I’ve been a happy user of road tubeless for the last three years (and longer for off-road!). Yesterday when cycling home from work I got an approximately 7-8mm cut in the tread of my rear tire. It took about three minutes of spinning the wheel, leaving it at the bottom, and general faffing about before it finally sealed. Seemed to seal well enough, in that although I lost about 30 psi, it did hold for the rest of my ride home.

Checking this morning, tire doesn’t seem to have lost any more air. So my question is – this was a pretty nasty cut that I’m guessing was only “just sealable”. So my question is – should I trust this tire, or should I replace?

Your face/teeth, your choice? Even if any future failure isn’t catastrophic and doesn’t cause a crash it may happen at an inconvenient time.

Wip the tyre off and stick a patch on for peace of mind?

Out of interest what is your tubeless setup? (tyres/tubeless kit/rims)

i would patch it from the inside, my experience of road tubeless is larger “sealed” holes don’t like going above 40 psi.

as above – put a tyre patch on it.

I’d prob chuck it for peace of mind but I might just stitch & patch, then make sure I keep it on the back rather than front

(… but I don’t use road tubeless and IANAProperRoadie)

yep just patch it. the patches are strong. It’ll be fine.

Given the price of tubeless tyres, I’d whack a patch on it. No point in risking it with just the sealant and then finding it doesnt hold and having to faff sticking a tube in mid ride.

All – thanks for the tips. I think for peace of mind I’ll bin it. I probably haven’t made the right offerings to the tire gods or something, but I’ve had no luck with patching tires.

@theroadwarrior – currently on the wheels that came with my Giant – P-SLR 0. Which are DT-Swiss hubs, and I guess Giant own-brand rims. I’ve used Shimanos before. Tires are always Hutchison, as they were all that were available when I switched to tubeless. I might try Specialized next. I’ve used the Fusion 3s, currently on Intensiv’s as the bike is mostly for commuting and training.

Do you use proper tubeless rims / tyres for the road or can you use tape etc as per MTBS? I know nothign of road bikes but have thought about tubelessing the Roadrat with its shimnao alfine wheelset.

Do you use proper tubeless rims / tyres for the road or can you use tape etc as per MTBS? I

Stans used to sell a conversion kit like they do for mountain bikes. I think that as long as your rim is sealed you can get away with taping it and using sealant as long as you use proper tubeless road tyres to get a proper seal. Wouldn’t want to try using normal tyres with the pressures involved.

Ive ridden tubeless for about 2-3 years. Id say about 5mm slash size is my limit for sealing.
Ive had bigger ones eventually seal, but they dont last. Try using a self adhesive enzine patch on the inside

@scruff – Definitely DO NOT use normal road tires for tubeless – at best they won’t seal or will blow off before you reach proper pressure, at worst you’ll think they are working until you are bombing down a steep hill and they blow or roll off. Proper road tubeless tires have a “non-stretchable” carbon fibre or kevlar bead.

You can use normal road rims – it’s not like MTB’ing where you have “UST’ or similar different bead hooks. As @whatnobeer said – just put a rim strip (if necessary – I think the Mavic rims don’t even need) and sealant in.

@shem – thanks, and I’m probably being a wuss but I’m going to bin the tire. Knowing my luck a patch would work until I’m at the exact furthest from my home on a long ride, and my pump and CO2 will miraculously simultaneously fail as well…

@scruff – Definitely DO NOT use normal road tires for tubeless – at best they won’t seal or will blow off before you reach proper pressure, at worst you’ll think they are working until you are bombing down a steep hill and they blow or roll off. Proper road tubeless tires have a “non-stretchable” carbon fibre or kevlar bead.

Whilst I do agree, before Road Tubeless came along, a friend put a couple of turns of electrical tape on his DT RR1.1s, then stuck on some normal GP 4 Seasons with some Stan’s sealant, and rode them with no issues, no idea if he still does it, but he’s a far more aggressive cornerer than me, and it was fine.