Wednesday evening’s A group
Whatsapp chat was abuzz with the subject of tubeless tyre repairs. I had
had my first puncture with a tubeless system and I discovered there was much I
didn’t know! In order not to bore those who have no interest whatsoever in
tubeless tyres and for interested members of other Whatsapp groups, I thought
it might be good to share knowledge and thoughts in a blog post.
Firstly, my experience yesterday. The potholed surface
of Laleham Rd ‘cycleway’ was to blame. I looked down and noticed white liquid
was spurting from my front tyre and realised I had experienced my first
puncture with a tubeless tyre. Now’s the time to try out my Layzene tubeless
dart kit I thought. Well not so easy as presumed and we couldn’t get the tool,
with the mending material through the hole. Gill came to the rescue with her
Dynaplug - a device I had tried before in a teaching session and in it went
with no difficulty. But by now the tyre was pretty flat. Andy had a foot pump but
it made no impression on the deflated tyre coupled with the fact that there was
still white liquid leaking from the tyre. At this opportune moment, the other
group cycled by and Mike kindly stopped to offer assistance with his CO2
cylinder. The Dynaplug was in place but still leaking very liquid sealant and
air. So, there was nothing for it but to insert an inner tube to get me home.
YouTube seemed a good place to start to learn more on the
vexed subject of tubeless tyres and found a good video from the lovely Ollie at
GCN:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ8HqKPrRXY
What did I learn?
If the tyre has become unseated it will be very difficult to
inflate it with a hand pump and a CO2 cylinder will most often be needed to
blast it back onto the rim.
CO2 can freeze some sealants rendering them ineffective and also
reduce their lifespan. Muc Off sealant is compatible with CO2 however they seem
a bit coy about the biodegradable credentials of their product.
If you have to resort to an inner tube to get you home, it
is vital to check the inside of the tyre for things which may have punctured
the tyre in the past but not caused a problem because the hole has successfully
sealed.
If the hole is particularly large you will need to put
something inside the tyre over the hole. Ollie suggests carrying a bit of cut
up old tyre with you or even a gel wrapper should do the trick.
Janice also adds that not all sealants are compatible with
each other so it is important to know what brand is in your tyres – I have no
idea.
So, I currently have a beautifully inflated front tyre,
complete with large gash in it, but not a working tubeless system. A trip to
the bike shop I think….
Hope you find this post useful and it furthers the
conversation and our knowledge around the subject. Please do add your thoughts
in the comments section.
6 comments:
Thanks Sue,
That is all massively interesting and instructive.
For the most part nearly all my experience with a tubeless system has been positive but despite occasional cause to regret it I have felt that there is no going back for me.
One thing I have found is that with my tyre and rim combination the tyres are very hard to get off or on. For which I am looking forward to trying out my new tyre-glider which Paula has demonstrated to me. Coupled with my Mavic 'UST' rims I have come to imagine that getting a tube in there would be very hard work, partly because there isn't much of a well in the rim. I know this because the bike was originally delivered to me with tubes fitted and it was a nightmare dealing with my first puncture, changing the tube, in ouring rain. Perhaps a small profile tube such as 25c would be easier to insert with my 30c or 32c tyres.
Apart from occasional anxieties when I have punctured and lost pressure the worst that has happened has been not being able to pump the tyre up to a normal pressure (say 55 psi) and therefore riding with a soft tyre. But numerous small punctures have either gone unnoticed or else required no more than pumping up again and carrying on.
Meanwhile I do carry a Dynaplug kit as recommended by Gill but have yet to try it out when a puncture fails to heal itself. Mark has advised that I do use it next time.
~ Tim
Very interesting Sue - and Tim- . I can't believe we re still mending punctures in the 21st century but excellent that a brave few are leading the way for us to a stress free puncture free future. Thanks.
If that doesn’t put you off tubeless , nothing will !!
Handy learning experience, Sue, and thanks for writing it up. I've been using tubeless for a long time, with very little trouble, but I have picked up a bit along the way.
1. A large gash may need more than one Dynaplug. They come in two sizes, one each end of the applicator. In the worst sidewall cut that I have repaired I have applied three large ones, which worked. 2. The large gash may have let all of the sealant out of the tyre, so sealing it, and reflating the tyre, will be difficult. After you have fitted the Dynaplug(s) and before you reflate the tyre you will need to top up the sealant. There are small squeezy bottles available for roadside repairs. 3. You will need a valve core remover to take out the valve to do the topping up. 4. You will need Co2 to reflate. Normal pocket pumps are unlikely to succeed as the volume is too small. I use a 25gm mountain bike Co2 cartridge, which leaves plenty to spare. I'll put a picture of my repair kit on the blog.
Lastly, if doing this fails (never has for me), then you'll need a tyre boot to cover the gash before fitting the tube. There's one in the Lezyne puncture outfit.
A few years ago I bought a new Giant TCR, with tubless tyres, after the first puncture, I fitted tubes! Made the bike really messy with the gunge, and it wouldn't inflate above 30 psi before spurting the fluid everywhere, stick work you know, and has worked for many years!
I have just given up, for the second time, using tubeless tyres on road bikes The fluid system works well if cuts are limited in size but in my experience any cut longer that 2/3 mm cannot be sealed before fluid loss is substantial. The source of the problem is relatively high pressure in insubstantial tyres.
My off road bike runs well on substantial 35/38mm tube-less tyres.
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