek is the stuff some virtually indestructible mailing envelopes are made of. Some folks use dollar bills, which are pretty durable. Any of these ought to work.

Spoonrobot 

Well, it's a Continental so no I wouldn't ride that tire.

However if it was another brand of tire that I haven't had 3 bead failures, yes I would boot with a park boot and ride it on the rear with no problems.

SylvainG

Why wouldn't you ride it because it's a Continental? Just curious.

FBinNY 

I've ridden far worse, though I'd relegate that tire (after booting) to local (day trip) riding only.

When touring, we learn to make do with whatever will get us home, and if I were on the road, I'd buy a replacement so as not to get stranded, but continue riding that until I lost confidence in the repair. But, if I were home, I'd limit myself to areas where I knew I could get home one way or the other.

sweeks

I think he means he's had 3 bead failures with Contis.
Steve

rm -rf

Park tells you not to use the TB-2 tire boot as a permanent fix. I tried it anyway, on a similar slit that wasn't really bulging, but looked like it could get worse.

The edge of the stiff tire boot cut through my tube after a few weeks. oops.

Yeah, I'd try a tyvek patch, and watch the cut. If it starts bulging out, I'd throw out the tire. (I almost always end up throwing it out as the cut gets worse.)

~~~~
Permanent patches
On yet another cut tire thread, there was a post about gluing strong sailcloth inside the tire with contact cement. The cloth patch reached all the way across to both beads.

This seems like the only feasible fix, since it reinforces the tire all the way across, to resist the large forces from the air pressure.

I only get cuts like these once every 3 to 5 years, so I haven't felt like trying it.

I linked to it here.

CliffordK

I have a Schwalbe Marathon with a similar Sidewall cut. It happened in the first week. I rode for about 20 miles without a boot. Then I added one of the Park boots. Full-sized, and it caused the tire to bump. So, I cut the boot in half, rounded the corners, and put it back in. About 500 miles later the boot cut through the tube and caused a flat. So, I taped the edges of the boot with electrical tape and finished my ride. The boot then literally disintegrated, as well as getting something wearing through the middle of the boot, and almost causing a flat. I think the hole has gradually increased in size over time.

Another tire that got sidewall damage (Gator Hardshell), I used a radial tire patch on the inside of the tire, and a standard rubber patch on the outside. That held up reasonably well for a few thousand miles until worn out and loss of a chunk of tread rubber. Maybe a little bulge near the repair, but nothing critical.

Someone suggested Gorilla tape for temporary repairs. I haven't tried it yet, but that is also worth considering.

As Spoonrobot mentioned, he has had bead failures. I've blown out a Continental Gator Hardshell. What a pain. A blown bead is extremely hard to boot in the middle of a ride.

It is hard to say whether or not I'd risk it. I'd probably continue to use it (for a while). That one has a rubberized sidewall that may be different from the Gator and related tires.

79pmooney

The permanent fix - and yes, I rode the mountainous Cycle Oregon on a tire with a much bigger cut and my fix - dacron sailcloth and contrator;s grade contact cement.

Go to a sailmaker and ask for a scrap of dacron racing dingy jib cloth. Cut it nice and big. I sometimes go bead to bead and an inch more in both directions. Bond it in with good contractor's contact cement, the stuff will all kinds of bad solvents. (Take the warnings seriously and work in good venalation.) Done carefull, the tire will not bulge and you can ride it the rest of teh tread's life with no worry. Just don't fold the tire at the patch or you will find yourself needing to reglue it.

I spent a few years riding the Vittoria Open Paves, the green treaded high end rain tires that cut so easy. (I think the grippy tread is a magnet for road debris.) At $70 a pop, tossing them was killing my wallet. Once I started with these patches, I could ride the tires into the ground.

Ben

CliffordK

The sails on the bigger boats is pretty heavy stuff. I could imagine that would make a pretty good repair. And scraps should be cheap.

You may not need to worry too much about the glue. It doesn't need to hold air, just hold the patch in place, with the help of the pressure of the tube.

If the hole is close to the bead, then it may be best to wrap the repair material under the bead.

Spoonrobot 

I was sort of glib drive-by pot-shotting at Continental but as others have already alluded to I have not had good luck with reliability of continental tires.

Continental was my go to brand until I had 3 bead failures in a set of 5-6 tires. I contacted the company and they were apathetic and insinuated all three were installation errors. They did not address the fact that installation was done without tools and the bead had physically separated from the tire in each case. In addition to the fact that one of the tires had been ridden hundreds of miles before failure on the initial mounting. I'm not saying Continental has/had a problem with their tires but a google search and even a search of this forum sure make it seem like they have a higher incidence than other brands. YMMV of course

Trevtassie

Get a tire patch from a car tire shop or auto supply. They do make little ones, they have reinforcing in them so they won't bulge out and the glue will cold vulcanise them to the tire.

TimothyH

I go 50 MPH on my bike and would never ride a tire like that.

SClaraPokeman

It's sort of disappointing when a tire suffers a cut when it's relatively new and it does feel wasteful to toss it when it could conceivably be repaired and run for several hundred more miles. However, think about how you would feel if the tire failed after a makeshift repair and you suffered an injury because of it. A replacement is far less than a trip to the ER. I try to repair objects instead of junking them whenever I can, but I don't mess with tires--just not worth it to me--I'd rather not be worrying about the integrity of my tire repair going 35 mph down a 8% grade while being followed by an Escalade.

CliffordK

I suppose there is a first time for everything. I'd hate to count the number of flats I've had in the last 40+ years. No doubt I'd run out of fingers and toes when counting them.

I've had at least one blowout on my bike, and one on my trailer, and rolled a sewup on my road bike years ago.

I can't ever remember going down due to a flat, blowout, or rolled tire. I suppose it could happen, but it isn't that common.

velocentrik

If you don't value your life, ride the tire. If your life had even marginal value why are we discussing this?

SylvainG

I live in Canada so ER is free Joking aside, I do take a 8% grade at 30+ mph but it's on a bike path so no Escalade but still not a pleasant situation to be in. In Canada those tires cost $80+ but living one hour from the US, I had one for $38 US shipped there for free. Even with the exchange rate, still a much better deal.

Rolling resistance on those tire is really good but if they keep failing on me, I guess I'll have to choose a more resilient, 'slower' tire.

SylvainG

Because I didn't know if it was ridable safely or not. From the answers, I'm not taking any chance so I bought a new one.

GamblerGORD53

A new Schwalbe??

GamblerGORD53

+1 to Conti tires SUCK.

Actually, 3 months ago I bought a 1973 CCM 3 speed. Not sure, but the tires are nylon and a least 40 years old, maybe original because they are matched. I have ridden the front one 870 miles at 38+ mph a half dozen times. I took the front tire off to give it a new tube. The rubber beside the bead was hard and crunchy, so I sanded the rough off. LOL Done 300 miles since. The rim is steel. I built an all new back wheel.

gregf83 

It looks like damage to the outer layer only with no opening for the tube to protrude. I would continue to ride it unless the inner layers were damaged. I had a staple (don't ask me how) penetrate the outer layer on my tire recently: no damage to the inner layer so I've continued to ride it with no issues.

SylvainG

Yeah, on my Schwinn Mirada last year, my Schwalbe Marathon Plus went over 3,200 km without a single puncture taking the same path as I take now. That will probably the tire I'll go for if the Continental fails me again. I'll loose a few minutes a day in rolling resistance but that will be recuperated by the time I'll save not repairing flats on the road side

sweeks

I have at least that many miles on the Marathon Plus tires on my folding commuter bike with no flats. I am wondering why I still carry tools and a pump for fixing flats... I haven't had one for several years now.
(I believe in Murphy's Law... that's why!)
Steve

AndreyT

The only way to ride that tire is indeed to install an emergency patch/boot (e.g. Park Tool TB-2) and ride it to the nearest location where you can replace it with a good tire. Outside of that there are no circumstances under which one would ride a tire with a slit in it.

AndreyT

The OP explicitly stated that the tube got pierced. That means that there is an opening. Whether the tube can protrude through it is a different story. But the hole is there.