Opinions about a tire leaking?

[jbfan]

My wife pointed out yesterday that my front tire was flat. I put the bike on the lift and leak checked the rim/tire/valve etc. (sprayed with soapy water and looked for bubbles). Didn't see a leak.
My question is, if the tire does have a leak, would you REPAIR it or REPLACE it? I know it's probably a matter of how safe I wanna feel, I'm just curious as to how many of ya'll have repaired tires and kept on crusin'?

[adlowe]

Depends on the leak. I wouldn't hesitate to ride thousands of mile on a tire with a patched hole in the tread; I wouldn't ride 5 miles on one with a leaking cut in the sidewall.

You've got spoked wheels. That means you've got tubes in your tires. Before replacing a leaking tire -- when you can't find the leak -- you should look at replacing the tube and the strip of rubber (can't remember what it is called right now) that goes around the rim underneath the tube. If it is the front tire, it wouldn't take much time or effort to change both.

[thunderglass]

+1 +1 +1

[Cbjr]

Last leak I experienced was a bead leak - had to fill a wheelbarrow with water to find it. Busted the bead cleaned it up and and re-seated -good to go.