Patch a tiny cut in the sidewall?

[Kolesar]

My tire sustained a tiny cut in the sidewall. It is scarcely a quarter inch long. It is radial. I took the tire off; holding it up to the light, I can see a bit more than a pinhole of light through it.

I am sure I could put an inner tube patch on the inside of it. One source said cut a piece of a scrap tire and glue it on. However, the Zinn and the Art of Bicycle Maintenence book said never patch a sidewall, because one never knows when it is going to fail. So what do you think? Patch it or spend money on a new tire?

[happyslug]

1. Buy a new tire, the risk of a blow out is to high.

Remember a tire is not just rubber but a Steel/Fiberglass/Kevlar reinforced Rubber. When you have a cut in a tire, you have a cut in the Steel/Fiberglass/Kevlar belt. That weakens the WHOLE tire. It is an accident waiting to happen.

If you remember the Firestone 500 car tire problem of the 1990s, the problem with the tires was that the tires BELTS would break causing the tire to fail. Firestone left these defective tires be sold and it lead to a huge number of accidents do to the weak belts. The same with bicycle tires, once the one of the belts are broken, it weakens the whole tire and can lead to catastrophe.

Now if the break was on the Thread, I would be less worried, for tires are designed to wear out as to the threads. Those types of holes can be patched (at least on a car). The belts are reinforced under the thread and thus less chance of a catastrophic failure, but unless it is some sort of high end tire I would still replace the tire rather then run the risk of it failing WHEN I LEAST NEED IT TO.

[Kolesar]

2. Yes, it could be a point of "stress concentration" and tear more threads

Ordering a new tire from Nashbar would certainly be quicker than fussing with patches. Thanks