TP's Tyre maintenance and tube storage

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Tin Pot

Guru
Hi all,

How are tyres to be maintained - are you supposed to pick bits out of them, wipe gritting salt off and/or fix minor cuts in them?

Now I have a battery of spare tubes and tyres hanging in a fairly damp shed, how should these be stored and do they degrade?

Also, what's the life expectancy of Gatorskins? I've put about 2000km commuting winter miles on them and have the option to get a spare set as part of a wheel purchase package deal.

Cheers all,

TP
 
Location
Loch side.
Assuming you don't have old-fashioned gum-wall (brownish beige) tyres and latex tubes, there's good news for you. They require no maintenance at all. Inspect the tyre tread area by squeezing any little cuts you see so that the tyre is folded over and the cut is opened up. Then dig in there with a metal awl or Bowie knife to feel for glass and remove any. The bits will be small, sometimes too small to see and that's why you need a metal instrument so you can feel/hear the interaction.

Butyl (black) tubes don't like to be folded over and stored. You will notice that if you fold it neatly and tightly to fit your saddle bag, they will perish at the stretched fold. Wait until you have ten or so of them punctured and then make a night of it when TV is really bad and fix them all in one go. Re-use is the way to go, even if you are wealthy and can afford to just chuck it in the bin.
 
OP
OP
Tin Pot

Tin Pot

Guru
Assuming you don't have old-fashioned gum-wall (brownish beige) tyres and latex tubes, there's good news for you. They require no maintenance at all. Inspect the tyre tread area by squeezing any little cuts you see so that the tyre is folded over and the cut is opened up. Then dig in there with a metal awl or Bowie knife to feel for glass and remove any. The bits will be small, sometimes too small to see and that's why you need a metal instrument so you can feel/hear the interaction.

Butyl (black) tubes don't like to be folded over and stored. You will notice that if you fold it neatly and tightly to fit your saddle bag, they will perish at the stretched fold. Wait until you have ten or so of them punctured and then make a night of it when TV is really bad and fix them all in one go. Re-use is the way to go, even if you are wealthy and can afford to just chuck it in the bin.

Won't digging around in a cut make it worse?

No need to fix the cut?

I keep a tube rolled up in my jersey, not folded - is that okay?

I repaired about seven last month, and they're hanging loose from a nail (nail covered by cardboard).
 
Hook out anything sharp, even if it hasn't done the tube in, it soon will. Other than that, no maintainance is required. If you have enough tread / rubber to keep the wear indicators visible, they will be good to go.
 
Location
Loch side.
Won't digging around in a cut make it worse?

No need to fix the cut?

I keep a tube rolled up in my jersey, not folded - is that okay?

I repaired about seven last month, and they're hanging loose from a nail (nail covered by cardboard).

No need to suture but as to the question of what type of tube "folding" is OK and what not, I'm not sure. After all, they come rolled and folded in a box when you buy them. However, when I roll and fold them tightly for storage, they perish on the corners. If they bounce around inside the saddlebag the corners abrade away but that's not what I'm talking about here. I wrap them in a sock to prevent the chafing but still they perish as described. My theory is that constant tension causes it but that - I've only thought of it now - can be tested by experiment. I'll take two similar tubes and store them in the same location to eliminate ozone attack or other environmental issues. Then I'll stretch the one between two anchors and hang the other one loose. Then I'll mark the date off on a calendar and periodically check the tubes.

Back to surgery. If the cuts are long enough for the tube to herniate out from it, the tyre is kaput. Bit in. You cannot stitch a high pressure tyre satisfactory and protect the stitching from road abrasion.
 
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