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Sidewall scuff repair
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This past Saturday was of course my "A" race TT (50 mile TT) for the season and obviously I got my first flat in over 10,000 miles! UGH. Plenty of gravel on the course and 10 miles in I grazed one and heard the hiss! The rock basically scuffed the side of the tire, but it got in enough to pin hole the tube. It took it about 3 more miles to flat completely. This was a 20mm supersonic. I'm guessing had I run sealant I'd not have flatted in this case!

I put a new tube in quick and jumped in the 50 mile RR and made it. However after the race I noticed the tube peeking out the sidewall slightly! I was lucky.

Question is this is a very newish SS tire so is there an acceptable method to patch this tiny breach. I'm guessing I need no more than 1/4" by 1/4" patch. Can I just use a std. patch and not effect tire performance in doing so?

Thanks for any tips.

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Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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x2 on this. My GP4000S has a bit of a problem yesterday as well. Didn't hit anything big that I remember but it has cost me 2 Latex tubes and a lot of frustration but only when inflated to 100psi. Can this tire be saved? ~1000 miles on the GP4000S.

Last edited by: kppolich: Aug 3, 15 14:24
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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Standard patches won't be able to withstand the pressure. You can try something like a Park tire boot, but even that's not guaranteed to work permanently.

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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [GRAVELBIKE] [ In reply to ]
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Have had the same issue. I tried several things. A tube patch on the inside of the tire will not work at high pressure. What I finally had some success with is using Tyvec from a race bib. I used 2 layers but think 3 may be better. While you are at it cut you some extra Tyvec pieces and put them in your repair kit. I would say this tire has now become a training tire not a race tire. If it is on the tread area some people suggest using super glue to keep it together or using shoe goo to fill it in.
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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You are asking what you could have done in a race? Place a large tube patch on the inside of the tire. It needs to be large, or it will herniate out the hole just like the tube would. Edit: I've heard of folded dollar bills used successfully in a pinch.

You are asking what to do now? Throw away that tire and buy a replacement. Saving $60-70 on this, considering what the rest of the bike is worth, and the race fees, not to mention your safety, is silly.
Last edited by: Dilbert: Aug 3, 15 14:52
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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one thing that should work is a cut piece of an old used up tire. preferably a similar model as you don't want to add much space take-up with a 20mm tire. cut a long piece and just be extra caerful/diligent with tube install to be sure it iw where you want it to be when finished. I always carry an old cut piece of tire in my bike bag on training rides in the even of a bad cut. have used it once or twic over the years, but only to get home and not to use on a rcae tire. that is one of the causes of pain on pricey thin race tires. they become dog chew toys for me
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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This is about the only way I ever seem to flat anymore. Taking a hit to the sidewall of any of the Conti tires. I've even done in a Gatorskin this way. As Dilbert mentioned, the dollar bill will get you through a race or ride. Long term repairs are difficult. Gorilla tape will work for very small cuts. A butyl tube is more forgiving of a patched tire too. A strip of fabric rim tape glued on using tubular cement is pretty solid. But for a thin, supple tire like the SS, you will probably feel the patch. Usually the best bet is to throw it in the trash. I have a wall rack full of nicked sidewall tires and latex tubes that I sometimes patch an reuse, but typically I don't trust them even for training rides:(
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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Similar thing happened to me last weekend. I used an empty gel wrapper to get me back to my car but it will now be a trainer tire after I come up with some sort of patch for it. No way I'm trusting it out on the road.
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [Dilbert] [ In reply to ]
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Since this was a TT and my A race I had no flat kit of any sort. As soon as I felt the rim on the pavement I knew my race was over.

It sounds like the permanent solution is to throw the tire in the trash.

This was a somewhat expensive day. I entered the TT at $50 or whatever, cut a tire at $70 or whatever, then entered the RR and raced on that same tire (Thankfully made it no prob) at another $50. And 5 hours of driving to and from. LOL. All for.....a finishers medal? LOL.

24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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No one has mentioned Shoe Goo so I will. I have found Shoe Goo to be durable enough and hard enough (once it cures) to repair small/medium cuts in the tire tread and sidewall. I had a fairly new Gatorskin that got "stabbed" in the sidewall by some wire or something. It put a cut about 1-2mm in the sidewall and barely penetrated the rubber to the inner wall. I used several layers of Shoe Goo inside and outside the tire to basically fill in the cut. On the outside of a tire I find it best to fully inflate it, so the cut is open and exposed and then use a toothpick to fill in the cut with Shoe Goo and then when that dries, spread several more layers over the top. I make sure to work a larger coverage area of Shoe Goo over the cut and try to "blend" it into the surface of the tire. I have not found it successful to try to mate or bond the sides of the cut together...it just seems to pull apart when I inflate it. So filling and layering work well. I've done this dozens of times for cuts on my Conti tires. The GP4000s are just soft and cut real easy. The Gatorskin referenced above has probably 1,000 miles on it since I fixed it with Shoo Goo and it's in great shape. I do a ton of canyon climbing and have no concerns about railing big, technical descents on it.

Good luck.
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [JimMoss] [ In reply to ]
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Excellent....I might try this in my tiny tire breach. I have shoe goo at home.

24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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I have a $1 fix for that problem :)
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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Use a used gel pack. I had a nearly new tire have a similar side wall issue. I put the gel pack in there and rode that way until the tire's tread was gone. Cheapest fix.


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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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I've used "gorilla tape" with good success. Sticks well to the inside of the tire. Have gotten a couple of thousand miles extra out of a newish tire.

http://www.zoro.com/...wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I've also used a $20 (it was the only bill I had) I kept meaning to change it out afterwards, but it showed no signs of the tube poking through so I kept riding it. 1,000 miles later, I forgot my wallet at home one day and needed lunch at work, so I took the $20 bill out and bought a sandwich, then put a $1 from the change back in for the ride home.
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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Based on what you have described, none of the "tire boot" ideas with gel wrappers, Gorilla tape or dollar bills seem like the right solution. It seems that Shoe Goo will address the issue quite nicely.
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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I had a similar cut on the same tire (maybe slightly smaller) on the first couple rides, I glued a normal tube patch inside the tire and have ridden out the normal life of the tire with no issues (on butyl tubes). It depends on the location and severity of the cut. If the casing threads are compromised significantly, game over. If it's just a small hole and you are just trying to keep the tube from herniating out, a boot can work.

The above has been my experience, yours may vary, and you should certainly check any repair you try before any ride.
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [kppolich] [ In reply to ]
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This is stupid, so don't take my advice.

I had exactly the same thing, maybe even worse happen to my Conti TT Attack 22MM (very similar tire to the picture above). Small hole in the sidewall. I took a couple layers of electrical tape and patched it from the inside. Rode it probably 1500 miles until it was threadbare.
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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [cmscat50] [ In reply to ]
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You should always be very careful on these sidewall damage issues as tiny nuances can make for really big differences between them. If you can see tube poking through, that should be come a training tire or find the trash can. Even the one in the photo where you cannot see tube, still has considerable thread damage. Remember, the casing of the tire is a few hundred threads per square inch in 2-4 plies.. light and low Crr tires like these Conti's achieve that with higher TPI and fewer plies..so when you cut some of those threads, the localized forces have to be handled by the surrounding ones, which can then be broken in a sort of zipper effect under very high or abnormal loading. Sidewalls are different from treads. the ShooGoo method is usually OK for a tread cut where there is no underlying thread damage..and even if you can see casing, there are additional casing plies and usually an anti-puncture ply under the tread which makes the tire much, much more robust in this area, on the sidewall, you have none of this working in your favor...

The problem here is that exactly the situation that would lead to this is exactly the situation where you cannot afford a failure.. hard corner under braking at 45mph...extreme panic braking, stuff like that.

You should always carry a spare $1 bill to use as a boot (or something like the Park tire boot) to limp home on, but when casing threads are broken that tire should never see road again. I know that there are always N=1 instances of it all being fine for people, but from a macro level I see and hear of more than a few people getting hurt by things like this.

The best way to think of this is to look at how extremely asymmetric the benefits/consequences are... Best case scenario, you get an additional few hundred miles before it totally wears out and are proud that you've prolonged the duration to purchase of a new tire for a few weeks or at most months. Mid case scenario, you get away with it for a bit and then begin flatting and spend some $$ on tubes and annoy your riding buddies for a few weeks before finally buying that new tire.. Worst case scenario, you have a catastrophic sidewall blowout in traffic, on a downhill, during a race, avoiding a car door, in a pack of riders, during a panic stop...etc, etc.. So in other words, the best case scenario really isn't all that great and the worst case scenario could be really, really terrible.

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Re: Sidewall scuff repair [joshatsilca] [ In reply to ]
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Great info Josh thanks for timing in. I guess my brand new tire should probably find the trash can :(

24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex
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