The tire (a Vittoria
Twin Tread, 700x28) still had plenty of life left in it, so I
decided to try and patch it. The rim damage had been easy to
fix with a half-round file, but the tire would take a bit more work.
Some jackass didn't like having to sit behind other cars
waiting to make a left-hand turn, so he crossed the
center line and made his left turn ahead of everyone
else. The problem was that I was in the lane he wanted
to use. I was sure he was going to ram me head-on, but
I was able to swerve out of his way--and into a large
pothole. The impact flatted my front tire, scratched up
the rim, and tore a small hole in the tire sidewall
(see photo at left). I didn't notice the hole until I got
a blowout flat (the kind that sounds like a gunshot) a
couple of weeks later.
Note the brown discoloration on the tire sidewall. Jobst
Brandt, in the
rec.bicycles.tech FAQ states:
REMA patches, the most commonly available in North American
bicycle shops, have a peculiarity that not all have. Their
black center section exudes a brown gas that discolors light
colored tire casings in daylight. This causes the brown
blotches often seen on sidewalls of light colored tires.
The tire (a Vittoria
Twin Tread, 700x28) still had plenty of life left in it, so I
decided to try and patch it. The rim damage had been easy to
fix with a half-round file, but the tire would take a bit more work.
In an emergency, I've made a temporary tire boot from a dollar
bill. I decided to try something along those lines. I cut a
patch from a USPS Priority Mail envelope made of Tyvek.
After cleaning the inside of the tire casing around the hole,
I coated both it and the patch with a layer of contact cement
and let them dry.
After the cement had
dried, I applied a fresh layer of cement, then attached the
patch and clamped it in place for about 10 minutes. After this,
I put a tube in the tire, mounted it on a wheel, and inflated it
to 100psi. After letting it sit overnight, I removed the tire
and checked the patch. The patch seems frimly attached to the
tire casing, and the outside of the hole was not bulging.
Good as new? No, but it should be OK to use. I'm going to put it
on the rear wheel of my track bike and see how it holds up. I'll
report my findings here.
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