Putting emergency tubes inside tubeless tyres

Tubeless tyres are great …up to a point until you get a slash or rip that won’t seal. It happened to me the other day, and I was able to patch it up with a tyre boot and put a tube inside. I cleaned the tyre out as much as possible trailside, but obviously missed a little thorn or something that resulted in a slow puncture.

I managed to get home,but was wondering, (a) has anyone got any tips on cleaning out a tubeless tyre before putting a tube in, and (b) has anyone used a slime tube with success to prevent this happening?

I now carry a pair of latex gloves which should make checking for thorns a more pleasant experience.

slime tube isn’t a bad shout actually.

I don’t know if it answers your question but I don’t bother cleaning it out before putting a tube in. Too much faff to bother with as is attempting a trail side repair (all my tubeless punctures tend to be fairly large gashses caused by rocks as opposed to thorns).

Leaving the sealant in, along with the tube usually creates a kind of makeshift pro-core scenario.

Carry a piece of cotton wool that you can run around the inside of the tyre. Any thorns poking through will grab the cotton leaving you a nice marker to where the problem is.

Anyone used a Weldtite type kit in anger and had success? Looks a bit of a faff to me.

My puncture was caused by a rip. The thorn that I missed was obviously from a puncture that had been sealed by the latex previously and that’s the crux here ….not being able to clear everything out, but excellent tip with the cotton wool. Solves that problem perfectly, so I think its going to be cotton wool and slime tube for me — belt and braces

+ 1 for Latex gloves … top tip!

weldtite kit works. used it yesterday actually. helps if there’s a mate around to put thumb over hole to stop all the air pi55ing out while you get tooled up.

Tissue paper works as well as cotton wool and you’re more likely to have some.

Why would you want to clean it? Surely the gloop which seals your tyre will also seal small holes in your tubes.

I’ve never cleaned the gloop out when tubing on the trail, I’ve also never checked for thorns, usually when I remove the tube its got several small punctures which all appear sealed.

I appreciate multiple anecdotes do not make statistical proof.

Interesting …. Would have thought that gloop seals on an inside out basis rather than the other way round, but if I guess if there’s enough of the stuff sloshing around then it could work as you describe.
Always though conventional wisdom was to check the tyre for nasty sharp bits before putting a new tube in

My wisdom on this is largely I only ever puncture when it’s bloody cold and throwing it down, (I assume this is a side effect of aerosoled latex entering the atmosphere) so I spend as little time as possible fixing the things.

This will obviously bite me hard in due course but fit for the moment…

Why would you want to clean it?

Otherwise patches won’t stick if/when you pick up another thorn/flint/syringe

Otherwise patches won’t stick if/when you pick up another thorn/flint/syringe

It rinses off the tube in torrential rain anyhow.

Used the Weldtite kit a fair bit, always successful and I leave them as permanent repairs.

My spare tube is a slime tube so I don’t need check for thorns too thoroughly, don’t think I’ve ever needed it though.

palm of hand on inside of tyre. wipe it around and feel the thorns. normally you get a bit muddy/dirty sorting the tyre/tubeless crap so i`m never too fussed about the latex.

on some tyres i have quite a few thorns and, more than once i`ve had to fix a tube puncture resulting from a missed thorn 10 mins later.

I`ve resorted to a latex filled tube on my HT. i need to get a tougher casing tyre for tubeless.

Recently been through just this, had a big enough hole that it wouldn’t seal, got Weldtite kit out but realised it was too dark to see the hole properly (have good helmet light but wear contacts which don’t give good close vision) so I chucked a tube in which slow punctured but got me home.

Used the Weldtite kit the next day (glasses on and in the garage) and it worked a treat, next time I’d have more confidence with using it trailside. Also realised that my tyre had almost no liquid sealant left in it so wasn’t going to seal anything but a tiny hole! Added sealant and it’s now sealed nicely with the Weldtite anchovy staying in as a permanent fix.

Think I’ll carry some cotton wool and a slime tube in future as having this happen again locally isn’t too bad but on a big day in the mountains it might have been less fun!

Just get your hands dirty! Pull out the thorns and continue to moan about the latex on your hairy hands for a while.

I’ve got a fair bit of experience under my belt with that kit that Del linked. It’s not let me down yet. Mostly, the plugs last for as long as the tyre too.