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Tire damage

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lowriderfrf

Member
With the warmer weather this weekend in Orange County, CA I went with friends on a 100 mile ride through the local mountains. Surprisingly, my wife who is more often that not a reluctant passenger went along.

The next day I was behind the bike a noticed a shiny piece of steel in the rear tire. I rode the bike home and pulled out a one inch long shard of metal. Yeah I know, the tire should have gone flat right there. I didn't hear a leak and used soapy water to confirm that there wasn't one. The tire only has about one-third of the tread left, but with this experience I am thinking the wisest decision is to replace it now. That is unless one of you with more experience has a compelling reason to wait until the tread is worn to the point that replacement is required.

I am really glad this didn't go flat in a mountain curve with my reluctant passenger on board. Could have been a nasty time.

Any thoughts one way or the other are appreciated.
 
I believe you answered your own question with your last sentence. Would you feel good having her on the back knowing that you are on a tire that had a piece of metal in it? Going over a mountain on a curve is not something I would challenge. Me I would play it safe and put on a new tire. Problem solved.
 
You only have two wheels on a bike, not worth taking a chance, I like to replace my tires at 2/3 anyways, better traction, smother ride & less chance of getting a flat in the future. A small price to pay for a piece of mind.
 
I used to take my tires for granted, since I really never rode too far as my son was growing up. Now that I ride a lot more, and the wife and I tour a lot more, I take them very seriously.

There's not much keeping you and your bride off the pavement, and when you really look at it, most people would not hesitate to spend $100 for chrome, or put a 103" kit in, but we tend to cheap out on tires.

I'm not givin' ya a hard time, cuz that was me until last year.

Do what you feel comfortable with, years ago I plugged one that has a metal clip from an ink pen stuck through it. Looking back on it, I wouldn't do it.

I'm older now, not necessarily wiser, but definitely do look at things differently.
 
The time to replace the tire is NOW! You were lucky to make it home with no problems and in good health. Next time might not be as lucky. You only have 2 tires and they both need to be in excellent condition.
 
Replace the tire the first chance you get..

There really is no upside here to keep the tire and risk injury, possibly ruining your bike and endangering other people's lives.

Take care,
 
Ditto, you don't want to replace those two wheels with a wheelchair. Replace it as soon as possible!!

Take care and ride safe eh!!:D
 
I just had a rear tire go out on my not to long ago and speaking from experience on one blowing I would highly recommend putting a new one on. If I would have had my wife or one of our kids on there with me when mine went out there is now way I would have kept it up. That is just my $0.02 worth.
 
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