I am giving tubeless a go. I am sure at some point I will end up with. a hole that doesn't seal, so I have been told to get some plugs.
I have told to get a dyna plug set, are they all pretty much the same or are there good and bad ones like most things?
When I break up from work I will be reading up and watching some youtube stuff to learn about it.
I finally went tubeless when I got my gravel bike. Paid extra for it to be built up with tubeless. Got a puncture that wouldn’t seal on my second ride. Had to get a lift home then spent one hour trying to fix it with plugs and mess.
I gave up, cleaned out all of the sealant and put in some cheap tubes
I no longer have tubeless.
You’ll get lots of different advice so this is just fyi
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141005696127?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
The second link ones are for doing at home (they go inside the tyre, pull through hole with sticky out wire and then cut) when you have all the right bits etc and after your punctures are large ones/ones that were a right pita to seal in the first place/take a couple of goes to sort etc - ime the worms can come out as they/tyre wear/if not in quite right.
For fixing by the side of the road I now take superglue. Very quick and easy but can eventually fail after a few rides. Good for getting you home without needing to call a taxi.
This year is my 20th on tubeless, i think i've had one tyre that was unfixable, which was a very heavy landing after missing the landing on a tabletop and ripping the sidewall, the other unfixable one was due to a large stone breaking about 4 spokes, and one of the broken spokes going through the rim tape and tyre, that was a mess with the sealant as well!
Both of those were basically trail fixes and then the spare tube going in, i carry bacon strips, but never used them myself, i leant one to someone and it worked a treat, they're all pretty much the same, amazon have loads of them so have a look and read the reviews, then pick the one you like the most.
I went tubeless a few years ago on my mountain bike. Got one flat that wouldn't reseal as it was following a rim-dinger. Had to bin a homemade insert, which left me covered in sealant (a great look, especially in the crotch area!). No longer run inserts. Absolutely would never go back to tubes unless there was literally no other option beyond not riding again.
Just over a year ago I had a series of rear punctures on my commuting bike, a Boardman hybrid with gravel tyres. I managed to convert the rear to tubeless successfully, and haven't punctured since. I've not converted the front yet, as I've not managed to get the beads to seat nicely, even with my Airshot, but front punctures are rarer, and slightly less faffy to sort.
Can't help with the plugs unfortunately. This article covers a few types:
Been tubeless for ages. Its brilliant until it goes wrong, then its really annoying. Fortunately it doesn't go wrong that often.
If you've used stans as your sealant i'd recommend stans darts as a plugs. really easy to use, no glue or faff.
Just carry a light tube incase uou have a hole that doesn't seal.
Got a puncture that wouldn’t seal on my second ride. Had to get a lift home then spent one hour trying to fix it with plugs and mess.
surely no one goes tubeless without carrying an emergency tube…?
Yeah, you're supposed to carry the plugs with you.
I carry one with an anchovy loaded into the spike so if I get a bigger hole I can wang it in quick before I lose all the air.
Also carry a light tube.
Would never go back to tubes.
I carry dyna-plugs and anchovies. I always try an anchovy first as if I ever have to stick a tube in, I'd have to remove all the brass dart things on the dyna plugs. The dyna plugs are just in case the hole is too big to plug with a thin anchovy.
surely no one goes tubeless without carrying an emergency tube…?
On one of our Saturday rides someone had their first tubeless puncture and had nothing with him, no tube, no anchovies, no dyna plugs. Luckily nearly everyone else was carrying something. In his defense he was pretty new to cycling and didn't realise tubeless could puncture. I suppose you have to find out somehow.....
surely no one goes tubeless without carrying an emergency tube…?
I do. I just have a bottle cage mini pump in case the tyre needs inflating a bit if too much air comes out before the sealant 'catches'.
So far this year I have had more rear mechs ripped off (one) than any punctures that I have noticed and I don't carry a spare rear mech with me...
surely no one goes tubeless without carrying an emergency tube…?
Anywhere remote yeah it's a no-brainer, but it's extremely rare (like once every 1000 rides, that sort of order) to actually need it ime. Way back in the day there weren't any plug kits, so the spare tube would see some use, and folk got in the habit of always taking one. But now, at least for local riding it seems reasonable to just dispense with it.
I use dynaplugs and have used quite a few this year; plug, inflate as needed and off you go 🙂
Two things I didn’t know but wish I had, check your tyres for sidewall bulges on a regular basis if you do big drops, that will prevent a sudden sealing failure (if you replace damaged tyres obviously!). Second, if you use something like a dynaplug tool, roll the seal so it leaves the insertion device easily.
Tubeless is a godsend around here after the farmers have been cutting hedgerows, had about six punctures on one ride alone with the kids, that would have been an absolute pain with tubes.
I'd sooner quit cycling than go back to tubes
I'd sooner die on my own vomit than go back to tubes.
My new bike recommended start at 23/24 psi. I weigh 65 kg yet this felt way too soft. Yes loads of grip but rolling resistance is rubbish. It's this the trade off with tubeless?
I always think tubeless is like digital radio. Vast majority of the time it's totally fine. Until it isn't, and then it's completely banjaxed.
I've never seen a tubeless failure that was anything other than spectacular, so I just carry a tube as a backup. I'm still runnig a pack like some kind of weird Luddite so I may as well make use of the space, but I can imagine if you're strapping everything to your bike anchovy kits might look more attractive.
My new bike recommended start at 23/24 psi. I weigh 65 kg yet this felt way too soft.
Is that a mountain bike? Sounds spot on for 2.25 and a bit bigger tyres to me. I'm 75kg, (hopefully still 🫣) and go 28. Often a bit softer because I'm not good at remembering to check.
Dynaplug Megapill is what I have. I’ll go months without needing it and then use them all up in a month. Super easy to use… and I always carry a spare tube because there a times a plug just won’t do the job.
Anywhere remote yeah it’s a no-brainer, but it’s extremely rare (like once every 1000 rides, that sort of order) to actually need it ime. Way back in the day there weren’t any plug kits, so the spare tube would see some use, and folk got in the habit of always taking one. But now, at least for local riding it seems reasonable to just dispense with it.
I have a tube permanently strapped to my bike and One Up pump with bacon strips in it with the prodder. I’ve needed to use the tube once when I dinged the rim so much that the bead wouldn’t seal (I now have new wheels).
Although I did find out recently that the tube was perished so wouldn’t have been any use if I had needed it, luckily I was just borrowing it for another bike. I’m going to check it more often in future.
I ride places where there are hawthorn hedgerows.
Tubeless is brilliant.
Only once had to put a tube in in 15 plus years of tubeless (ghetto was brilliant), and thankfully it was a new tyre, because generally when I have the tyres off I can spend a good 15 minutes with pliers pulling thorns out.
Dynaplug is my carry with me repair of choice.
I carry dyna-plugs (have been tubeless on all bikes since 2010, I think). I've needed them twice and both times they've worked a treat. Early days, I had some really flimsy Bonty tyres that just punctured for fun, but tubeless and tubeless ready tyres are just excellent these days. Especially Bonty ones.
Haven't carried a spare tube in about 4 years. Have carried one recently cos my ebike has a tube in the back still 🙂
Three non sealing punctures in 15 years or so here. Twice I put a tube in and carried on riding, once it was a Stanley knife blade and it cut my tyre wide open so would ha e been similar result with tubes.
My new bike recommended start at 23/24 psi. I weigh 65 kg yet this felt way too soft. Yes loads of grip but rolling resistance is rubbish. It’s this the trade off with tubeless?
Depends on the tyre. I needed 35psi in Specialized tyres but I run 23 in 2.35 racing Ralph's, they are plenty quick and I weigh 90kg.
I'm 58kg and only run 15 psi in a 2.3 tyre on the back. As low as 10 psi on the front with a 2.6 ikon.
Just got round to setting my Freeranger up tubeless yesterday - looked at the stock rim tape and thought, yep that looks tubeless compatible. 10 mins later I inflated the tyre with a compressor and had latex firing out of every spoke hole!
Luckily I had some 10+ year old stans tubeless rim tape in a drawer which seems to have worked - well one tyre held overnight, the other was a bit soft.....
Also turns out that covering your brake disc in latex isn't particularly advantageous for braking....
I’m 58kg and only run 15 psi in a 2.3 tyre on the back. As low as 10 psi on the front with a 2.6 ikon.
That's a flat tyre to me, I'd be running on the rims. . I don't see any point running pressures just because someone else says that's what's right
My new bike recommended start at 23/24 psi. I weigh 65 kg yet this felt way too soft. Yes loads of grip but rolling resistance is rubbish. It’s this the trade off with tubeless?
Stick 25psi in and go up or down depending how you like it to feel.
Great 95% of the time but a ballache when it goes wrong. Had to put a tube in mine yesterday, needed the grip of a thousand dead men to unbead the tyre then got covered in tyre jizz! Equal struggle to get the new tyre to rebead today, thank god for the Airshot.
20 years on tubeless here. With one exception, I've been able to repair all my punctures with anchovies of various sizes. I have better success fitting the fatter black ones. I've not carried a tube since about 2010. Inevitably, there are so many undiscovered thorns lodged in my tyres, the tube goes flat pretty quickly once its installed.
The rule is, if it goes in easily, its not tight enough to seal and stay there and don't leave them longer than your tread, because they will pull out.
I carry about 15 'chovies, a reaming tool, mini knife to cut them down, a couple of tyre boots and 120ml of top up sealant, although the last few years that only tends to come out on big days.
IME the the boots are pretty redundant without a tube to hold them in place. I should look to see if I can find some self adhesive mushroom plugs for sidewalls.
IME the the boots are pretty redundant without a tube to hold them in place. I should look to see if I can find some self adhesive mushroom plugs for sidewalls.
I've used Boots a few times on road tyres - had side wall slashes which were beyond sealant / anchovies. Biggest problem with anything adhesive is the inside of the tyre is wet with latex - which I assume will make gluing anything tricky. Obvs inner tube solves that, just pushing the patch in place.