I found a nail in my tire today. I don't know how deep it is, or how long I've been riding with it. A friend said that although it needs to be repaired or replace the tire asap, that since the tire is not losing air then I don't have to worry about a blowout and it's safe to ride. Is this true? The nearest repair shop is a few miles away, and the ideal repair shop where I bought the bike is about 10 miles down the highway. Do you think it's safe to ride the bike there?

i have two friends who both pluged nail holes in there tires.. so far so good! ones driven about 3 k with a plug without any problems.. BUT IT IS NOT SAFE!! your best bet is to replace the tire. unlike a car, a flat tire, or worst case a blow out on a bike could be extremly dangerous at any speed.. I would get it replaced if it were mine. good luck

The only truely safe way is to replace the tire, on a car you can have a flat and it's no biggie. Imagine going down the road at 80mph on 2 wheels and having your tire blow :shock:

Been there.. done that, hope you can ride with your back end nearly going in front of you, luckily.. i was decelerating to get off on an exit.. caught a freak rip in the asphalt... wrong place at the wrong time I suppose.

Get the tire replaced imo. Better safe than dead.

the only safe way to ride is to replace the tire
every tire manufacturer is strongly aginst patching tires...

Yeah i dont think i would even ride a bike with a patched tire

I patch a lot of tires at work. I would only trust a tire that has had been broken down and inspected or I've done myself. But I would never patch a tire on a bike. At least a car has 3 other wheels to depend on if a blowout occures. It's a lot different when a blowout happends when your on two and worse when your poppin a wheelie.

You should probably replace the tire. Safty first, right? Although, I know of this guy that had 2 nails in his tire on 2 separate instances, went to the local auto parts store and bought a plug kit. Patched both holes (rear tire both) and continued to put a total of 5000 miles on his bike...at times driving 120+. Suicidal, yes? But does a kit work? It seems so.

greeeeat, I just found a nail in my rear tire and the bikes and tires only have 1020miles on it :(

Clearly, just replace the tire