Spare tyre or boot?

[mattrsmiff]

I'll be travelling light (staying at B&Bs) and really want to minimise weight. Is it worth taking a spare tyre or would a scrap of something to use for a boot suffice? I am literally in the middle of packing my panniers right now (Wednesday start). I'm thinking of taking a used tyre that I can jettison if I find I need to slash the weight. These are the other 'debatables' and their current status.

In
Balaclava
Mitts and gloves and mittens
Sun cream
Tiny plastic bottle of chain oil and a rag
Small road atlas with half the pages removed
Travel clothes wash
Lock

Left out:
Spare spokes
Book/Kindle
Shoes for off the bike

Thanks,

Matt

[mnichols]

I've wrestled with that dilemma myself, and usually go with the boot.

I have used a boot on a couple of occasions and its lasted fine until the next bike shop (a couple of days). If you don't have one already just cut off 6 inches from an old tyre and then cut off the bead. IMHO this is better than the ones you can buy.

I would take a few spare spokes. I've wrapped mine in bubble wrap and dropped inside seat post - they will stay there forever.

If you are commuted to maps, have you considered taking photos of the sections you need and storing on your phone. This saves weight and you can also zoom in and out

I often tour without a lock or take a very light one to deter opportunistic thieves and then act accordingly

Do you need a whole rag - cut a few strips and discard when used?

[mattrsmiff]

Forgot to say that the mini road atlas is plan B, as I've got the route loaded on my garmin.

The lock is an Abus cable lock that somehow looks heavier and stronger than it really is (380g).

If you are using a tyre boot made from a bit of tyre, do you glue it in place or does it get held in place by pressure?

[Mick F]

Buy a foldable tyre.
Light, and folds up small.

[thirdcrank]

I'd say the main purpose of a tyre boot is to stop a split from spreading. My method is to get a bit of suitable cloth, thin but totally non-stretch, which is long enough when fitted to stretch beyond the damage and wide enough to line the tyre from bead to bead with a tiny bit overlapping. Having repaired or replaced the tube, the method is then to line the tyre with the bit of cloth and inflate the tube, trapping the cloth under the beads. I worked out that method for myself at the side of the Devil's Beef Tub, using a scrap of tarpaulin scavenged from a roadside tip. That takes me to my next point, which is that I was only in that predicament because as a daft teenager I had not checked my tyres before setting off on a two week tour of Scotland. Prevention is better than cure.

I'm no expert on modern mobile phones but I'm under the impression that you can use them to find the nearest bike shop, including opening times. I can't see any point in carrying a spare tyre in the UK, unless your bike has a hard-to-find size tyre

(Mick F got in before me. I've no real experience of folding tyres other than tubs.)

[mattrsmiff]

Yes, thirdcrank. I did a reccie of my route through Birmingham a couple of weeks ago and my rear tyre got slashed open (like an idiot I rode on a canal footpath that had chippings down in preparation for being tarmaced). Used my mobile to locate the nearest bike shop (1.5 miles), so was soon on my way. Wasn't sure whether to take this incident as proof that I do or don't need a spare tyre. Probably a brain is more important!

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Buy a foldable tyre.
Light, and folds up small.

+1..Did I just say that
Dirt cheap nowadays too.

[mnichols]

No need to glue. The pressure hold the boot in place

The boot is used if you have a big hole, split or tear. I always replace my tyres before a big tour

I always carry a boot whether I'm touring or not. They are small, free and weigh a few grams

[pwa]

About 15 years ago I was on a long audax ride in west Wales, in the lanes west of Llandovery, when a tyre went bang. About 20 miles earlier I had run over a broken bottle. I had not noticed the damage and had thought I had got away with it. But I had a slashed sidewall. Fortunately I had recently started taking a spare folding tyre. It was a racing tyre, 23mm and narrower than I thought ideal, but it got me round the ride.

So even if you start off with good tyres, you never know........

[Ron]

[quote="mattrsmiff"] In Balaclava, Mitts and gloves and mitten, Sun cream, Tiny plastic bottle of chain oil and a rag, Small road atlas with half the pages removed, Travel clothes wash,
Lock[quote]
Three pairs of gloves seems excessive for someone claiming to travel light! Travel clothes wash could go, use the soap in the B&B.
I wouldn't take a spare tyre, it's only a thousand miles on tarred surfaces and it would be bad luck indeed if you were far from a bike shop when you had need of a spare tyre.

[Paul Smith SRCC]

Where do you draw the line, following Van with a spare bike with workshop facilities? Well of course no, naturally the very time you decide to remove something that you have until then always taken and never used will be the very time you need it!

As for Spare tyre or boot I have used puncture repair patches, Mars bar wrapper and even leaves to to bridge a hole enough to get me to my destination, I've always always managed to get an injured bike home; can't say the same for the rider, but by 'hook or by crook' the bike has always made it

[Heltor Chasca]

I've got an old plastic toothpaste tube as my boot. I've heard that American $1 bills work too!

[TrevA]

I've got an old plastic toothpaste tube as my boot. I've heard that American $1 bills work too!

I slashed a tyre on an Audax last year and used my Dentist appointment card as a boot. Lasted until the end of the ride, though I took it a bit steadier on the descents.

[Heltor Chasca]

I've got an old plastic toothpaste tube as my boot. I've heard that American $1 bills work too!

I slashed a tyre on an Audax last year and used my Dentist appointment card as a boot. Lasted until the end of the ride, though I took it a bit steadier on the descents.

[emoji23] Brilliant!

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Anyone mentioned super glue
Ideal for gluing the slash back together.
Then any old fabric / handkerchief wrapped around the whole tube and tyre before mounting the tyre.
Yeh, glue a patch on the inside of tyre (needs a good clean) as well as superglue, pretty permanent.