Had my firstexperiment with tubeless over the last 3 weeks in the Alps. Fitted them tothe wife’s bike using the Stand kit on Revolution 25 rims and Single Ply Minions and they handled being battered down steep fast rocky terrain really well. Only had one burping incident (while proper low PSI). I am even goig to convert my bike to tubeless now.

On her last run she managed to put a 5mm cut in the main centre tread line of the tyre. Which wouldn’t seal at the time. It’s sealed now but when you ride it or squash the tyre it leaks again.

My question is does the tyre need replacing or is there a good way of repairing it so it’ll last? Or do I need to remove it and run it on another bike with a tube?

And would tubeless specific tyres be stronger (it was the rocky fire road back in to Les Linderats that did it).

All advice appreciated
Tom KP

Take the tyre off, completely clean the inside and put a puncture repair patch on. Works a treat. BUT it must be completely cleaned. I use disc brake cleaner to get the last of the sealant cleaned off.

Also if the tyres lasted a week min the Alps then keep on doing what you did. It must have worked fine. 🙂

I can answer this bit:
And would tubeless specific tyres be stronger

Yes. UST tyres are much stronger – especially the sidewalls.

Get one of the Zefal tubeless patch kits to fix the hole.

Cheers for the advice guys.

Tom KP

Propper tubelss tyres are stronger, but also weigh a lot more. 2bliss, tubeless ready, etc are a compromise that works well IME.

Get some superglue in a needle/syringe type bottle from a modeling shop and put a dab inside the cut to hold it together. Works half the time.

I found that an easier way to repair them than the whole cleaning faff was to cut a square of material about 15mm square (or bigger than the hole if it’s a big hole), really doesn’t seem to matter what, rubber glove, innertube, old bedding/t-shirt, bit of gaffa tape, clean the inside of the tyre arround the cut, apply contact adhesive (evo-stik etc) sparingly to the patch and the tyre and squeeze them together. It doesn’t need to be perfect, it’s just giving the sealent something to coat and seal that isn’t pulling apart like a cut. Works the other half the time.

If it realy doesn’t seal then sew up the cut with a needle and thread and apply superglue libberaly, then patch it.

Seems to be a recurring theme. I asked the same question a week or two ago and now have two holes fixed by a puncture repair patch on the inside of the tyre. Works a treat and not too messy to do.

I’ve had better results with “worm” style tubeless repair kits than with patches. Plus, you can put a worm in on the trailside, whereas you need to get the inside of the tyre clean before you can put a patch on.

Ones like this:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=7971

I use the worms also, buy that kit posted above then get the worms off ebay for about £5 for 20, each one can be cut in half.

Its great being able to repair without even deflating the tyre.

+1 for using the worms.

Once you’ve done a couple of repairs you can do these trail-side in about 5 minutes and be on your way.

I’ve got repairs several years old on my tyres that are still holding out – I think the natural flex they have makes them a good permanent repair.

Tyre off, clean inside, dry completely, superglue on the outside (sparingly), turn inside-out to force together while glue dries, normal repair patch on the inside, flexible glue over the top of the patch.

I’ve done three repairs like this to my current rear tyre and they’ve been fine. Rema sell a specific type of “special cement” for gluing patches to tyres, but normal vulcanising solution has done me fine.

I just cut patches out of all the old inner tubes I have hanging around now and the tube of vulcanised rubber solution left over from the repair kit to patch them.

Why anyone would choose to do that over using worms i dont know.

When i had a nail in my tyre the routine went like this.

Prepare worm by threading through the tool and applying glue.
Pull nail out and stick tool and worm in the hole.
Pull tool out.
Cut excess worm off.
Top up air in tyre and ride.

No need to remove tyre, no cleaning needed, no issue with re-seating tubeless tyre. Its just a million times easier and literally takes seconds to do.

Take the tyre off, completely clean the inside and put a puncture repair patch on. Works a treat. BUT it must be completely cleaned. I use disc brake cleaner to get the last of the sealant cleaned off.

This, but if on the trail I don’t take the tyre off as you’d lose the latex. Just take a section of tyre off the bead and do it while on the rim/bike.

But, since I’ve used the worms – I’d now use the worms. Just make sure you’ve a knife to trim the worm down.

I was not aware of the existence of these ‘worms’, I’ll have to give them a go.