As a newbie to tubeless I’m struggling to work out if I need to take my usual kit out with me or not?I just can’t get my head around that if I have a puncture then I’m pretty much stuffed, just how do you fix a tubeless tyre trail side, or do you just walk home?
Cheers in advance.

Take a tube, if you get a flat then pop the tyre off, remove the valve stem and pop in a tube, re inflate and off you go.

Or you could take a repair kit that allows you to fix the punture from the outside without using a tube.

Take your normal kit and stick a tube in if you puncture, having checked/hoping your tyre isnt riddled with thorns. There are tyre repair kits, but I’ve not tried.

I take a few of the Genuine Innovations’ plugs, 1 or 2 Park sidewall patches, a tube and sometimes CO2 for re-seating the tyre.
The plugs usually work for me…If you start using quite a few it usually means it’s time to replace the tyre.
If the tyre has a big hole or slash, I’d stick a tube in. Check the inside of the tyre for things sticking through first.
Are you using sealant? If not, do.
I’ll only use Maxxis tyres, they’re the ones I’ve had the least trouble with.
Hope this helps. 🙂

I must say given the faff of getting the tyre on the rim, although by no means hard with a good mate and a track pump I would question my ability of just ‘ sticking a tube in’ trailside.

any links to the external patches?

Cheers.

So standard tubeless set up, stans rims, sealant, tubeless tyres, valves, tape.

I take 2 tubes (if you have holes in both tyres and only have one tube you’re going to be disappointed..), inner tube patches (park tools glueless ones, so it’s the size of a 10p), tyre levers, mini pump. That’s it.

I use a plug kit so the hole can be fixed without taking the tyre off or breaking the bead. ridden with 8 plugs in and it was fine.

Also take a tyre boot, levers and a tube

These are the plugs…

Wiggle used to sell them. Just looked and can’t find them though.

I take a tube. park boot and a pump. If its a longer ride I might take some puncture repair with me just in case I get more than one puncture.

I carry a tube/pump as you would normally. Also a tubeless tyre patch and some toothpaste tube and masking tape which can both be useful on large slices in the tyre.

Interested in the plugs, just how many of you have managed to ride out after a puncture ?

and how often do you puncture..? It sounds like you’re all riding mostly over broken bottles in the thorn strewn deserts of the masai mara..
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a ‘slice’.. or torn a tyre wall open in 25 years of riding.. it all sounds incredibly dramatic..

I’ll only use Maxxis tyres, they’re the ones I’ve had the least trouble with.

this sort of comment doesn’t inspire confidence

Is it really all worth it before I hit the button on some hope/flows tomorrow..? I’m having second thoughts..

Ride out after a puncture… quite often I havn’t realised I punctured, the latex jizz seals the hole really quickly.

This is the kit I use:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/panaracer-tubeless-patch-kit/

Fast, easy and reliable, even in the pouring rain.

Top tip, practice a repair before doing it at night, on a lap of the Strathpuffer in freezing conditions for instance… or similar conditions

The biggest challenge is plugging a hole very near the bead/rim, or a slashed sidewall where even a tube and no boot would struggle.

Ummm.. just a tube and some levers. Never needed them though.

I also just take an inner tube and put that in if the sealant doesn’t do the job. I haven’t seen those plugs before so I might look into that. How long does it take to repair the tyre using a plug? Is it quicker than putting an inner tube in there? (just wondering about it for racing).

And don’t worry about trying to get the tyre back on the rim. Even the hardest tyres to get on the rim when new tend to stretch after inflation making them much easier to take on and off there after.

you don’t need to worry about not having a track pump if you are sticking a tube in.

The only problem I’ve had with tubeless on the trail is from forgetting to top up the jizz, after 4 months mine had dried out, so I just popped a tube in after realising no sealing was taking place. Apart from that its been great and no other punctures.

pugs and pump – never used em in 20 months

The plug method is as fast as you can get one out, thread it into the driver thing and push it in??? There’s no faff with glue or cutting them to size either (unlike the Panaracer kit, altough that does have its uses). You usually hear the sealant bubbling out, so if you’re quick should only have to top the air up a little bit.
Yunki – Where do you ride? No slices or tears?…You either use massive, dual ply tyres or don’t live in the Lakes or such like. Maybe you even walk down rocky descents?
You can use tubeless and not get a puncture for months, so much so, I get p***ed off when other folk I’m riding with do. Like I’ve already said, when you start getting punctures the tyre’s normally knackered. You can see this when you start getting wet patches on the tyre.
I’ve had tubeless for 5-6 years and tried just about every tyre brand going…Maxxis is my preferred brand thats all. Kenda seemed to be made of hard plastic and Hutchinson’s used to tear after getting a slice in. I don’t like Continental’s but thats’s to do with the treads, nothing to do with tubeless specific. These were all UST, I run a standard Maxxis DHF on the front, set-up tubeless for the softer rubber.
I will never go back to tubes!

2 tubes, a pump, repair kit, a couple of tyre boots, small bottle of jizz. Never had any joy with the plug repairs (had one blow straight out 100 yards further on).

nothing on most rides, a tube/pump for big rides. can’t remember the last puncture, 2006 I think.

If I go on a big all-dayer in flinty terrain I take an old tubeless tyre (light bonty TLR) and get the other guys to share out the cake and sweets. If you slash a sidewall miles from the car it saves a long walk.

Always do it, never noticed the extra weight in the Camelbak.

Tube, boots, superglue, patches and those anchovies. Anchovies work fine but don’t look good and you may have to put more than one in. I got caught out once because for some reason I couldn’t get the valve lockring undone and no one had pliers. I now have a leatherman with me which is just a useful tool for all round outdoors use anyway.

Thanks all, I’ll get a tubeless repair kit.

Thanks again.

CRC do em for £3 or so.

im with the vast majority – a tube and tyre levers….

saying that dont fret, they are emergency – ive not had a ripped tyre /puncture in 26 months of tubeless!!!!!!!!!!! using the same rims! (mavic xm819ust) and that is completely riding in the dark/white peak area 3 times a week for upto 40 miles a time….that in itself should give you the confidence to go ahead and buy them!

what are these plug things though, they sound really interesting, especially as its getting super muddy and fannying around taking tyres off in the wet/mud would be a nice avoidance 🙂

the critical part to tubeless is making sure you have sealant in, you will probably get numerous amounts of slight punctures, thorns, nails, bits of bush etc almost every ride, you just wont know its happened, and they only way you will tell is when you get home and see some strange jizz type white marks on your tyres

tubeless tyres/wheels are the best upgrade ive ever bought on the bike….

Tube and tyre levers and an emergency tyre patch…

… which is more than some of the people using tubes who I ride with sometimes seem to have… and so few carry a powerlink 👿

I puncture repair kit and spare tubes – for my friend who wont run tubeless in our hawthorn neighbourhood – 😕

I often dont take anything locally, tube & pump if going to peaks / lakes etc, 2 tubes if its a biggy.

I think (for me) going tubeless was more beneficial than getting disc brakes 💡

just a tube, can’t be arsed trying to fix tubeless when out. In 2 yeas of tubeless only had one incident, there the tyre exploded off the rim sending white fluid everwhere !
Just stuck a tube in and rode home.

What are these tyre levers of which you speak? 🙂

You insert them in a convenient orifice of the person who has punctured without a spare tube…

tyre levers (for when its cold and your fingers are killing!) and a tube, job done. but just in case, i carry a section of old inner tube and a bit of table for a tyre boot

Most important thing is that your tyres are at the correct pressure. I have tubeless and got loads of pinch punctures. Mainly I think from not running high enough pressures and too many rocks. Anybody recommend a tyre that have thick sidewalls, fast rolling and good side knobs for cornering?

I’ve been on tubeless for more than 10 years now, and I’ve never had to use a tube. I’ve torn a couple of tyres in races, but any puncture I’ve had out on the trail has always just sealed with sealant, if I’ve even noticed it.

Still carry one though, just in case, with a CO2 pump, and nowt else.

Heard good things about these kits. Carry one in my backpack but not had cause to use it yet. Can plug the hole without taking the tyre off which is a big plus I reckon. Every puncture on the trail has sealed itself for me (using Stan’s jizz) but one or two bigger ones have taken a bit of effort to seal (hold tyre with hole at the bottom and finger over it for a minute or two.) Never had to pop a tube in either.

So on a long ride I’ll carry a tube, a park tools glueless patch kit for tubes, the weldtite plugs, a mini pump and a couple of CO2 containers. On shorter rides I’d take a tube and a CO2.

Yep, I’ve used one of those weldkits, bit fiddly at first, felt odd to ram and needle in your tyre with what’s basically a rubber strip and glue, not that confidence inspiring as a repair method. Repaired another one with a tube, think I might just leave it in.

Yeah sounds good

People using the Weldtite kits: It says in instructions “insert one half of a string into eye of needle”.

That does mean use a whole string per repair, not half of one – doesn’t it?

Weldtite Plug kit worked fine for the only puncture I’ve had in 5 or 6 years. Had lots of thorns in the various tyres, but only noticed them when I’ve changed tyres. I also run a small amount of Stans fluid in them to help things along.

tube and tyre levers here too and a very small mini pump.

Lucky really as I blew the tyre of the rim on my CX this morning 😯 – admittedly it was at 80psi (higher than normal) and I’d just fitted it so I reckon it wasn’t quite seated right around the valve. Made one hell of a bang though! 🙂