Slashes in my commuter tire
 

Hello all.

When I ride to work, there is about a 1/4-1/2 mile of a sidewalk that I have to travel to get to work. The road is not a viable option due to traffic. This sidewalk is in a bad town and there is a lot of glass on this sidewalk. So this morning, I spent the time picking out the glass in my front and back tire. I noticed some slashes from the glass and wanted to know if I need to do anything about it or just leave it.

(again, finding a different way to work is not an option as this is THE BEST option I have already).

Thank you.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=235960http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=235959

I'd suggest getting some tire savers:

http://www.loosescrews.com/index.cgi...id=30206908969

Do you use these?

I do not think they will work with disc breaks.

You ride on the road, and you get glass / flint cut in your tires, if you don't want that, don't ride the bike, your tire (looks like a Gatorskin?) will be able to cope with little cuts like that, pulling the glass out is a good idea, but apart from that wouldn't worry about it.

Depends on your frame. I don't personally use them, but many do. If you have Gatorskins or something similar, you're probably ok anyway.

Keep riding what you have....I have come in with 9 glass cuts on my rear tire before.

Buy your tires ahead of time on sale.

If the cut goes all the way through, just add a piece of duct tape ( over the cut) on the inside of the tire.

[minus mudguards of course]
Gloved hand, can knock off glass , safest to stop first, then check your tires..
but it is possible while moving, just don't get your hand caught .. better.. just stop..

All my tires eventually get these sort of cuts all over. Unless there is something embedded inside (which you said you pull out anyway) than I wouldn't worry about it. Even if it does go all the way through and puncture the tube, just make sure you have the foreign object pulled out and you'll be fine again.

What are the chances that another piece of <something> will get stuck in the exact same hole?

You want to hear something encouraging? The fact that you have cuts in your tire from glass and no punctures speaks wonders for your tires and should alleviate a lot of concerns. The tire obviously did it's job and kept you from going flat. wohoo!

As long as the casing threads are not damaged, you should be fine. Gatorskins have a really effective puncture protection belt so it's unlikely that this is an issue with respect to the efficacy of the tire. These slices do increase the odds that you'll pick up additional debris in the crevices so you'll want to continue to inspect your tires with some frequency. Beyond that, you should be fine.

Forum member rootboy makes these as well. As long as your fork and rear brake bridges are drilled for (caliper-style) brakes, you can install them.

When I first read the thread title, I thought someone at your workplace had it in for you, and was slashing your tires!

My tires usually get cut to pieces before they wear out. Your tire, with it's tiny little cut, looks like mine after 30 seconds on the glass encrusted roads I ride.

Carry on until you get a slash.

Whenever I take a closer look at my tires, I always see cuts, pieces of glass, and sometimes, pieces of metal, embedded.

My philosophy is, try not to look unless I know that I've been through some bad stuff...

thanks all. i appreciate it muchos.

+1 on every word.

Every time I clean and lube my chain, I pick the stuff out of my tires.

By the time I get 5,000 miles on my Continentals there's hardly place bigger than a dime that doesn't have a cut like that. And in those 5,000 miles I'll have one or two flats.

I can live with that.

+1 on this too (including tubes).

Since rear tires wear at roughly twice the rate as the front, I buy mine in sets of three. That way I already have a spare in stock. When I mount that one, I buy three more.

Best price on Continentals is at the UK web sites. I use Ribble Cycles UK, but they're all around the same price.

are tubes worth shopping around for as far as price vs. quality?

Tubes are tubes. Super thin ones weigh less, and leak air faster, thick ones weigh more and require less topping up. Buy 'em cheap.

Ones with a smooth valve wear pump heads out slower, but the rubber bit is a buck or two to replace, and they need it rarely.

As for the OP, I put a dab of super glue in cuts to keep debris out, otherwise unless you've cut enough cords the tire bulges, you're fine.

My tires have all kinds of little nicks and cuts. They're SMPs w/several thousand miles on them. I use rubber cement or silicone caulking to fill them in every few weeks.

For the larger cuts, you can prevent additional glass from entering the already cut portion and quickly cutting into the threads by using Shoegoo. It looks a little bad after getting dirty, but who can tell while you are rolling,

http://www.google.com/products/catal...d=0CFwQ8gIwAA#

Wal-Mart also sells it.

PS - pull the glass out first.

+1 on rubber cement for large cuts. vulcanization often seals the cuts.

I run with the Gatorskin hardshells on my bikes there about 50.00 a set but there worth it haven't had an issue with then yet you might want to look into it
Keep rideing don't stop. :)

I use a Kevlar tire. Mr. Tuffy tire liners. And a "thorn-proof" tube. Along with that I also hold the Mr. Tuffy in place with Duct Tape all the way around the inner part of the tire. Is this a bit of overkill? Possibly. But I have had fewer flats using this method.

And I absolutely stay AWAY from any sort of product such as "slime". I tried that and it managed to make quite the mess when I did get a puncture. Let alone messing up three pumps because that stuff came back through to valve stem.

If you have brake mounting holes on your frame, tire savers would work. I'd like to have them but my bikes are all befendered...

I've seen people bend them so they can be attached to the end of the fender with a small bolt.

Not entirely correct, not entirely incorrect. Higher quality tubes (Michelin, Conti, Schwalbe,.. perhaps others) are made from higher quality materials which results in better air retention and a lower probability that they will fail for no good reason. These tubes also generally have higher quality valves and more reinforcing where the valve is bonded with the tube. That said, they'll puncture just as easily as a cheap tube. There are so-called thorn resistant tubes and they help but only marginally so. Higher quality tubes are generally twice as expensive as "cheapie" tubes so one has to decide for themselves if the peace of mind is worth the extra $4 bucks or so.