Wetsuit Glue

[Lefty Kev]

So...this afternoon (while I should have been working), I was perusing (not buying) the mountain bike magazines in Barnes & Noble, sipping a smoothie (purchased elsewhere). I happened upon an interesting article in British mountain bike mag mtbr. The article claimed that a nick or slice in a tire could be reliably fixed using a glue intended for repairing rips or tears in wetsuits.

Several of these "liquid rubber" adhesives were discussed including Black Witch, a "fast drying, strong and flexible resin" that can be used on wetsuits, booties, gloves, and hoods. Other similar products include Quick Fix and Aquasure, etc. which might be familiar to those of you that surf.

The article stresses that use of the glue in this application is merely designed to prolong the life of the tire and couldn't fix a major puncture. It just helps prevent a surface tear from becoming worse and causing the tire to fail on a future ride. Presumably, it could be equally successful on either a tubed or tubeless tire.

You deflate the tire, carefully prise open the tear, apply the resin and reinflate. Depending on the brand, it will turn black or clear when it dries.

I know some of you have used superglue or rubber cement in a similar application (I recently filled a slice with Liquid Nails which has held pretty well). I don't know if these wetsuit glues work any better but the article made interesting reading and I thought I'd pass it along to the rest of the STR crew

Safe and happy trails to all this weekend

[2wheel_lee]

Neo-Rez was one of my favorite wetsuit repair glues, and it works as you describe. It's available at many surf shops. It does have a limited shelf life, though.

http://www.solarez.com/products/

Other Solarez products on this page a great and easy to use.