Gooey strings or tyre weld?

[anonymous-user]

Always carried a gooey string puncture repair kit but a friend suggested a can of tyre-weld as an easier equivalent (there is room to store it under the seat).

I understand it's basically just expanding foam. Anybody else use this or is it not appropriate for bikes?

Strangely enough, I've gone from regular punctures to not having had one in the10+ years since I started carrying a repair kit. Sod's Law now I've said that............

[ssray]

Gooey string for me, some places don't like touching tyres after the foam stuff

[podman]

More agro and mess than they are worth IMHO

A plug kit has been more succesful for me.

[fred bloggs]

That tyre weld will rot your rims.

[DirtyHarley]

A fair few places around by me won't touch it if its had gooey crap sprayed in it for some reason.
I stick with the strings and haven't had any issues - for me punctures seem to come in batches of 3's and normally when the tyres have less than 1K miles on them!

[Yabu]

Romford4 said:

Always carried a gooey string puncture repair kit but a friend suggested a can of tyre-weld as an easier equivalent (there is room to store it under the seat).

I understand it's basically just expanding foam. Anybody else use this or is it not appropriate for bikes?

Strangely enough, I've gone from regular punctures to not having had one in the10+ years since I started carrying a repair kit. Sod's Law now I've said that............

Dyna plug is the answer

[mikey_b]

Stop'n'Go kit works well for me. On the car, as well as the bike.

[black-k1]

fred bloggs said:

That tyre weld will rot your rims.

Do you have anything to support that statement?

[Biker 1]

AA bloke rescued me once with Slime. I rode to my local tyre place a couple of days later & empty wallet/new tyre later, all was good. Tyre fitter didn't mention anything about deposits or problems. He even cleaned up the spokes.

[gusm2]

Another thumbs up for the strings, I successfully repaired a rear on my car without the hassles of going to a tyre shop and getting the hard sell from some "expert"
My experience comes from being an ex fast fit area manager........ you can't get better

[Rubin215]

I'm a great believer in Puncture Safe, used it for years without any issues.

[anonymous-user]

gusm2 said:

Another thumbs up for the strings, I successfully repaired a rear on my car without the hassles of going to a tyre shop and getting the hard sell from some "expert"
My experience comes from being an ex fast fit area manager........ you can't get better

Do you need to buy new strings periodically as the 'goo' ages?
Do you use them directly into the tyre or do you apply some vulcanising glue to aid the sealing?
Do you use it as a permanent repair or temp until you get to a tyre shop?
Thanks

[Triaguar]

I always carry a puncture repair kit...all the best stuff..rubber plugs ..screwey things...broddley things ...gassey canister things...really useful..except for the two punctures I have had where I could not find where the blo#@dy hole was....so here is my best puncture tip...just ride it home the tyre never leaves the rim...how do I know 50 miles home from York down the A64, A1 and M1.

[fred bloggs]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Not Quite buddy. How about 30 years as a bike mechanic.

[HustleRussell]

Romford4 said:

I understand it's basically just expanding foam.

It’s not just expanding foam.

[black-k1]

fred bloggs said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Not Quite buddy. How about 30 years as a bike mechanic.

So, that was your job but doesn't answer if you have any evidence to support your statement.

[fred bloggs]

black-k1 said:

So, that was your job but doesn't answer if you have any evidence to support your statement.

Sadly for you, I haven't taken pictures of the many rims i've seen corroded by tire weld substances, nobody has ever asked for evidence before.

[boyse7en]

Romford4 said:

Do you need to buy new strings periodically as the 'goo' ages?

Don't know, but i tend to buy a new pack of 10 off eBay every couple of years.

Romford4 said:

Do you use them directly into the tyre or do you apply some vulcanising glue to aid the sealing?

I always add a little bit of vulcanising glue. I think it helps the sealing, but it definitely lubricates it and makes it easier to slide the "gooey string" in through the hole.

Romford4 said:

Do you use it as a permanent repair or temp until you get to a tyre shop?

The packaging says they are a temporary repair. The one in the back tyre of my bike has been temporarily there for about a year/5000 miles though.

[KTMsm]

Whilst not wanting to argue

I've had great success with tyre weld (on cars) fixing large punctures (temporarily)

I've also removed the tyres afterwards and there is very little (clear, sticky) residue which was very easy to clean up

Perhaps it might be an issue with steel spoked wheels but it certainly isn't with alloys IME

As usual with Kwik fit etc they use any excuse to upsell - I've always found that wandering in wearing "work gear" stops the BS but I ended up buying my own tyre and balancing machine as it was just easier

If I was touring I think I'd feel happier with a string type repair on a bike - I tend to use tyre weld just to get me home / to a garage

[SteveKTMer]

I carry the strings and a small pump but not had to use it recently. Also carry a TyreWeld type can if I'm not carrying too much else, but not had to use it. I've never heard of them damaging the rims, but I have heard of some of the fluids making a mess inside the tyre and tyre fitters refusing to do anything other than replace the tyre - this is probably more fore the products like slime which stay liquid and are not recommenced anyway on a road bike.