Would you repair a sidewall puncture?

Equipment
1

I’d not long replaced my front tyre after the first tubeless pinch puncture when I got another.

Apprehensive to call bankruptcy on otherwise good tyres (Goodyear Z30 nsw) and switch to something else, I’ve decided to give them one more chance.

My question is, is it safe to repair a sidewall puncture with a patch? I had a very optimistic go at plugging it while out on the road to no avail.

Everything I know about car tyres tells me sidewalls are structural and should be binned when damaged. What’s the story with road race tyres?

1 Like
2

To get home? Yes. To continue to ride. Uh no me. That tire is done.

9 Likes
3

I probably wouldn’t. Best case it holds up fine, worst case it blows out in traffic causing you to crash in front of a car and you get run over.

3 Likes
4

I’d make that a trainer tire, or patch and use on rear for off season training, but I absolutely would not run on front and not in a race.

3 Likes
5

I’m patching the sidewall of a GP5000 with 100 miles on it. Intervals exhausted attention and the front caught a stone. After a Remo patch, it’ll see the rear for training.

6

I ran an Aspen with a “side of bacon” on the sidewall for 90% of its life without any issues. In fact, that was the only puncture I noticed on this tire.

1 Like
7

I’ve got a Donnelly MSO that will forever be a tubed tire only… It was less than 2 weeks old when I scraped on chunky gravel… Had the original bacon plugged it well enough to survive the first overnight I’d still be wondering how long I should ride it… As a tubed tire, now, I just ride until I have time and energy to swap it back to tubeless…

8

It’s not worth the risk to me. (But I run specialized tires that run around $40 so not too costly to replace).

2 Likes
9

I’ve patched sidewall punctures from the inside with no issues. But they were small punctures, from thorns/glass etc, not a proper sidewall slice.

Bike tyres are not like car tyres though. Bike tyres are more similar all over, because bikes lean and the sidewall can come into contact with the ground. That doesn’t happen with cars.

10

I would. I had a bad sidewall puncture that I patched with a tubeless tire specific patch. Got another 1500 miles on it. My rear tire currently has a dynaplug in a sidewall hole. Probably 300 miles since I put in the plug. I don’t feel like it’s unsafe. If the tire only has a short life left I might just buy a new tire but if it’s a fairly new tire with lots of tread I absolutely will repair it.

1 Like
11

I’ve patched tires all over the casing for decades. I don’t think one applies car tire logic to bicycle tires. Rotate it to the rear if you are really concerned.

I’ve always sealed the hole with super glue and then glued an old piece of tire casing to the inside of the tire. I’ve never had a casing repair fail. That said, it was all held together with a tube from the inside. It might be more difficult to do in a tubeless situation with fresh sealing attacking your repair from the inside. Maybe glue the casing shut from the outside with super glue and then apply a vulcanizing patch on the inside?

1 Like
12

I’ll patch sidewalls from inside as long as it’s not a big cut. Basically, if the tire seals after putting some bacon or dynaplug in the sidewall, it’s a candidate for patch. If too big for that, I’d probably bin it.

1 Like
13

Should you? No. Have I? Yes, and for years. Kept a close eye on it.

14

I would not continue to use it, the patch is just to get home.

Tires cost a lot less than a doctors visit for me.

2 Likes
15

Same here. Descending at speed is no time for a tire failure. Would rather spend $$ on tires than $$$$$$ at the doctors.

1 Like
16

This happened 20 miles into the Kowtown 65 in Kremmling, CO on a really rough descent. Took 3 plugs to close it. Finished the race.

Replacement tire took a few weeks to get in. Before the new tire showed up, I had no issue doing an 82 mile charity ride averaging 20 mph with the plugs in.

Typically, tires are too cheap to not just replace. I only did because my replacement wasn’t in yet.

IMG_1978
IMG_19783024×4032 2.63 MB