Tubeless woes pt4?

[fossyant]

I'm 'yet' to have a reason to move to 'tubeless' as I've never had enough flats. Except in Autumn this year on my MTB commuter, where I was getting about 4 thorns a week through the tyres as I was still on some lightweight MTB tyres and the Canal's Trust had trimmed all the Hawthorns on the canal, but a change of tyres sorted that.

Key to tubeless is good sealant.

 

[hatler]

It strikes me that every once in a while tubeless results in an unusable bike, and the situation can only be recovered with a tube, and a good deal of faff and most times a good deal of mess.

With tubed, I know that I can get it fixed and carry on my way in a predictable amount of time.

 

[Alex321]

It strikes me that every once in a while tubeless results in an unusable bike, and the situation can only be recovered with a tube, and a good deal of faff and most times a good deal of mess.

With tubed, I know that I can get it fixed and carry on my way in a predictable amount of time.

Well I do still carry a tube, so if it does fail badly enough to be unsealable, I just put that in as I would after a puncture on a tubed tyre.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Well I do still carry a tube, so if it does fail badly enough to be unsealable, I just put that in as I would after a puncture on a tubed tyre.

I've had to do that once. It was a wee bit messy but nothing terrible. Only like getting your hands oily when you have a chain problem. And it took a similar amount of time to just changing a tube. Maybe a bit longer than average. And given that (theoretically at least) it should happen a lot less frequently than ordinary punctures it's not too great a price to pay.

That's not the faff that bugs me. For me it's getting tyres to mount and hold pressure. Maybe I'm just unlucky but it has taken me hours of swearing and keeping fingers crossed that they will pop on, stay there and hold pressure. I know that I can mount even difficult new tubed tyres in a matter of minutes.

 

[Alex321]

I've had to do that once. It was a wee bit messy but nothing terrible. Only like getting your hands oily when you have a chain problem. And it took a similar amount of time to just changing a tube. Maybe a bit longer than average. And given that (theoretically at least) it should happen a lot less frequently than ordinary punctures it's not too great a price to pay.

That's not the faff that bugs me. For me it's getting new tyres to mount and hold pressure. Maybe I'm just unlucky but it has taken me hours of swearing and keeping fingers crossed that they will pop on, stay there and hold pressure. I know that I can mount even difficult new tubed tyres in a matter of minutes.

I would consider that difficulty with mounting to be "faff".

Maybe I've just been lucky, but once I had the right rim tape on, I have had no issue at all with either of the models of tyre I've used.

Both seated first time with just my cheapo track pump (with valve core out). Then deflate, put sealant in through valve, re-insert valve core, re-inflate, ride. Add a bit more air every couple of weeks or so.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Both seated first time with just my cheapo track pump (with valve core out). Then deflate, put sealant in through valve, re-insert valve core, re-inflate, ride. Add a bit more air every couple of weeks or so.

I hate you.

You're like one of those smug Youtube video presenters. "You just pump it up and "pop" it is done".

Meanwhile I'm pumping up my Air Blaster for the 17th time, ankle deep in a mixture of sweat and sealant.

 

[Alex321]

I hate you.

You're like one of those smug Youtube video presenters. "You just pump it up and "pop" it is done".

Meanwhile I'm pumping up my Air Blaster for the 17th time, ankle deep in a mixture of sweat and sealant.

If I'd had serious hassle getting them to seat, I may well have had a different view as to the value of tubeless.

TBH, I was surprised how easy it was, given all the horror stories like yours.

 

[Oldhippy]

Never understood the need myself. Can't remember how many years ago I had a puncture and my bike is daily transport. Tubes have never been a bother to change.

 

[geocycle]

I had a 5mm cut in a Schwalbe pro one which I couldn’t get to seal. I was able to hobble home as it sealed at a low pressure. Like the OP the worm held in place up until 50-60 psi then would fail. Given that it was also losing sealant through the sidewall which Schwalbe called ‘sweat’ I binned the tyre. I’ve been ok now for nearly a year with only small amount of pressure loss 10 psi over a week. Getting the new one to seat was a nightmare until I put a tube in for a couple of days, after that it popped on first time. With hindsight I would have tried to patch it from the inside before binning it. A nice tyre to ride but as others have said not the finished article for road bikes. I always carry a tube.

 

[Alex321]

Never understood the need myself. Can't remember how many years ago I had a puncture and my bike is daily transport. Tubes have never been a bother to change.

I suspect your regular rising may be on rather better surfaced roads than some of us.

On the roads round here, with the original tyres, both on my previous hybrid and my current road bike, I was rarely going much more than a couple of hundred miles between punctures. I was averaging closer to one a week than one a fortnight.

I switched to marathon+ on the hybrid, and got one puncture in the next 6 months (about 2K miles).

I didn't really want something as heavy and stiff as those on the road bike, so thought I'd try tubeless.

But I am riding mainly on very minor roads - the sort where there is often a grass strip down the middle, or at least a strip of mud & gravel. If you are riding mainly on better quality roads, you may well have fewer issues with punctures.

 

[livpoksoc]

Seems perfectly valid and sensible given your OP, but don't let me stop you, just crack on and keep fighting with a flawed system.....

It's the mug off that's unecessary. I've laid out several £hundred, and your reply isn't needed nor welcome.

 

[livpoksoc]

I had a 5mm cut in a Schwalbe pro one which I couldn’t get to seal. I was able to hobble home as it sealed at a low pressure. Like the OP the worm held in place up until 50-60 psi then would fail. Given that it was also losing sealant through the sidewall which Schwalbe called ‘sweat’ I binned the tyre. I’ve been ok now for nearly a year with only small amount of pressure loss 10 psi over a week. Getting the new one to seat was a nightmare until I put a tube in for a couple of days, after that it popped on first time. With hindsight I would have tried to patch it from the inside before binning it. A nice tyre to ride but as others have said not the finished article for road bikes. I always carry a tube.

Interestingly, I had this 'sweat' initially when I binned off the GP5000s for Schwalbe, whilst initially annoying and almost certainly causing 20psi loss over a weekend, a quick top up and no harm done. After a few weeks of running, I found the tyres would easily retain 70-80psi over many many days - so much so in fact that the rear tyre that isn't punctured has remained at pressure since I last rode the bike two weeks ago.

 

[livpoksoc]

So FWIW as all things cycling open up a can of worms from varying positions and experience - I chose to trial tubeless as on one evening ride mid-easing of lockdown last year, I picked up four punctures (both wheels), resulting in me on the side of the road in the dark out of spare tubes and unable to see to adequately repair them. I had to ask the wife to come rescue me as I was 15 miles from home. After researching, I decided to go tubeless but know that I can run the same upgraded wheels with tubes if I didn't get on with it.

Once the new rims arrived, I had real problems getting the continental tyres over the rim, and my LBS has also stated they no longer stock Contis for that reason themselves, so whilst frustrating and a loss of £95, I replaced them with Schwalbes, which for the most part has seen my right ever since. Plenty of holes have sealed adequately. It seems in this instance, I have been unlucky and hit three punctures in one move as I was riding on a country lane on the right to give way to an old boy rambler. No sooner had I hit the patch of wet leaves, was my tyre hissing.

This post is in no way intended to be a debate on the merits or foibles of tubless, more a question on best means to repair a tubeless tyre. Perhaps I worded it badly having been a bit hacked off with the incident and seeming inability to repair the hole. All in all, I got home safely and just need some guidance and tips on the best way to repair it, so I don't have to bin a £45 tyre with decent miles left on the tread, if I can.

 

[livpoksoc]

Quick update as realise I didn't answer some questions...

1. Yes road bike, running Hunt Superdura rim brake wheels.
2. I am running Muc Off sealant. I have a bottle of Hunt Race unopened as I would like if possible to be more friendly to the environment, but if it's a toss up between bad sealant and a manufactured object not being prematurely obsolete because eco sealant isn't up to the job, then it's a no brainer.
3. My intention is to keep the panic bought pirellis in the garage as spares for when these schwalbes finally wear thin, if I can. The PITA is that having spoken to Schwalbe in the summer (see sweating post above), they are having supply issues into the UK, meaning for me a matching pair on front on back nigh on impossible. Not one for vanity though if I have to run differing tyres on each wheel to keep me pedalling. The reason I prefer these schwalbes is the knowing that they seat easily and have carried me over hundreds of miles since, and the pirellis are a return to the unknown.

4. I paid £82 for the pair in the summer, and they are now nearly impossible to source. Last week I found one sole tyre available for £65, so left it.

 

[Dogtrousers]

This post is in no way intended to be a debate on the merits or foibles of tubless, more a question on best means to repair a tubeless tyre. Perhaps I worded it badly having been a bit hacked off with the incident and seeming inability to repair the hole. All in all, I got home safely and just need some guidance and tips on the best way to repair it, so I don't have to bin a £45 tyre with decent miles left on the tread, if I can.

So going back to the OP

I'm speaking only from a tiny amount of experience here, but my experience (sample: one) of plugs is that they don't hold long term so next time I will probably try patching the inside of the tyre. But I don't look forward to it as it will be messy and I will have to re-seat the tyre afterwards.

Although that goes against the advice that I've read elsewhere from that plugs are fit and forget.