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shredded Ralph, now what?

1571 Views 17 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  knottshore, 
sachase
Last night's ride was great except something reached up and bit my front tire. Tubeless brew of stan's and Slime didn't seem to work, although all of the stans was dried up when I took the tire off today. Can I repair this, or am I in the market for a new $75 tire?
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sxr-racer
I went through two Nevegals this summer. I just could not see paying that kind of money. I went to a CST Cheyenne on the rear, so far it is a good tire and only cost about $25.00 and is kevlar/foldable. I run stans also.
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6thElement
Stick a tube patch to the inside of the tyre. The sort with the tube of vulcanising glue, not the Park self-adhesive. Then you can setup again with stans.
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B
sachase said:
Last night's ride was great except something reached up and bit my front tire. Tubeless brew of stan's and Slime didn't seem to work, although all of the stans was dried up when I took the tire off today. Can I repair this, or am I in the market for a new $75 tire?
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I've patched rips like that on my tubless setup using a tire patch on the inside of the sidewall. So far so good...

I've also started to go with tires with a bit better sidewall durability. Right now I'm rocking some Maxxis Aspen 60tpi tires (not the eXception 120tpi). A few grams extra but way tougher. Next time I might give the new Icon EXOs a try. Sounds like some good reports on their handling, weight, and durability.
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F
As others have said, patch it with a tube patch. I patched a cut sidewall on a Racing Ralph and rode it for another six months until the tread was gone.
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Moustache rider
Better drink your own piss.
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dubdryver
Two weeks ago I ripped the sidewall open about 1/2" on my Ikon Exo on a metal stake that was holding carpet down. It was protruding out about 2". I will most likely repair it with a tire boot and good adhesive. Hitting something like that will most likely kill any tire, so not blaming the tire. It had 650mi on it and hardly looked worn.

I say repair and go, if it doesn't fix, replace.
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S
slightly OT, but I will only use the snakeskin ralphs - otherwise I found the sidewalls riiiiiiiip on next to nothing! Is that a snakeskin?

Good to know about the patch working....
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sachase
No not snake skin version.

I was able to patch it and new stan's and a floor pump later, went for a ride around the block with my 3 year old seems to hold great, lets see what it looks like tomorrow morning.
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RIDNMO
My experience with tire patching has not went well. Have patched two Spec. tire sidewalls using a patch with adhesive on the inside. Let everything cure overnight. Refill with Stans fluid, and they held for a few rides, but lost air a couple of weeks later during a ride. Examination revealed that the patches had lost adhesion. Maybe caused by the Stans fluid. I'm back to tubes for the time being, until I settle on tires with stronger sidewalls, that don't weigh a ton. The sidewall failures on the Spec. tires were really small, just places where a rock edge poked the tire.
Good luck.
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ktm520
i had good luck patching a RR with a self-vulcanizing patch. the key is surface prep. ran over a 4" nail that punctured through the middle of the tread and came out the sidewall, so two patches.

your always gambling with a patch. i wouldn't chance a race dnf, but its not an issue for trail riding/training.
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edubfromktown
Bummer... I have a RaRa 2.25 EVO rear. There were 2 sidewall gashes (from the previous owner of my DS bike) that I had to patch when I set it up tubeless. No problems for 4+ months so if you apply the patch correctly, it will be good as new.

I've had lots of success patching tires using Stan's method: http://www.notubes.com/Patching_a_tire.aspx
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TunicaTrails
I used rubber cement, a patch made from an inner tube, and clamped it on overnight with a C-clamp. I also roughed the area and contact side of the patch with sandpaper. I patched two holes in a tire that way, and both held with Stan's sealant.
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P
Seam grip

The ralphs' light and flexible casings make them so nice to ride on and they work really well with a tubeless setup. It also means they are prone to sidewall cuts and punctures.
I've tried a few ways to repair them. The best by far is to forget about rubber cement and use Seam Grip or Aquaseal (urethane glue made by McNett) as the basis for your repairs. The glue is strong, flexible and waterproof. Also, for anything but the smallest punctures, ditch the patches for repairing tubes and cut piece out of the sidewall of a worn out old tire. If the puncture/tear is big, a tube patch will bulge through the casing under pressure and blow out, and you'll lose all that precious sealant again. The patch made from a piece of sidewall has reinforcing in it so it won't stretch and bulge, so as long as you use a good adhesive you'll be sweet as. Round the corners of your patch, prep the surfaces with some kinda solvent (shellite/white spirit/lighter fluid/whatever you call it in your part of the world is my go-to solvent for this sort of job) and stick on the patch. The glue will take a few hours to set, so make sure the patch doesn't flow off the place that needs repairing.
I've successfully repaired cuts of more than 1" long with this method. I also use seam grip for repairing the casings of road tubulars and many many other things. It rules. Keep it in the freezer or you'll never make it through much of a tube...
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perttime
PeeWee said:
If the puncture/tear is big, a tube patch will bulge through the casing under pressure and blow out, and you'll lose all that precious sealant again. The patch made from a piece of sidewall has reinforcing in it so it won't stretch and bulge,....
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In this case, the puncture looks very small, so a "normal" patch may be just fine. Still, better keep an eye on it.

I used to run Ralphs (the original pattern) and liked them a lot. Except I will no longer use them without SnakeSkin or other reinforcement.
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Jim311
The patch that I used that worked indefinitely for me on a torn tire was a Hutchinson tubeless specific patch kit. It looks a lot like an air mattress patch. It held well for me if the one you used doesn't end up working out.
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shopcat_cycles
You could try contacting Schwalbe. Since they were run tubeless, the tires won't be covered under warranty, but they may cut you a deal on some new ones. I tore up two of the non-SS RaRa's and Schwalbe hooked it up with two new SS models to take their place - free of charge.
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knottshore
Welcome to the club. As others have mentioned you can patch from the inside, and I have put some of the patch glue on the frayed area to keep it from growing. Pure joy for a $70 tire!!!
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