So my ham-footed son clattered his nice new back tyre off a sharp rock yesterday and managed to put two holes in the tyre:
The green one eventually sealed with fluid, but the red one is much more problematic. It's sat just above the bead (in fact, you can't see it without rolling the tyre back a bit), but the moment you stick more than 10psi in, it starts to leak again. It's had a good slosh around with Stans and indeed the wheel had their "race" fluid in it at the time, but it wouldn't touch this one despite it being little more than a pinprick.
My guess is that (for tubeless anyway) the tyre is probably done, but I'd be interested to know if anyone has had any experience of getting it back up and running before I suck it up and either replace or stick a tube in.
Just stick a (small) anchovy in or a dynaplug.
Or you can do a normal inner tube patch on the inside if you want to make more work for yourself.
Just bang a mushroom plug in it from the inside.
I've repaired a flimsy forekaster with a hole in the same place and it's been absolutely fine. Just needed one repair plug/anchovy or whatever they're called.
My e-bike has a repair just inside the bead that has lasted for the last few months.
I hit a rock and got a snakebite similar to the above. Two big holes; neither would seal with Stan's sealant. I popped a couple of strings in (bacon strips, dog turds, etc) and carried on. Thought the bead one would fail but it's been fine.
Maxxis Disector tyre. The one above might not repair so well with its thinner sidewalls?
Stick an anchovy in. I've got three in exactly the same sort of spot.
And actually, if you think about it, it's far and away the most likely place for pinch punctures
Thanks all - you give me hope. I'll have a go later.
Yup, plug it and give the plug a wiggle to work it in and help it adhere.
If it's an awkward one it maybe a good idea to pump the tyre up and leave it lent up at an angle to let the sealant pool around the hole and get a decent seal after it's been plugged.
Just been rumaging in the workshop and it looks like the only plug applicator I have is quite a large one as normally anything smaller self-seals.
Can anyone recommend a smaller one that would be more appropriate for a pin-prick type hole like this?
There was another thread about tubeless tools, so I've plonked for a Dynaplug tool on the basis of a few people saying that they'd recovered pinch flats on the bead without problem. Good addition for the toolbag anyway, so worth the relatively stiff price. See how it goes...
completely fixable... my 2 ride old bonty XR3 had exactly the same injury... anchovies in at the trailside, and then tyre off adn mushroom fix when home. I had to cut the mushroom a bit as it was so close to teh edge, but it's holding air fine!
DrP
Where is the best place to buy cheap mushroom plugs?
I've got by fine applying normal puncture patches on the inside of the damaged tyre and then a wee blob of 'flexible' super glue from the outside of the hole, just as insurance. The mushroom plugs look good though.
i think i got mine off amazon...
DrP
As above mushroom plug will sort it
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Bought ours from ebay many years ago and still have some left
Personally, I'd only resort to a mushroom plug if a tubeless insert didn't work.
Certainly a more comprehensive repair, but more work, requiring removal of the tyre, cleaning and drying sealant from the area, prep work on the carcass, rubber cement, curing time and refitting.
Most of my tubeless plugs get installed straight away with the tyre still on the rim, and are good for the life of the tyre, even down near the bead.
Thanks all. Stuck a dynaplug in it and it's sealed ok (albeit after a few minutes of spitting fluid out). Will send the boy out on it later in the week, but looking good.
Might get some mushroom plugs in. Any specific types needed? Do they do them specifically for bikes, or are these motorbike ones repurposes?
So I bought some mushroom plugs years ago and never worked out how to use them - what do you do with the bit of wire? Do you clean the tyre and glue them on? can you use them in some way without removing the tyre?
Dynaplug I found useless - a Lake District pinch used all I had of them before resorting to anchovies which solved it.
can you use them in some way without removing the tyre?
Nope, it's a tyres off job: clean, rough up and apply adhesive to the inside, then poke the wire through, press the patch down, then trim it.
Dynaplug I found useless
Me too for down by the rim/bead, but for the tread of a tyre I love 'em.
so whats the point of the wire bit? why are they not just something you push on from the inside?
It's for ease of pushing through the tyre from the inside and then pulling on with pliers from the outside to ensure it's pulled as tight as possible to get a good seal. Then clip it off just above the tyre
Thanks. found my mushrooms yesterday while looking for rim tape. Look a bit large, but I've got a tyre with a hole in the bead I can try one on. good timing for this thread.
I've had mixed success at anchovy repairing these. The one that worked had to be periodically redone, as the rim eventually wore through the anchovies I'd jammed in. Was good enough that the tyre saw out it's usable life though.
My 'near the bead' repair tyre needs topping up before each ride (even if it's next day)
I guess we'll see what happens, but it's been a few days and it's still pretty well inflated, so we'll see. It's not what you would call pretty though!
It doesnt need to be that long. Trim it down.
Just snip the end off flush, it's not needed now as it should be glued in place
Yeah, I've since done this - this was taken straight after it was installed.
How short can I go? Should I leave a few mm sticking out?
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Mines trimmed down to about 1mm on the sidewall. On the tread usually 2mm. That's using mushroom plugs. I wouldn't go that short if I'd plugged from the outside with a Dynaplug
Dynaplug I found useless – a Lake District pinch used all I had of them before resorting to anchovies which solved it.
I suspect it's very much down to the sixe of the hole.
I used 3 dyna plugs recently in holes next to / under the bead. All have held perfectly.
So far!
Having said that, I've also had success with standard anchovie things but I find the dynaplug easier in every way. YMMV.
I also tend to add a bit of glue to the outside just for good measure. I'd be tempted to do as Tracey says and leave about 1mm
Dynaplug I found useless – a Lake District pinch used all I had of them before resorting to anchovies which solved it.
Did you have the 'mega plugs' on your Dynaplug tool? they're usually what you want for larger splits and splits, most of their MTB-orientated tools have them.
Mushroom plugs are great, proper 100% permanent repair for actual holes and tears... but for near the bead I just use normal innertube patches- the glue type, not the self-sticking type, just clean up the inside of tubeless goop and splat it on, wait for it to properly cure then refit. It works great but the big advantage is, it's totally repeatable/reversable, if it does fail, which it almost never does you can always try a plug.
(Mushrooms and anchovies both need a decent sized hole to actually go through, whereas bead holes tend to be smaller straight cuts rather than open holes- so you end up either making them bigger, or squeezing what's basically a round plug through a slit and essentially forcing it open in order to fix it. So they can work great but there's more luck involved and there's a chance you knacker it completely)
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not over keen on 'luck' being a factor in my puncture repairs.
Sometimes just following the tubeless process isn't quite enough and a modicum of thought to adjust the methodology to ensure success is required.
Things like 'hmm, that plug went in too easily. I'll put a second one next to it (or a bigger one) to make sure its tight enough'
This applies to longitudinal splits at the bead as much as smaller or bigger holes elsewhere on the carcass.
