Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

How to Repair a Cut Bicycle Tire for $1

06.08.2015 by Scott Jangro // 4 Comments

Flats happen.

And we’re all prepared for a flat with a spare tube, patch kit, CO2 cartridges or pump. Right?

But have you ever seen a tire split or get cut enough so that it doesn’t hold the tube? At 100 psi, a tire will push its way out of even a small cut in the tire and will burst. And if you’ve already used your spare tube (because your tire is cut and you just had a blowout) you’ll quickly blow the second one while inflating it.

I know. Because I’ve done it.

Here’s an important tip: when you get a flat, try your best to determine the cause. If you can, find the hole in the tube, and match it up with the tire. At least inspect the tire very well for something sharp (glass, wire, metal) poking through the tire. Slide your hand through the entire inside of the tire to feel for something sharp. Something caused the flat, and if you can’t figure it out, be very suspicious.

Types of Flats

There are many different types of flats:

  • Puncture: glass shard or metal wire
  • Pinch-flat: hitting a pot hole or rock. Sometimes called a snake-bite because the tube has two holes close together.
  • Tire damage: split tire or cut sidewall
  • Blowout from heat: Too much braking on a carbon rim can melt your tube or even the tire. (Or worse, warp your rim – ouch!)
  • Damaged valve: most likely caused when inflating, not riding.

Tire damage is the worst kind to get because we usually don’t carry spare tires around with us as they’re pretty bulky. Though you can get a folding tire into your pocket for longer rides.

How to temporarily patch up a cut or split tire

If you do get a split in your tire, there’s an easy fix that should get you home. Just take a dollar bill, fold it up, and insert it into the tire to cover up the cut. Get it in place between the tube and the tire and inflate.

If you don’t have a bill, a Gu wrapper, or some piece of strong flexible plastic will do the trick.

I always carry a dollar bill around in my saddle bag for this purpose.

This technique is called a “boot”. It is obviously not a permanent fix, but it’ll more than get you home or even to the end of your century ride.

Here’s a cut sidewall. You can see it between the two s’s in “Pressure”. And here’s the bill in place. (This is after we got home, we’re taking it apart at this point.)

Fold up the bill so that it fits into the full width of the tire. The tube will hold it in place.

Here’s the cut sidewall, fully inflated, kept intact with the five dollar bill.

Many things can go wrong with a bike when you’re out on the road, and most of them can be handled with just a little preparation, ingenuity, and out-of-the-box thinking.

Because there’s nothing like a two-hour round trip for your spouse to sour him or her to your favorite pastime.

We’ll cover more of these MacGuyver techniques in future posts.

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Categories // tires

Comments

  1. Jeff Hemmel says

    June 9, 2015 at 6:05 pm

    Nice post, Scott. Tips like these are how I first discovered Bike Noob years ago.

    Reply
    • Scott Jangro says

      June 9, 2015 at 7:33 pm

      Thank you Jeff!

      Reply
  2. Derny says

    July 15, 2015 at 12:24 am

    For a better boot, I like to carry a 3″ piece of a lightweight road tire with the beads cut off.
    Also, the rubber logo stitched on some Camelbaks makes a nice boot.

    Reply
    • Scott Jangro says

      July 15, 2015 at 9:38 am

      the Camelback logo! Now that’s MacGuyver-ing.

      Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 259 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d