Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

A small piece of tire is missing. What should I do?

Search
Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

A small piece of tire is missing. What should I do?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-02-13 | 12:15 AM
  #1  
Bikeforumuser0017's Avatar
Thread Starter
Goofy Goober
 
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 330
Likes: 1
A small piece of tire is missing. What should I do?

Ok, before you tell me to change the tire. There is a small hole (about 1 cubic mm), but it was made by my trainer (either cheap tire or too much tension on trainer); So was no puncture to the tire, Is the tire still ridable?
Bikeforumuser0017 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 12:20 AM
  #2  
Nagrom_'s Avatar
Fixie Infamous
Titanium Club Membership
10 Anniversary
 
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 10,480
Likes: 28
A cubic millimeter is is about the size of a grain of sand. The tire is pretty much untouched, or you aren't very good with units.

A picture would help.
__________________
Originally Posted by seau grateau
No offense but you're an idiot.
PedalRoom
Nagrom_ is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 12:21 AM
  #3  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 90
Likes: 0
From: North of Scottsdale, AZ

Bikes: Wilier Imperial - Red groupo

I wouldn't ride that tire. Risk vs Reward is not there. New tire - $35 or damage rim or worse - $$$$
Gumbus is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 12:23 AM
  #4  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 367
Likes: 1
I'd relegate it to a fulltime trainer tire at this point. Chunks tend to turn into blowouts in my experience.
gamby is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 12:44 AM
  #5  
Bikeforumuser0017's Avatar
Thread Starter
Goofy Goober
 
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 330
Likes: 1
Would putting some shoe goo in the hole work?
Bikeforumuser0017 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 01:12 AM
  #6  
TrojanHorse's Avatar
SuperGimp
 
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 13,346
Likes: 65
From: Whittier, CA

Bikes: Specialized Roubaix

You can probably put a tire boot in that thing and use it but +1 to the "relegate to trainer duty" advice
TrojanHorse is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 01:14 AM
  #7  
Brian Ratliff's Avatar
Senior Member
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,123
Likes: 4
From: Near Portland, OR

Bikes: Three road bikes. Two track bikes.

It's fine. Fill it in with some superglue if it bugs you. Once you start riding a little, you'll find if you go off replacing your tires after every little thing, you'll be out a huge amount of money.

General rule of thumb for me is if the casing is undamaged, I'll keep riding it. If the casing is damaged, I deal with it on a case to case basis depending on the extent of the damage. If it's a small tear or hole, I'll boot the tire and keep riding for a while. If it's a large hole, then I replace.
__________________
Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --the tiniest sprinter
Brian Ratliff is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 01:20 AM
  #8  
marqueemoon's Avatar
or tarckeemoon, depending
 
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,017
Likes: 2
From: the pesto of cities

Bikes: Davidson Impulse, Merckx Titanium AX, Bruce Gordon Rock & Road, Cross Check custom build, On-One Il Pomino, Shawver Cycles cross, Zion 737, Mercian Vincitore, Brompton S1L, Charge Juicer

Is the tire bulging around that spot?
marqueemoon is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 01:29 AM
  #9  
Bikeforumuser0017's Avatar
Thread Starter
Goofy Goober
 
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 330
Likes: 1
Originally Posted by marqueemoon
Is the tire bulging around that spot?
No. If it were, I wouldn't be posting this thread. I also ran it up to 120psi. I think it's fine. I'll probably boot it like what Brian said.
Bikeforumuser0017 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 06:04 AM
  #10  
topflightpro's Avatar
Senior Member
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 7,623
Likes: 736
Are you sure it's not the tire's wear indicator?
topflightpro is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 06:25 AM
  #11  
Senior Member
 
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 621
Likes: 1
Originally Posted by topflightpro
Are you sure it's not the tire's wear indicator?
+1

1 cubic mm would be about right for this. Is is a perfectly circular hole?
jolly_ross is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 12:06 PM
  #12  
Looigi's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 8,951
Likes: 14
I've always ridden my rear tires until the cords start showing, which means virtually all the tread rubber is gone, not just a little chunk. A little random chunk missing or a cut doesn't mean much IMO if the cords are intact and not compromised. Cut/damaged cords would normally be evidenced by bulging. The fact that this happened on a trainer is a bit curious. It suggests perhaps that the tread rubber and/or it's bond to the cords has been been compromised by the stresses involved. Having big chunks or strips of tread rubber coming off while riding would be less than ideal.

For typical cuts or divots in the tread, I just leave them be.
Looigi is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 12:23 PM
  #13  
banerjek's Avatar
Portland Fred
 
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 11,553
Likes: 54

Bikes: Custom Winter, Challenge Seiran SL, Fuji Team Pro, Cattrike Road/Velokit, РOS hybrid

Originally Posted by topflightpro
Are you sure it's not the tire's wear indicator?
This.

Even if it weren't, who would be concerned over a cubic mm? Hell, you'd have to throw away your tires every time you rode over glass or gravel.
banerjek is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 12:24 PM
  #14  
marqueemoon's Avatar
or tarckeemoon, depending
 
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,017
Likes: 2
From: the pesto of cities

Bikes: Davidson Impulse, Merckx Titanium AX, Bruce Gordon Rock & Road, Cross Check custom build, On-One Il Pomino, Shawver Cycles cross, Zion 737, Mercian Vincitore, Brompton S1L, Charge Juicer

Originally Posted by GT4
No. If it were, I wouldn't be posting this thread. I also ran it up to 120psi. I think it's fine. I'll probably boot it like what Brian said.
I would boot it and ride it too. If it were a front I'd move it to the rear.
marqueemoon is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 02:16 PM
  #15  
escarpment's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 781
Likes: 1
From: chicago

Bikes: cannondale crit 3.0, specialized allez, old giant mtb/hybrid

I kept some bad tires alive with super glue for waaay too long, but they never failed on me.

Shoe goo or super glue will do the job if you dont want to get new tires.
escarpment is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 05:52 PM
  #16  
pdxtex's Avatar
Portland, OR, USA
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,626
Likes: 1
From: portland

Bikes: kona paddywagon, trek 2.1, lemond nevada city, gt zrx

its fine. ive ridden tires until there are threads sticking out of the center tread before. cuts in the rubber happen all the time.
pdxtex is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 05:59 PM
  #17  
banerjek's Avatar
Portland Fred
 
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 11,553
Likes: 54

Bikes: Custom Winter, Challenge Seiran SL, Fuji Team Pro, Cattrike Road/Velokit, РOS hybrid

Am I hearing that a bunch of people would actually repair a tire missing a 1mm chunk?

Whatever the case, I'm happy to take any frames, forks, or components that you've scraped and need to chuck.
banerjek is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 08:03 PM
  #18  
Bikeforumuser0017's Avatar
Thread Starter
Goofy Goober
 
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 330
Likes: 1
Picture
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
photo-12.jpg (95.7 KB, 107 views)

Last edited by Bikeforumuser0017; 01-02-13 at 09:30 PM. Reason: People couldn't image
Bikeforumuser0017 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 08:08 PM
  #19  
Beaker's Avatar
moth -----> flame
Titanium Club Membership
15 Anniversary
 
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 5,919
Likes: 4
From: SF Bay Area

Bikes: 18 Tarmac SL6, 11 CAAD 10-4, 07 Specialized Roubaix Comp, 98 Peugeot Horizon

Not seeing a picture, but a big +1 to a square mm being not worth a moments thought. Keep calm and carry on.
__________________
BF, in a nutshell
Beaker is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 08:19 PM
  #20  
Dannihilator's Avatar
Still kicking.
Sheldon Brown Memorial - Registered
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 19,659
Likes: 47
From: Annandale, New Jersey

Bikes: Bike Count: Rising.

What tire?
__________________
Appreciate the old bikes more than the new.
Dannihilator is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 08:51 PM
  #21  
alecjahn's Avatar
Senior Member
 
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 117
Likes: 1
From: Wichita, KS

Bikes: 1988 Trek 800, 200? Fuji Marseille [shimagnolo], 2010 Windsor The Hour

Pull out a ruler/scale and re-affirm your idea of "1 mm". It's REALLY really small.
alecjahn is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 09:09 PM
  #22  
Bikeforumuser0017's Avatar
Thread Starter
Goofy Goober
 
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 330
Likes: 1
Originally Posted by alecjahn
Pull out a ruler/scale and re-affirm your idea of "1 mm". It's REALLY really small.
I'm estimating 1 CUBIC mm. It's Certainly more than 1mm wide but not even 1mm deep.

OK. It might be 2 or 3 cubic mm, but no more. Look at the giant picture. You have a dime to compare it with.
Bikeforumuser0017 is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 09:11 PM
  #23  
Still can't climb
 
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 23,024
Likes: 6
From: Limey in Taiwan
My front tyre has a hole about 2mm wide and deep, all the way through the threads. I can see the inner tube. I keep meaning to replace the tyre but when I ride it it is perfectly ok. When I get a flat, I'll just deal with it then.
__________________
coasting, few quotes are worthy of him, and of those, even fewer printable in a family forum......quote 3alarmer

No @coasting, you should stay 100% as you are right now, don't change a thing....quote Heathpack
coasting is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 09:12 PM
  #24  
Nagrom_'s Avatar
Fixie Infamous
Titanium Club Membership
10 Anniversary
 
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 10,480
Likes: 28
Your image isn't working. You can't hotlink an image from an email attachment.
__________________
Originally Posted by seau grateau
No offense but you're an idiot.
PedalRoom
Nagrom_ is offline  
Reply
Old 01-02-13 | 09:12 PM
  #25  
Dannihilator's Avatar
Still kicking.
Sheldon Brown Memorial - Registered
20 Anniversary
 
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 19,659
Likes: 47
From: Annandale, New Jersey

Bikes: Bike Count: Rising.

All I see is a question mark.
__________________
Appreciate the old bikes more than the new.
Dannihilator is offline  
Reply


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.