First time running tubeless during a full IM race and I’m wondering what people are doing in case of a flat. Do you do a messy tube insert or do you try to use plugs? Your help would be greatly appreciated. TIA
I have a dynaplug pill. Had great success with it, always worth a try at least before putting a tube in.
Putting a tube in a tubeless tire is nowhere near as bad as everyone makes it out to be IMO. Yes, there is a little mess but realistically it’s pretty much all rubbed off a few miles later anyway. One of those things where you do it and move on.
i’ve had great experiences with the Genuine Innovation bacon strips.
I would pour in some brand new sealant about a week out from your IM. That way if your sealant was dry or if the materials in the sealant clumped up, you’ll have new liquid and solids to help stop a leak quickly.
I’d use something like Stan’s Race Day, Silca, or regular orange seal (not the orange seal endurance, normal stan’s, or other thin sealants that are designed to last a really long time. They typically don’t seem to self-seal punctures as well as fresh Stan’s Race Day or Silca.
Regular orange seal (again, not the “endurance” orange seal) has been the best balance of long lasting and effective at sealing punctures.
Sealant a week before the race, just refill it.
you get a flat in the race? well i dont think a new tube would fix it because it means you have quite a cut on the tire which would probably flat the tube too.
short answer: i go home
If you are running tubeless on race day you want to get yourself a dynaplug kit. The plug ends are “barbed”, they have a small machined head that prevents road tire pressure from pushing the plug back out. I’ve had it where a regular bacon strip won’t stay in place once I air a flat back up. The Dynaplug prevents this from happening.
http://www.dynaplug.com/carbonracer.html
Good quality super glue. 😬 Really light, sticks in seconds, sealant fills the smaller gaps.
If you’re brand spankin new to tubeless (seemingly) and you do get a puncture
find it fast (and if you have a dynaplug race pill thing, determine what size plug you need)rotate it to the bottom so that the sealant might take hold (if it’s small, you may be ok with just the sealant) while you grab your plug and co2 Get the plug ready - remove the end caprotate the tire so you can access the puncture and jam the plug in the hole then rotate it back to the bottom so the sealant can do it’s thing - I’ve occasionally used more than one plug in a tire (I’ve used 3 as I typically carry 2 race plug things - marathon mtb stuff)hopefully there’s still air in the tire, if so don’t move the wheel until the sealant stops spraying out but if it continues, you “may” need to put another plug inreinflate the tire and get back to kicking ass.