I was driving in my car today, with my unicycle in the trunk when I heard a loud bang. I thought somebody had thrown something at my car, then it occurred to me that the tire on the unicycle had blown. Sure enough, I removed the tube and noticed a rough edge on the rim which wore thru the tube. I patched it and re-inflated it, and saw that the tube was holding. Then I noticed the tube pushing through the side of the tire, just above the bead. Should I toss it, or is there a way to fix the tire?
Often when a tire has had a blowout, it gets deformed and is more prone to blow out at the same place again. If that’s the case, there’s not much to be done except replace it.
I have had a number of blowouts without replacing the tire and haven’t had problems.
Did the tire blow off from heat or over-inflation? If so the tire may be fine if it doesn’t happen again under normal conditions. The tire may have been damaged but I would prove so before replacing it unless it is due for replacement anyway.
Did it blow off because the tire was damaged? Then replace the tire.
I had a really simlilar question to ask, my tube exploded while I was sleeping, and the sidewall of my tire exploded… I’ll post a picture sometimes this week, I hope my tire is not for garbage already, because the thread is still pretty good on it.
Did anyone ever repaired a broken sidewall?
If it blew through the sidewall I would think that your tire was worn. It may be possible to fix but I would be suspicious.
Rim Was Bad…But It turned out Great
What I found happened was that the rim had a couple of rough spots when it was delivered to me. I had to file them down. That wore thru the inner tube, and it blew. I don’t know if it’s typical, but the sidewall was torn about 1/2 inch because of the blowout. Since I’m a new rider and the tire was only hours old, it was a shame to toss it, but I bought a much smoother, narrower tire from the bike store. It turned out to be a good decision, because this new tire is 10 times easier to ride with. It responds much quicker and rolls smoothely, so it worked out for the better. I didn’t realise how a narrower tire could be so different.
Yeah just stick with that then.
There’s a 1 inch hole in the side of my muni tire from where a knob ripped off. I just patched it with a few pieces of other tires and some duct tape. Works like a charm. So yeah, you can fix sidewalls.
Not sure when this tear happened, but just noticed it recently. I only got to ride this tire 3 times so far…
It was bulging a little when it was inflated(pretty low pressure since it was in storage)
It seems like some of the strands along the cut are torn, but some are still intact.
Would you repair this and use it for muni still? or should this just be tossed?
I would probably toss it myself, but if you do give it a try I would at the very least try patching it from the inside of the tire using a couple of patches. Something that uses a vulcanizing agent. maybe even throw a strip of duct tape over the patches too. Still kinda risky, but the worst that can happen is a blowout at speed into a bunch of cacti. If it is bulging out at all, just toss it.
I have patched tyres with these type of tears on my mtb. A piece cut from an old toothpaste tube works well. Make sure the patch is much bigger than the hole, and check there are no rough edges to damage the tube. It doesn’t even need glued in, the pressure of the tube holds the patch in place against the tyre.
If the tyre is worn/due for replacing I wouldn’t, but if it’s good it’s worth a try. I actually carry some toothpaste tube in my pack on long mtb rides for just this purpose.
Sometimes tires can be saved, sometimes not. That’s the best I’ve got. I’ve had Gazzaloddis that blew off of rims and wouldn’t work, and I’ve had other tires that worked OK after a blowout.
As far as tears in sidewalls, I’ve used a dollar bill 2x this year for a temporary fix (it’s unfortunately been quite a year for blowouts and flats). In the one case, I replaced the dollar bill with a tyvek envelope boot. It was in a fat bike tire and it’s still working well. The other instance was in a high pressure road bike tire. I wasn’t comfortable with 100 psi in the tire, so I replaced it.
A few years back I had a cut in a tire at the beginning of a tour. I used a patch on the inside of the tire. It made it through the remainder of the tour (300+ miles), but ultimately bulged and failed.
Sometimes it’s good to be resourceful and cheap. Other times it’s better to just replace with new. If you go the former route, have a backup plan so there isn’t a long walk home.
I stuck a piece of stop flats inside the tire. It doesn’t seem to bulge any less. I won’t be riding this unicycle for a while anyways, so I’ll just be waiting until I finish a tube of toothpaste before fixing it and also look for a new tire.