Is this safe to ride?
 

I discovered this today. I like my repair. :D
I hope I don't die today. :eek:

Front or rear?

You should have also put tape on the inside of the tire...

Well, it might get you to the shop to buy a new tire...

that's rear. I didn't want to hassle my self with deflating the tire, and then taking the tire off, and then patching it. If I was doing that I might as well replace the tire!

You're safer with the rear. I'd replace it when you get home, though.

mine looked like that, from too much skidding, so i just rotated the tires, so that the rear now has a nice tread, and i figure when i wear that one down to the tan, ill invest in some armadillo's

Did this on a beater bike. Taped both the inside and the out, but this was a full-on tear all the way through the tire. It helps if you write on the duct tape with a sharpie e.g.

"oops!"
"ouch!"
or "pie!"

(something about cohesion and bonding...)

I'd use that tire as a bumper on your boat dock.
I wouldn't risk my fate to that tire, especially at the speeds I travel.
(ok, how fast I wish I was going).

You're ok for another couple thousand miles..... I love duct tapes.

Ummm... did you put that crappy, about-to-explode tire on the front?? You know... up by your teeth and face.

Booting a tire is acceptable practice to get you from here to the bike shop but the boot goes inside the tire to keep the tube from popping out. I expect that'll wear down right quick and leave you in just as bad a shape.

An old bmx trick i used to do, was to fold up a dollar bill and tape it to the inside of the tire if I got a little holw in the tire. The holes were never that big though.

Pure Genius! Genius I tell you!

Super glue works better.

For a bit of safety margin, wrap the remainder of the tape around your head.
Wrap it good 'n tight.

I wouldn't lean into any turns if I were you.

Do you have medical coverage? Dental? Life insurance? A video camera?

A good way to boot tires is with Tyvek. It is that white fabric stuff they put on the side of houses. You could steal some from a construction site and epoxy it inside your tire. I'm not saying this will last forever, but it's one of the best methods. The only reasons you should ride around on a booted tire is if you have no access to a new one or if you're really into tire booting r&d. I used to be really cheap with tires so I'd dumpster dive them from behind the LBS and boot em and ride the **** out of em. I rode some really gnarly tires and never had catastrophic failure. It happens though.

Wouldn't something like 'shoe goo' work better?

We'll look for your followup posting in the "dumbest thing you've ever done to a bike..." thread.

for us canadians, that could be an expensive repair as the smallest bill is $5.00

a loonie would just not work

I read somewhere long ago that in ww2 Britain rubber was unobtainium so they would line worn tires with one shilling notes. Much cheaper than a new 'tyre'.

dude...if you cant afford a new tire, im sure someone on this board would donate one. pull it together, will ya?

I believe we'll need a test report if you really ride that thing.

Argh, scary.

The usual thing to do in an emergency like this is to put the duct tape, inner tube segment, or dollar bill between the tube and the inside of the tire.... NOT OUTSIDE the tire!

Hells no.