Sidewall damage: risks?
 

Hello,

I have relatively new tyres and I am faced with a problem: the sidewall casing is a bit exposed. I believe that this was caused due to me riding while the tyre was flat as I had to ride it to the bike shop... Given that these tyres are racing tyres with very thin sidewalls, it just couldn't take any abuse at all. It seems like the short ride caused the thin sidewall rubber to rub off, exposing the casing at a few locations, though none bigger than the size of afingertip.

I am now faced with a issue: can I continue to use the tyres? What risks are there if I continued to use them?

TIA

If you rode flat tires, they are probably ruined.

The risk is that you'll have a sudden blowout. If you're going fast or riding in traffic when that happens, you could get hurt.

To add to what Jeff said, a front blowout is much worse than a rear blowout. Expect to be injured if it's your front tire that blows out.

It's the rear tyre.

Oh well, guess I either have to get a new Kojak or install some other tyre on the rear. I'm thinking of using a hardier tyre behind, like a Marathon or a Big Apple. Should solve my problem of having rear punctures all the time (literally; never had a front tyre puncture!).

Any opinions?

A good McGyver if your sidewall starts bulging is a dollar bill. Fold the dollar and line the tire with it in the bad spot and it'll get ya home.

If racing tires on a road bike, what size are they? The Big Apple is a balloon tire with a minimum width of 50mm IIRC, not suitable for many frames or for narrow rims.

For maximum puncture protection go with the Marathon Plus or the Schwalbe Stelvio Plus. Both are available in narrow sizes to fit road rims. The Stelvio Plus is a folding tire. I like the 700 x 25 Stelvio Plus's I have on one bike.