Cycling UK Forum

I have a Specialized Turbo Cotton ‘open tubular’ clincher tyre with a cut in the tread. The cut isn’t large, opening to about 1.5 mm at 90 PSI, but that’s enough for a latex tube to start bulging into the gap. A butyl tube fares a bit better.

Would a Rema Tip Top patch stick to the inside of the tyre?

If not, any other suggestions for a semi-permanent fix?

Cut a boot out of another tyre (without the wire) and put it under the cut.

I reckon a patch of nylon cloth cut from say an old anorak or similar and glued to the inside of the tyre with rubber solution,would sort that problem.

9494arnold wrote:Cut a boot out of another tyre (without the wire) and put it under the cut.

That's probably the most common approach.

It's quite a common topic. 5 pages here:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=103308&start=15&hilit=umbrella+patch

I carry a patch of denim recycled from a pair of jeans for this purpose. In the past I used whatever I had to hand. I previously tried Duct tape, old tyre carcass, even toothpaste tube. All worked ok until the tyre needed replacing. I would put the tyre on the back just in case it fails as you stand a better chance of controlling a blow out.

rjb wrote:I carry a patch of denim recycled from a pair of jeans for this purpose.

Glued in place? If so, with what adhesive?

Tyre boots from old tyres, etc., would not be satisfactory in this light 24 mm tyre. They would inevitably cause a puncture while ruining the feel of the tyre. The bump might not even be safe on descents.

A friend used a Park Tool TB-2 tyre boot to patch a large sidewall gash on a long ride a few weeks ago. The edge of even this thin boot punctured the inner tube three times on the way home.

Samuel D wrote:Glued in place? If so, with what adhesive?

Tyre boots from old tyres, etc., would not be satisfactory in this light 24 mm tyre. They would inevitably cause a puncture while ruining the feel of the tyre. The bump might not even be safe on descents.

A friend used a Park Tool TB-2 tyre boot to patch a large sidewall gash on a long ride a few weeks ago. The edge of even this thin boot punctured the inner tube three times on the way home.

I once used a piece of plastic torn from a discarded bottle. It got me home, no glue, no punctures. Repaired at leisure.

Samuel D wrote:

rjb wrote:I carry a patch of denim recycled from a pair of jeans for this purpose.

Glued in place? If so, with what adhesive?

No glue needed the internal pressure from your inner tube keeps it in place. If you use a big patch you can loop it over the inner tube and over the rim so the tyre bead keeps it in place. Then trim off the excess after you put the tyre back on. If you have nothing to hand having had to employ this method out on the road then centrifugal force keeps it away from interference with brake blocks, providing you made your patch a sensible size to start with.

Use a 5 pound note - it will be cheaper than a new tyre

Hi,
Small inner tube path is what I normally use.
Old style puncture outfits used to have a piece of canvas.

umbrella fabric and tube pressure innit?

Halfords do a piece of rubber 4x2" which is ideal for such a situation. Cur to size and stick in.

Cheers James

well expect bumpty bump due to the bulge?

For Christ's sake ... chuck it away.

if you are using turbo cottons then you are not going to want to use tractor inner tubes. Very many of the get you home schemes will only work for a short duration and/or with horrible thick inner tubes.

I think there are two reasonable choices here

a) a rubber patch; this will help stop the tube from getting nipped but it won't stop the damage from spreading in the tyre.
b) using a fabric of some kind.

There is nothing to stop you from using fabric and a rubber patch together of course

The reason I like using fabric from an old umbrella is threefold:
1) it seems pretty rotproof
2) it is thin so you can used several layers (cut to different sizes so the edge of the reinforced area is feathered not stepped)
4) the fabric can easily be distorted so the angle between the warp and the weft more closely matches (and is aligned to) the fabric in the tyre.

So for example the fabric can be cut out in a square, but sheared into a diamond shape before it is fitted as a boot. This gives it the best chance of moving with the tyre; other fabrics (esp those which are not properly aligned with the cords in the carcass) cannot move with the rest of the tyre.

IME the most stressed place to get a hole is not in the middle of the tread but slightly off-centre, i.e. so that the damage is at the edge of the contact patch; the tyre's cords see he highest stresses at different times, i.e. there is a high shear stress in one direction, a more balanced stress, and then a high shear stress in the other direction in sequence every time the wheel rolls over the repaired area.

Three or four layers of typical brolly fabric work well. I have used a spray (contact type) adhesive to mount them, and (IME) the most likely outcome is that the layers stick to one another better than they stick to the carcass but that is with a rubberised carcass; your glue/ turbo cottons may be different to that. Larger booted areas can be trapped at one or both edges by the tyre bead and trimmed in situ accordingly.

cheers