PatrickGSR94

After an 18 mile ride around town, I was doing some cleaning and maintenance on my road bike and noticed this split in my front tire. The tires have never had flats (other than defective original tubes failing while not riding). These are the original tires that came on the bike, Vittoria Zaffiro 700x25c with just over 900 miles on them.

Obviously I need new tires. Would love to try some GP4Ks tires, just don't have it in the budget right now. Could I ride on this for the time being and replace them later, or do I need to replace them ASAP? They seem to be holding pressure just fine - I run 85 PSI on the front tire.

CanadianBiker32

Best bet is to check if there is any openings from inside of the tire.

eliisadick

I would switch back tire to front ,tire with cut to back.

PatrickGSR94

Why is that? I run higher pressure in the rear tire, which may or may not mean anything.

kenji666

Your toenails need trimming.

PatrickGSR94

Thanks let me take care of that

Shimagnolo

https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-rotation.html

Jeff Wills

Tread cuts could be dangerous, could be inconsequential. What matters is if the tire casing is cut.

What does the cut look like with the tire mounted and pumped to full pressure? If the cut doesn't splay open, it's probably OK for a little while. If you can see tire casing or it there's a visible lump, it's time to replace.

If the tire explodes, well, there's your sign.

PatrickGSR94

The cut shown in the pic above is at the normal pressure I run of 85 PSI.

curbtender

Because you don't want to deal with a front flat at speed.

FBinNY 

As Jeff W. pointed out, if the tire stays straight without bulges the casing is structurally intact (for now). Over time it might fray apart, but you'll get some warning when the tire thumps or wiggles as the wheel turns.

The real issue, is that you might only get a few miles of warning, so this may not be something you want to take far from home. I'm not speaking of safety here, but the inconvenience could be significant.

If you want a better indicator of the tires condition, remove the tire, and squeeze the cut open between your fingers. If you see no cords, or even if you see cords but none are cut, the tire is OK, but you may want to use some tread filler. OTOH if you see that the cards are partly cut apart, even slightly, then you're at the beginning of the end, and should plan accordingly.

TallRider

If you're going to run it, put it on the back because an exploding back tire is much less likely to cause you to crash, compared to an exploding front tire.

Kimmo 

Looks like something of a contradiction to me. If there's no bulge at all when the tyre's inflated, the carcass is undamaged, which is the main thing giving your tyre structural integrity.

All that slit represents is a slightly higher chance of puncturing IMO. If it's your front tyre and your tyres are the same size, you might want to throw it on the back just in case. I wouldn't bat an eyelid pumping it up to 100.

If it doesn't bulge.

Oops, just read the thread and saw I just repeated everyone. The tyre is definitely okay, now I see that pic is definitely with 85PSI.

Altbark

Do yourself a favour. Pony up the cash and replace the tire. Tires are pretty important on a bike. Why put yourself through all the aggravation of worrying whether the thing is going to fail? That tire may fail the next time you ride your bike or never but if it does fail at the wrong time you may not like what happens.

Tires can be very expensive or quite cheap. A performance cyclist would have already replaced the damaged rubber. The same can be said of the prudent cyclist. Best. Al

Kimmo 

Disagree completely except for the importance of tyres.

They need to hold air, via the tubes, for a start. Then they need to be made well enough to be fairly uniform, and the carcass must be undamaged. All very important.

On the road, the rest is meh; basically a tradeoff between weight and puncture protection. Hardcore racers might also worry about grip a bit.

See, belt-and-braces types never find out how much you can get away with. I'm an expert on the subject of not using belt or braces.

I wouldn't think twice about using that tyre and I don't carry a puncture kit or spare tube.

dperreno

Put some Shoe Goo in that crack and ride on.

PatrickGSR94

Thanks, I'll remove the tire this evening and have a look at the inside. Will probably reinstall on the rear.

I like that idea, too, especially since I can get the stuff locally without having to make a special trip to the LBS (20+ miles away).

I have no clue how long that damage has been present in the tire. Could have happened yesterday or it could have happened 200+ miles ago. I just happened to notice it while I had the bike upside down while cleaning it.

PatrickGSR94

I plan to, just not right away, unless I get a cheap temporary replacement or something. I'm about to drop several hundred $ on my damn car to replace a blown head gasket and a few other things. Thank goodness I can do it myself but dang it's going to be a PITA and I hate to have to spend that money on it.

Retro Grouch 

That's my test too. If, with the tire at full operating pressure, it still holds it's shape, I let it go. If I can feel a bulge or see a squiggle in the tread, then I know the caseing has been cut and I replace fit.

UberGeek

Yep yep. Especially, since it doesn't look too bad when inflated.

FBinNY 

Having ridden tubulars for almost 50 years, and therefore experiencing my share of both front and rear blowouts, I fail to understand the assumption that front blowouts (on a bicycle) are likely to cause a crash.

Bikes have been around for over 100 years, and tires, both front and rear blowing out often enough that if blowouts were an issue, there would be lirerature about it by now.

So my question. Has anybody here had first hand experience with a front blowout that led to a crash? How about 2nd hand experience, ie. a reliable friend telling you of his 1st hand experience? Or is all this talk of dangerous front tire blowouts simply an urban legend of sorts.

wheelreason

Wait!,....There is no Big Foot?....

PatrickGSR94

I think it's most likely the assumption that a front blowout could cause nasty unintended steering inputs, much the same way it can on a car.

PatrickGSR94

My pic may very well prove otherwise...

FBinNY 

He's in witness protection. He moved to Asia and is living under the name Yeti.