I was inspecting my bike today and noticed the following cut in my rear tire. The tube is not punctured. Is there anything I should do to seal it up, or do you always just leave things like this alone? It seems like having an exposed hole would only make it easier for things to get in and pop my tube.

personally I would replace the tire

I'd put something between the tube and the tire there. Generally referred to as a "boot". A dollar bill works well, and can be reclaimed when you replace the tire. Or use a piece of an old tire or tube.

When you guys say replace, do you mean that the LBS or tire maker will replace my tire for damage like this, or do you mean I'd have to buy a new tire?

it's fine. ride it.

yeah that's a great spot for a cut, I wouldn't worry a bit.

Replace = buy a new one

If it were mine, I'd put a boot in there and ride it. If you do that and end up crashing b/c of a flat, I never said such.

But in all seriousness, if it's a front tire, and you're worried about it, just move it to the rear and it should be just fine. You could probably seal it with something if you want to, but it's not really necessary.

If it were mine, it would be be in the trash, a new tire would have replaced it, and my life would continue on without a post or second thought. However that is just the way I deal with trivial issues like this.

well seeing it is hooked to the trainer, that is the best place for it.

Psh. You should see my Michelin Krylion Carbons. Those cuts are everywhere and they still work just fine. Just means the tires working and whatever made that cut didn't puncture your tube!

It depends on how deep the cut is. If it is well into the ply I would boot it, but most certainly NOT WITH A DOLLAR BILL. That's for emergency repairs when you are out on a ride and you have no other options. To boot a tire in your garage, clean the area with a sand cloth and apply contact cement, let the cement dry and apply a larger patch to the cement. This is what I do when I need to boot a tire while on a ride too. I carry a patch kit as a just in case stop gap measure. I have only needed to do this twice and was very glad I had the patch kit along. With out it you need to run at reduced air pressure depending on how bad the cut is. Good luck.

Talk about opinions being all over the place on this one! Thanks for the advice. I previously though that people usually ignored things like this, so it was good to learn that it may be more serious and in need of looking into and/or replacing.

Don't use a dollar, a twenty works better

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