Puncture repair
Discussion
Im new back to riding, bought a mountain bike just before lock down, it has tubeless tyres on. I have a puncture on the front. What is the best way to fix it. Is this stuff any good or am i better off taking the tyre off and patching it? What does the sealant below actually do, is it the same as using it on a car and the tyre is scrap? Sorry for basic questions!
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-maintenance/...
https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-maintenance/...
There are better options than Slime. Yes, it may fix it, but is quite a thick goo. Something like Stans is better. Its not 100% at fixing every puncture.
One thing to carry with you is some puncture plugs
https://www.evanscycles.com/innovations-tubeless-t...
If you have a hole that is too big or flexes and splits open every revolution , then you stick these in the hole, which then dams it and allows the sealant to seal it.
Most sealants are laytex based and have granules , which plug and seal. Its great stuff and after some rides , finding 6 or so thorns in the tyres , would have amounted to a lot of repairs on the ride.
Since lockdown, I have had about 4 punctures , which didnt heal up with sealant, but using the 'anchovy' plugs, has cured all. I always have a small pair of scissors to cut the anchovy back to the tyres to prevent them pulling out.
Its not fool proof and a bit of a fiddle, but much better than tubes . There are similar products on the market as well.
One thing to carry with you is some puncture plugs
https://www.evanscycles.com/innovations-tubeless-t...
If you have a hole that is too big or flexes and splits open every revolution , then you stick these in the hole, which then dams it and allows the sealant to seal it.
Most sealants are laytex based and have granules , which plug and seal. Its great stuff and after some rides , finding 6 or so thorns in the tyres , would have amounted to a lot of repairs on the ride.
Since lockdown, I have had about 4 punctures , which didnt heal up with sealant, but using the 'anchovy' plugs, has cured all. I always have a small pair of scissors to cut the anchovy back to the tyres to prevent them pulling out.
Its not fool proof and a bit of a fiddle, but much better than tubes . There are similar products on the market as well.
If you've only just bought the bike, are you sure the tyres are set up as tubeless? New bikes are generally sold as 'tubeless ready', but come with tubes installed as default. If you are running tubeless, you'd expect to have seen sealant leaking out if you have a puncture large enough to cause a flat.
Here are a couple of good videos showing you how to repair.
For tubes:
GMBN - How To Fix A Flat Tyre
It's easiest to replace the tube with a new one when you get a puncture, rather than trying to repair the tube on the trail. The punctured one can be repaired later.
For tubeless:
GMBN - How To Repair Tubeless MTB Flats
GMBN is a good channel to follow on YouTube - lots of good riding skills and bike maintenance tips.
For tubes:
GMBN - How To Fix A Flat Tyre
It's easiest to replace the tube with a new one when you get a puncture, rather than trying to repair the tube on the trail. The punctured one can be repaired later.
For tubeless:
GMBN - How To Repair Tubeless MTB Flats
GMBN is a good channel to follow on YouTube - lots of good riding skills and bike maintenance tips.
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