Hi all. I got my first flat on my gravel bike and am a bit confused. My ex would do all the bike maintenance (I took it for granted) so now I’m trying to learn the tricks of the trade.
I got a flat while biking last week and went to go replace the tube. I have a patch kit and spare tubes that my ex got for me. I found after removing the tire that it’s tubeless. So why would I carry extra tubes for a tubeless tire, and how should I go about figuring out why I got the flat?
Sorry for being so ignorant, I’m trying to learn and my local bike shop is closed today. Thanks for any help in advance!
by Zebsnotdeadbaby
4 Comments
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Sometimes the holes are more of slices, and can’t be repaired just by the sealant and plugs. It’s basically an emergency situation where you need to throw a tube on before you can buy a new tire and make it tubeless again.
A flat gets caused by alot of factors, wear and tear, tyre pressure and ofcourse factors of the terrain you are riding on. Sometimes you are just lucky/unlucky.
To answer your question, the fastest way to fix a leaking tubeless tyre is to plug it. When this doesnt work you always have the possibility to remove the tubeless valves and just insert a tube in the tyre.
Before doing this just make sure you dont have anything sharp sticking inside the tyre else you’ll have a flat tyre very fast again.
edit: I always carry a plug set and inner tube with me for longer rides. Got stranded once 8 km’s away from my car, never again.
Cool bike.
If you don’t have tubes in your tire, you should have sealant. Sealant should act as a coagulant (makes leaks stop) when you get a puncture. If you want to patch it, you might want to google that further. I’ve never patched a tubeless tire before. I have refilled sealant A LOT
Why didn’t the sealant stop it from leaking air? It could be a few things. You could be low on sealant. The puncture could have been too large for sealant to work. It could be both of those, too.
Why carry a tube for tubeless wheels? I do not personally carry a tube for my tubeless wheels but I know folks who do. I think if you’re doing crazy distance and have zero chance for rescue/pick-up, it could be smart. In a tubeless failure, tubes can be inserted and inflated in case a puncture was too large to seal correctly. You’d need tire levers and a pump in that scenario.