Flatspotted tire

962817 said:

Lastnight while returning to the house after a horrible ride of being forced off the road by a convertible 😠and being chased by four dogs 😠 two seperate occassion I encountered a neighbor's car that was blocking the entire road. :eek: As a result I got a little too hard on the rear brakes and now have a nice flatspot on the tire. Should I go ahead and replace the tire or is it okay to leave it alone? My fear is that it will blowout on me on my weekend rides. The tire has maybe 800 miles on it tops.

It seems we all have rides like that once in a while. What a bummer.
Only you know how "skinny" the tire is at the flat spot. If you have a blow-out when riding, will you have a spare tire with you? How much did you pay for the tire? How many miles do you get out of that model tire in usual riding?
In a scenario I once experienced, I didn't replace the tire and was very sorry due to a follow-on "failure" where a small opening exposed just enough tube that I required a boot to finish the Century ride. The boot failed at mile 92 and I fashioned another boot from a piece of Tyvek and patch cement. All my riding partners gave up on me and I finished alone and wishing I had popped for a replacement tire.

daveornee said:

It seems we all have rides like that once in a while. What a bummer.
Only you know how "skinny" the tire is at the flat spot. If you have a blow-out when riding, will you have a spare tire with you? How much did you pay for the tire? How many miles do you get out of that model tire in usual riding?
In a scenario I once experienced, I didn't replace the tire and was very sorry due to a follow-on "failure" where a small opening exposed just enough tube that I required a boot to finish the Century ride. The boot failed at mile 92 and I fashioned another boot from a piece of Tyvek and patch cement. All my riding partners gave up on me and I finished alone and wishing I had popped for a replacement tire.

The tire is the original Bontrager Select, 700x25c that came with the bike. Honestly, since I'm relatively new to riding I have no idea what to expect as far as mileage. I can't imagine my LBS charging too much for a new tire, but then should I replace both the front and rear at the sametime or just the one?

962817 said:

The tire is the original Bontrager Select, 700x25c that came with the bike. Honestly, since I'm relatively new to riding I have no idea what to expect as far as mileage. I can't imagine my LBS charging too much for a new tire, but then should I replace both the front and rear at the sametime or just the one?

Replace the rear only unless there is a problem with the front.
You can keep the rear for riding on the rollers or resistance unit for the training days when outside riding isn't feasible.

If your rear tire is questionable, I would replace it. You should always put the newest tire on the front. It is better to have a blow out on a rear tire,than the front.

i cut a cross section of my worn out old tires to compare with the new as a reference for wear and thickness. i then compare from a visual and tactile inspection. in general you can deflate the tire, fold it inward along the center and if you can see the imprint of the casing threads through the rubber it's time is near. some racy tires can go from hero to zero in just a few miles...

as for a boot, a folded dollar bill works well. i too have used tyvex that was in the road just where i flatted, happy coincidence.

velox, the patch kit company did make a boot repair kit, i used to use these when lotsa training miles and wanting to avoid scrapping tires.

[quote="daveornee"]It seems we all have rides like that once in a while. What a bummer.
Only you know how "skinny" the tire is at the flat spot.

that I required a boot to finish the ride.