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How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 5 Apr 2024, 1:05pm
by nirakaro
It’s a fairly old tyre, and as it’s a slick, I can’t see how much the tread has worn. And I’ve just had a puncture. My calliper tells me that where the rubber meets the road it’s about 3mm thick, or a fraction less – which I would think was reasonably meaty, but perhaps I’m wrong? Still good to go, or time to bin it?
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 5 Apr 2024, 7:15pm
by mjr
Hard to say without knowing the tyre. I've road tyres that are less than 3mm thick new and touring tyres where 3mm would mean the puncture resistance band was showing.
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 5 Apr 2024, 8:10pm
by Bmblbzzz
"Just had a puncture" isn't much reason to bin a tyre. A puncture every day could be.
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 6 Apr 2024, 2:06pm
by peetee
On a ‘fairly old tyre’ I’d be more concerned about the rubber compound having deteriorated.
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 6 Apr 2024, 3:38pm
by nirakaro
Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑5 Apr 2024, 8:10pm
"Just had a puncture" isn't much reason to bin a tyre. A puncture every day could be.
Thanks, but I know that. My concern is whether, on this particular occasion, the thinness of the tyre might be a significant contributory factor.
I put a new tube in, and had another (slow) puncture within ten miles, so clearly something amiss with the tyre - despite what I thought was a fairly thorough fingering of the inside for hazards. New tyre now ordered.
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 6 Apr 2024, 3:44pm
by axel_knutt
nirakaro wrote: ↑6 Apr 2024, 3:38pmI put a new tube in, and had another (slow) puncture within ten miles
Did you find the debris that caused the first one?
I once had a puncture right through the middle of the patch that I'd put on the day before, and only then did I find the fragment of glass that I'd missed the first time because it was smaller than the thickness of the tyre.
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 6 Apr 2024, 6:41pm
by Brucey
I once had a nightmare day in which I ran out of tubes and even patches. The culprit turned out to be a sliver of metal so small I could hardly see it when it was out. Unbelievably this didn't ever poke out of its new home in the tyre until you rode on it, and then it would give you a slow puncture every time. I probably had about ten punctures as a result of this one object, and I nearly lost my mind before I finally found it.
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 6 Apr 2024, 6:49pm
by foxyrider
Brucey wrote: ↑6 Apr 2024, 6:41pm
I once had a nightmare day in which I ran out of tubes and even patches. The culprit turned out to be a sliver of metal so small I could hardly see it when it was out. Unbelievably this didn't ever poke out of its new home in the tyre until you rode on it, and then it would give you a slow puncture every time. I probably had about ten punctures as a result of this one object, and I nearly lost my mind before I finally found it.
i think we can all relate to that, its happened to me, 3 tubes, all my patches and a walk home later discovered it was a damaged sidewall with a sharp edge, passed the visual and finger check but pretty much as soon as you sat on the bike - pssssssttt!
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 6 Apr 2024, 8:07pm
by Brucey
foxyrider wrote: ↑6 Apr 2024, 6:49pm
Brucey wrote: ↑6 Apr 2024, 6:41pm
I once had a nightmare day in which I ran out of tubes and even patches. The culprit turned out to be a sliver of metal so small I could hardly see it when it was out. Unbelievably this didn't ever poke out of its new home in the tyre until you rode on it, and then it would give you a slow puncture every time. I probably had about ten punctures as a result of this one object, and I nearly lost my mind before I finally found it.
i think we can all relate to that, its happened to me, 3 tubes, all my patches and a walk home later discovered it was a damaged sidewall with a sharp edge, passed the visual and finger check but pretty much as soon as you sat on the bike - pssssssttt!
I was about 50 miles from home when I reached my lowest ebb, so walking wasn't really an option.
Re: How thick should a tyre be?
Posted: 7 Apr 2024, 12:30pm
by nirakaro
Closer inspection, after two punctures, found two tiny slivers of glass - <3mm long - embedded in the thickness of the tyre - I wonder if there are others. I think the tyre owes me nothing, and is now duly pensioned off.