Puncture & Tubeless
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We’re not sure what is worse, being dressed and amped up to hit the road with friends or being 2 hours from home in the heat of the day, stranded with a flat tyre without a bike puncture repair kit and having to phone a wife, friend or parent to come pick you up next to the road.
Bicycle tires have come a long way and in recent years, tyres have gone tubeless and are wider which have been proven to make them faster whilst also being more compliant in terms of comfort and puncture resistance. The reality is that we still get punctures from time to time and we all need a bicycle tyre repair kit to get us out of the pickle when bad luck strikes.
Here is a summary of the methods to either prevent punctures or repair them should the need arise. As the saying goes prevention is better than cure, and this starts with selecting the correct tyres for the application and then getting the wheel set up in a tubeless configuration. Cycle Lab’s Marvel tubeless conversion kits paired with quality valves are the way to go. Next, a quality sealant is needed in the tyres. This is particularly important for mountain and gravel bikes where you’re much more likely to puncture. Adding a sealant can be a messy job and there are a few tricks to this and a good mechanic can do this quickly. Home mechanics may need a bit of practice and at Cycle Lab we have a few nifty gadgets to make this job a breeze like the Stans sealant injector repair kit.
Part of the prevention of punctures would be the correct tyre inflation. Running to soft or too hard make the tyre more prone to different types of punctures. Now, should bad luck strike and the sealant in the tyres does not seal the hole properly you will need to turn to the next item in your bicycle tyre repair kit namely a plug into the hole using tubeless repair strips. Speed is of the essence here because it is easier to plug the hole while there is still some air in the tyre. Having air in the tyre instantly reveals if the plugging was successful. Depending on the amount of pressure lost you may need to inflate the tyre before setting off again.
If all else fails and you need to put a rube into the tyre get yourself home with caution as tubes are more prone to punctures. If you’re still old school and run with inner tubes then some patches can be glues over the hole after surface preparation with a rubber galvanising solution. So, after all this the lesson is learnt, never leave home without your bicycle tyre repair kit. Ride safe!
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