So I got about half a block from work when "BAM". Worst flat I've ever seen. I have no idea what I ran over, but it did some damage.


I installed a boot, was not sure it would hold or not, but it lasted the 12 miles I needed it to. I could feel the bump of the gradually expanding boot for the last 8 miles or so.


This is what it looked like when I got home...

Odd, too, that it seems to be in line with the valve stem??

Kind of odd you don't know what you ran over. I would have gone back and cleaned up the "runway." Good chance you could hit it again on another day.

Park tools sells them. I don't go for a ride without one. They have saved me at least 3 times.

Yep, I ride with them too. I got a sidewall cut in an almost new GP4000SII and the boot held up for another 30 miles or more. Not *quite* the damage the OP had, but it definitely was worth carrying.

-Matt

I can't see the valve stem in the second photo.

Well, yeah, because the tire was removed and booted in the second photo.

Clearly he did not put it back in exactly the same spot.

In an emergency an American dollar bill will act as a boot, the linen fabric is actually pretty tough. I've done it on a 16 mile ride back home.

impressive!

that's skill. nice boot job

a cut, rode over something sharp. you look back to see what it was?

I did look - the roadway was mostly covered with leaves. The only thing I saw was a stone about 3/4" but I don't know if that did it or not - it did not look sharp enough, but the damage was obviously done, so at that time there was nothing to do but address the problem.

$4 and it might be the only way to get home on 2 wheels.

https://www.jensonusa.com/Park-Tool-...MaAkZkEALw_wcB

If a $1 bill will get you 16 miles, then a $100 should take you at least 50 miles, right? Give it a try.

I didn't find the adhesive was very strong on the one I used. As in it was barely sticky. I was surprised it stayed in place long enough to inflate the tire.

-Matt

[MENTION=461186]joelcool[/MENTION] Nice boot job!

Years ago I got a bad one like that. I was wearing a pair of shoes that were on their last legs, so I sacrificed one by cutting out the tongue and using a piece of that as a boot.

Sounds grisly, doesn't it?

I was thinking they were very sticky, but it has been a couple years since I needed to boot a tire, so I may have forgotten.
Most recent flat (a week ago) was yet another one of those damned little wires shed by worn out steel-belted tires, so no boot needed.

I'm thinking the next time I change out a worn tire, it would be an interesting experiment to put a cut across the tread like the OP, then test booting with a dollar bill, then test it with the Park boot.

For sure Gonna add a boot to my repair kit.
That's impressive.

Ive read about the dollar bill trick,
but
might need a $20 to fix a cut that big

I carry a piece cut out of a milk jug to use as a boot. Takes basically no space, but is pretty tough material. I don't know if it would have worked for this degree of tire damage, but maybe. I'd actually prefer not to test that theory if I can avoid it.

Get an Express or Priority Mail mailer from the post office (they're free) and cut out some squares. Tyvek makes for great tire boots.

I transitioned to this after needing to boot a tire, and the only thing I had on me was a $20 bill.