This exact same thing happened to me few days ago. See the "road tubeless what do you carry with you thread", haha.

I just bought muc offs stealth repair kit (on sale for 14 bucks) that I'll stash in my saddle bag or bar ends, instead of a taking a tube. Mine went flat on the road, but after a co2 blast and wiggling the wheel so the sealant could get up the sidewall, it sealed and held. Everyone seems to have Dyna plugs but those cost 60 bucks, I just went with a more affordable option.

Assuming you mean the Vittoria tire insert, it's potentially a worthwhile solution.
I will say, however, that the gravel liners do not seem to extend above the rim bead enough to seem to provide much protection - But I'm also used to running Cushcore in my mountain bike.
I much prefer the shape and weight of the Tubolight inserts in my gravel tires (and XC Mountain bike). I've not used them in tubeless road applications.

I'd also think Stan's darts are the best plugs with Dynaplugs coming in second. The more traditional plugs seem to struggle with higher pressures.

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my solution is this for training rides:

TANNUS AIRLESS TIRES – Tannus

they sell run flat inserts if you have gravel bike

I am a late adopter for tubeless. I had always assumed that you just carried a spare tube in case of a flat and temporarily converted back to tubes in the case of a flat. I am this many days old when I learned that plugs for tubeless exist.

So, what is the best product and why: Dynaplugs, Stan's Darts, KOM repair kit, something else? And would plugs alone be sufficient, or should I also plan to carry a tube for a worst case situation? (Dynaplugs seem excessively expensive when there are many $20 options out there.)

This is why for road I still have concerns going tubeless. Yeah, you may prevent a flat you would have gotten with a tubed........but once you DO get a flat you're messing with some involved repair and can't really get a tubeless tire off and back on without a bead tool. But with a tubed you can put in a dollar bill/gum wrapper and a tube and go home.

Gravel I'm tubeless all the way because it's on/off with your fingers on the rim. Road though due to the "can't get it on/off again" without roughhousing it scares me.

I almost wonder if a "super coarse" roadside sealant with some kind of bits of solid stringy things could get you home for those "dart won't work" or need to remove the tire situations.

If they can get tubeless install to clincher "with fingers" territory, I'll do it for the road.

this stuff is slowly helping me change my mind for road tubeless..like you I still have doubts

https://www.effettomariposa.eu/...-cl-sealant-additive

Yes, you can certainly remove the tubeless valve stem from the wheel and replace with a tube if you are not running a tire insert. I suppose you can if you're running an insert as well, however, that needs to be removed from the tire and carried to make room for the tube. Absolutely no issue doing this other than it's a slower repair (but no slower than replacing a tube on a traditional tubed tire).

Tire plugs are often a fix that takes a couple of seconds. Pull over, take plug out of repair kit, shove into hole, add some air, ride away.

I prefer the Stan's Darts and Dynaplugs for 1 specific reason: they both have a "barb" like system that can be inserted into the tire but resists being pushed back out with air pressure. The traditional bacon strips can be twisted in such a manner that they wad up inside the tire but this is less reliable and I find that pressure can cause them to leak / pop out.

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The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
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Watch where you're going. :)

You might have flown too close to the sun with low pressures.

I've been able to fix almost all flats with dynaplugs for the last few years, they work much better than the bacon strips IMO. Can always throw a tube in if needed, although you'll also need to remove the metal dynaplug heads.

For small holes near the rim, if you have enough sealant you can sometimes get them to seal by flipping your bike around though to get sealant to that location.

burnthesheep wrote:

but once you DO get a flat you're messing with some involved repair and can't really get a tubeless tire off and back on without a bead tool. But with a tubed you can put in a dollar bill/gum wrapper and a tube and go home.

This is not the typical experience. The typical repair of a tubeless flat is still faster than swapping a new tube in. As noted in this tread, plugs are a thing. And they work great. You jam in some bacon, throw in some CO2 (or pump by hand) and you can be off and running without ever taking your wheel off. Less than half the time of a tube change. And this is the typical tubeless flat, at least for me. Not a rare case.

When you have a slice that a plug looks like it's not going to work, you throw in a tube. That takes just a bit longer than a conventional tube swap. And that's only the time it takes to remove the tubeless valve stem.

Quote:

can't really get a tubeless tire off and back on without a bead tool

Used to be somewhat an issue, but is pretty much gone now. I put GP5000 TRs over my Hunt and Flo rims with my thumbs, even on first install. Even later model Corsa Speed aren't bad. Early Corsa Speeds were indeed a problem. With hookless rims (which I don't use yet), even less of a problem, is my understanding.

As compared to tube-type tires, I think about 1/4 of that flats you'd get - with tubeless you don't even know you had an issue, it seals up so fast. You find it on the tire check when you get home. About 1/2 you handle with plugs in less than a minute if you're quick. The remaining 1/4 you do a tube swap.

Overall I find road tubeless to have been a massive game changer of a positive.

Quote:

But with a tubed you can put in a dollar bill/gum wrapper and a tube and go home

No different with tubeless. You put in a new tube just like you would. You put in a dollar bill just like you would. Exactly the same. Unless you indeed have one of the really old rim/tire combinations that's super tight. But that little channel that runs down the middle of every tubeless rim for sale these days? That makes things a snap compared to the old days.

I like the looks of the Dynaplug system, especially the Dynaplug Racer Pro that dropped in the last week or so, but I haven't gone that route as I bought the Stan's Dart system when it first came out way back when tubeless wheels were square ;) and have used all of once. I remember that being stressful, due to never having had to use it and reading ALL of the drama from people saying the sky's falling w/road tubeless and plugging holes doesn't work due to pressure, blah, blah, blah.

I got about a 5mm diameter hole, like almost a cookie-cutter type clean hole. Sealant coated my right side ass, seat, seat stay, chain stay, calf, shoe & chain, as I was going maybe 20mph when I hit whatever I hit and it was too big for just sealant to fill. It made a mess for sure. I'm in the middle of BFE, in the mountains with no cell service and riding solo. "Sh*t! Do I still have that dart thing? Sweet, I do. Oh man, this better work..." I vividly remember thinking. Plug in. Pull out. Rotate plugged hole to the bottom of the wheel rotation (6 o'clock position). CO2 inflate... Sealed! No drama. No extra sealant needed in the moment (even with all the lost sealant). It was glorious!

After changing out that tire later, and looking at it all from the inside, not only was the Stan's Dart not going anywhere after installation, but I could see at least a half-dozen places where the sealant had sealed other, smaller, punctures that I never even knew about.

To me - tubeless all the way & either a Stan's or Dynaplug system & CO2 cartridge always.

My never fail solution:

- always keep extra sealant in tires
- carry this tool in saddle bag: https://fit4use.com/
- keep 1 bacon strip preloaded
- if big cut, load 2-3 more strips
- if 1” or more, I have a one-off plug for that tool for Stan’s darts and I carry 4-5 darts
- carry 2 CO2
- carry one tube but tbh, pulling off and reinstalling most tubeless tires roadside is too darn difficult
- I do plan to install Vittoria road inserts for training and then I’ll definitely not carry the tube.

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I broke two darts trying to push them into road tires. I think it was just due to the smaller diameter hole, as they're designed for bigger holes you get on MTB. While I hear they work well, dynaplugs all the way for me because of how robust they are.

Glad the dart worked for you, just wanted to share the FYI. I've heard similar stories to mine from other people as well.

Thanks for the feedback.

For anyone who has done a ~2 week tour on a gravel bike (where you might not be near a bike store for several days), do you also carry a spare tire for extra security? Or does the boot work for the remainder of the trip? Thanks.

If a tour and not a race, I'd 100% stash a spare tire folded up in a frame bag. There are definitely tire failures that are not bootable.

Maybe somewhat dependent on terrain. I live in the Sierras where sharp granite and flint stuff means even hardcore mountain bike tires are not totally safe from catching the wrong sharp edge and just unzipping a sidewall for inches. If you're riding through loamy forest or graded dirt roads all the time, the risk is a lot lower.

I too will be going tubeless capable this year. DT Swiss 1400's...they will be training wheels and race wheels...wondering if there is a Tubeless Sealant that is considered the "best" to work with? You have Slime, Stan's, and other stuff I'd imagine. I won't be having the wheels in hands for another month but want to get "cracking on it" asap.

1) Just use tubes rather than going tubeles you think?
2) Other than a great sealant--anything else?

I'm thinking the closer the race season gets I may just convert to tubelss. Of concern is wearing out tires as trainers and having them dependable enough for racing on as well. I will be getting a disc for the races though.

I went tubeless a couple of weeks ago (have been on MTB tubeless 10 years, but was a devout road sceptic).

I ended up with MucOff as that's all I could get locally. I had intended to go tubed to start then swap but realised at last minute all my tubes were too short for new wheels and the extenders were back home (I was working away) so had to dive in fron the outset.

Things I'd do differently.
1) Get a syringe to add the sealant (actually, still need to pick one up, keep forgetting to add to order). Pouring in the side was fine on MTB, road tubeless way too tight to do that.
2) Bacon strips. Again, something I needed to do urgently. However after research I've just got the dynaplug carbon race which I'll put on my TT race bike, then get the road bar end plug for the roadie. I'm lazy and hate swapping tools between bikes for fear of forgetting.
3) Inflation to get the seal. I actually started with a CO2 and that didn't work, but then got the seal through some medium effort pumping with a normal floor pump. I do need to bite the bullet and get either a pump with the storage, or a separate air tank.

I typically use Stans. I typically mix the "Race" and the "traditional" sealant. I also have a stock of the traditional to squirt through the valve if I need to refresh the sealant in the tire.

I've also used Orange Seal and Caffe Latex. To be honest, I don't know which is "best". Stans seems to do well in the various magazine tests, but you're right in that there are too many to choose from. I feel like I flat so infrequently that it's impossible to know based on my own experience.

I think you're fine going straight to tubeless. There's a bit of a learning curve with filling tires, mounting tubeless beads, checking to see if there's still sealant, etc. might as well get a jump on it earlier than later. Many resources out there that tackle these topics better than I can in a Slowtwitch post.

The biggest thing I'll say is that when mounting tires, make sure the bead of the tire sits down in the channel of the rim as you work your way around. You do not want the bead of the tire up next to the rim wall; push it to the center. If you do this, 90% of the time you can roll the last bit of bead over the rim with your hands without using a tire lever. (I face the wheel / bead away from me, grip over the top with both hands catch the bead with the base of my fingers and using a twisting motion to pull it over the rim). If you have to use a tire lever be careful not to use it to pry the tire over the rim wall - you'll often puncture the tubeless tape which means you need to start the whole process over again.

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I talk a lot - Give it a listen: http://www.fasttalklabs.com/category/fast-talk
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The above poster has eschewed traditional employment and is currently undertaking the ill-conceived task of launching his own hardgoods company. Statements are not made on behalf of nor reflective of anything in any manner... unless they're good, then they count.
http://www.AGNCYINNOVATION.com