Puncture

A pleasant ride down to Dumfries last month was interrupted by a rear wheel puncture. I carry a tubeless repair kit so got to work. I've fixed a puncture at the roadside before but it's a bit worrying when you're 65 miles from home and not in the AA (the Automobile Association rather than Alcoholics Anonymous)

The first step is to ream out the hole. This seems a bit brutal but must be done to get the plug in. The plug is ring-shaped and fits into an insertion tool. Put some glue on the plug and ram it in. Trim the excess and pump up the tyre with a CO₂ canister and an adapter. The tyre inflated and all seems well. After 10 miles I check the plug by pouring some raspberryade over it. I got home ok and the tyre was still fully inflated the next day.

So the message is - if you run tubeless tyres carry a repair kit. It can get you back on the road in about 10 minutes. But installing the plug is tricky so maybe practicing on an old tyre would be worthwhile.

 The hole wasn't hard to find

 The kit

 Ream out the hole

  The plug

 The plug installed looks a bit of a mess before it's trimmed

 Barr's Raspberryade - good for checking for leaks - not so good for drinking

The plug is only a temporary fix. The tyre was nearly worn out but I didn't have a spare handy and I wanted to use the bike in the following days so I decided to fit a patch plug.  

 The plug inside the tyre

 The patch plug

 The little bugger that caused the problem

 Patch plug installed