PastorJim

I have fairly expensive tires on my road bike and good tread. I got a small screw hole in the tire. I'm replacing the tube but hoping to fill the hole made by the screw and hoping I can get more miles out of this tire.
Can I fix it to like new - What glue or method OR is it time for a new tire.

cpach

If the tire doesn't bulge, it's fine, but if it does no glue will repair the threads of the tire casing.

DrIsotope

I guess it really depends on the size of the screw. I've lost two tires to screws, neither could be suitably repaired.

jimincalif

I’ve had good luck using gaffer tape inside a tire to boot it when there is just a bit of damage to the cords. Think of a much stronger duct tape. Use a couple layers, if it’s just a small screw hole it should be fine. Pressure from the tube will keep it in place along with the adhesive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaffer_tape

davidad

If thee is an industrial supply place near you buy a piece of 1/32" reinforced pipe flange gasket material and cut a boot about one inch square. Super glue it over the hole and put duct tape over it (the tube will fret a hole without the tape).
I have repaired cuts in the tire and rode it until it wore out. With a larger cut I put it on the back even though I have never had one fail.

dsaul

A regular inner tube patch on the inside of the tire should work for a screw hole. I regularly patch holes in my tubeless tires with Rema patches. These are holes that required a plug or two to get me back to the parking lot, so around 3-5mm holes.

For a tire with a tube, Gorilla tape works fine.

dmanthree

I'd replace the tire. Why take a chance of a non-repairable flat 40 miles from home?

Iride01 

Depends on you. It's unlikely you'll make it as safe as it was. How do you quantify the safety you expect from it?

CliffordK

It really depends on the tire and damage.

This was a nail I picked up earlier.



After removing the nail... without the photo, I don't think I could find the hole in the tire. The angled sidewall cut tends to keep the hole closed.

For a small hole, you can also simply put a tire patch on the inside of the tire.

Park Boots aren't designed for long-term use, and will eventually eat through the tubes.

Some people boot with a sturdy non-flexible cloth like thin sail cloth scraps. Probably other similar cloths.

Anyway, it is impossible to judge without seeing an actual picture of what happened to your tire.

How is the rim?

rumrunn6

where is the hole? what does it look like? I wonder if the exterior dimple will attract other stuff to enter the same spot again

shelbyfv

I wouldn't boot a sidewall but it's worth a try in the tread. I'd use a booted tire on the rear but not the front. As mentioned above, the boot material should be smooth, especially along the edges.

caloso

Gorilla Tape or a Rema patch. But only if it's on the tread. I wouldn't trust it on a sidewall.

PastorJim

Thanks it's right in the center of tire, I'm thinking of a patch inside tire and a little bit of black silicone in hole, and we'll see how it goes.

PastorJim

Thanks! It's right in the center of tire (which is good that it is not on the side). I'm thinking of a patch inside tire and a little bit of black silicone in hole, and we'll see how it goes. Silcone just to try to block exterior from attracting other stuff to that spot which has happen in my past experience.

Litespud

I had the same issue with a drywall screw. I was ~5 miles from home, so I swapped out the tube, which held, but you could see tube through the hole in the inflated tire. I booted the tire with a couple of layers of thick duck tape, which appeared to hold, and did so for a couple more rides, but I ended up replacing the tire. It was coming to the end of its useful life in any case - the screw hole just moved replacement up the schedule a bit

CliffordK

And, don't forget the ubiquitous $1 boot... Unless one thinks a $5, $10, $20, $50, or $100 boot would be better.

DrIsotope

I've had to boot a tire with a $20, it was all I had on me. That afternoon was what prompted me to cut up a Tyvek postal mailer, and put a few roughly dollar-sized pieces into the bag on each bike.

BookFinder 

This -

One has to have a bit of an adventuring spirit, lest what I call "the fearfuls" and other anxious souls who live in a constant state of perfectionist trepidation make straddling the bike with a patched tube or tire a source of joy-robbing horror.

I can't tell you how to gauge when a tire is shot, but a small hole in the main body of the thread is not reason to discard one. On the other hand, sidewalls are nearly impossible to safely repair.

In your case, I would look at the tire to determine if the size of the hole will lead to a pothole behavior, in which the hole gets bigger as a result of external impacts. Assuming a patch can close the inside, and the rubber is sound around the casing, I would be willing to risk it.

It boils down to a judgement call.

conspiratemus1

I like this approach (not on the tandem, though, where stoker and domestic life partner gets annoyed with sudden and preventable mechanical failures that leave us both stranded with an ungainly machine a long way from home. Although passing strangers with pickup trucks are more generous than you might think, being the only commonly seen vehicle that can swallow a tandem without choking.) The trick with dodgy tires is to 1) use them on the rear only and 2) replace the tire just BEFORE the tube herniates through the defect and blows. This way you get maximum stinginess life from your makeshift repair and aren't out the cost of a new tube. Nice.

pdlamb

I've not had much luck with screw holes. Either it's so big it bulges and ruptures (that's exciting!), it picks up and transmits random road trash that punctures the tube (glass, wires, etc.), or you try to boot it and the tire chews the tube by flexing while riding until it's chewed through the tube.

My vote is grumble and replace the tire.

Trinity Pratt

On a recent ride I noticed the front tire on my Wilier, a bluewall Michelin, had a bump in the sidewall. Closer look, definite cut a quarter-inch wide, half on the sidewall, half on the tread, but couldn't see innertube, just a white material. Kept riding, with fingers crossed. Home with no trouble, forgot, went out again a few days later, short ride. This time when back home, took the tire off and found a piece of (quality) duct tape inside over the cut. Had completely forgotten about it, have done at least a couple thousand miles on this fix, bombing down hills, over potholes and riffles. You'll say I'm lucky. I say the fix worked. So I took out the old tape and put back in two layers. On the road again.

63rickert

Dunlop Cycle Repair Canvas for the boot and Dunlop Treadstopper Compound for the tread. I still have the Canvas acquired 45 years ago and most likely coming from 1950s inventory. Used to give it away, my supply is getting low. Treadstopper Compound has all dried up long ago.

If you don't have the real thing any stout fabric is going to work. Have used gaffer tape and Gorilla tape, which you should watch as the adhesive is not the greatest for the application. Casings from expired tubulars work really well though it is real work to remove the parts you won't need. Glue in place with rubber cement from the regular patch kit. Use a big enough boot to keep tire casing from distorting. If it all inflated well and looks straight you're good to go. When the casing starts to distort you either start over or scrap the tire. Been doing this 60 years and overwhelming majority of impromptu boots last the life of tire. US currency is an emergency boot, not the greatest, should be considered as temporary, but even that might last. Just keep an eye on your repair.