So whats the best method for repairing a tubeless tire after a puncture that Stans can't seal up? Like a pinch-flat for instance?
Tubeless tire repair
- Thread starter golgiaparatus
- Start date
Buy a new tire.
Oh, and........tubeless tires can't get "pinch flats"
Oh, and........tubeless tires can't get "pinch flats"
Last edited:
I usually get holes in my tires from rocks. Tried patching, only to end up throwing them away.
I've seen it happen.
I have a 50% success rate at repairing tubeless tires with punctures or sidewall cuts that won't seal. I cut a piece of sidewall from an old tire and glue over the inside of the cut. You gotta clean the area REALLY well, use sandpaper then alcohol. The I glue a piece of inner tube over the outside of the cut. The I cross my fingers.
Get thee to a farm and home type store and buy a tractor tire patch kit. Worked for me.
Oh yeah, meant to mention... I had a pinchflat last night. I tried several times to let stans seal up the hole while adding pressure with Co2. When I finally gave up and added a tube a huge chunk of solid latex was in the tire. It was about the size of a marble with, snowflake like arms coming off it in all directions. I assume it was from the Co2 freezing the liquid... has anyone else experienced this?
Call it whatever you want... you hit a rock and the tire get's pinched between the rim and a rock... Tube or no tube, in my book that's a pinch flat and Stan's sucks at sealing them.
BTW I have had 3 of them so far in the 3-4 months I have been running Stans at 30-35psi... (specialized Fast Trak S-Works, Continental Race King, Michelin Wild Race'r). That's over $100 in ruined race tires, not really happy about throwing away tires with perfectly good tread on them. Hence, this thread.
Last edited:
Is that a patch or a plug? I've had the plugs work great on a car tire... I actually have some of that crap at home... wonder if it would work here? Methinks an experiment is brewing.
Yeah I get those in all my tubeless wheels - no CO2 required. As the water evaporates out of the sealant, the latex and everything else in it gathers into those "Stan's boogers". I've seen 'em up to an inch and a half.
I've successfully used an old school tire tube patch kit on the inside of my nevegal UST's. My local autozone carries the thick black patches with the orange edge. After the obligatory sanding and cleaning, a dab of rubber cement, stick the patch, and clamp it down in a vice or one of those fancy schmancy ezclamps overnight.
My rear tire has 3 of those guys in it, my front has 2. Hasn't blown up yet.
Watch... just cuz I said that, they'll both pop on me on saturday's ride.
My rear tire has 3 of those guys in it, my front has 2. Hasn't blown up yet.
Watch... just cuz I said that, they'll both pop on me on saturday's ride.
Wow... mine was about an inch. Crazy part is that the Stans in that tire was 2 weeks old... maybe.
Tried that... no success... didn't use a clamp though. I'm going to try the plug and see how that works for me. Buying new tires every 3 weeks is pretty lame.I've successfully used an old school tire tube patch kit on the inside of my nevegal UST's. My local autozone carries the thick black patches with the orange edge. After the obligatory sanding and cleaning, a dab of rubber cement, stick the patch, and clamp it down in a vice or one of those fancy schmancy ezclamps overnight.
My rear tire has 3 of those guys in it, my front has 2. Hasn't blown up yet.
Watch... just cuz I said that, they'll both pop on me on saturday's ride.
Last edited:
It's a patch. These patches are thicker than the black ones with the orange edging. You could probably use plugs for MC tires also.
Bull$hit. I got a tubeless pinch flat in 2002. Pi$$ed me off to no end because people told me tubeless tires didn't pinch flat.
To me, ripping a hole in the tire isn't the same as a pinch flat. Sure, the flat may be caused by pinching the tire between the rim and a rock, but at least when that happens with a tube you're not out a $60 tire.Bull$hit. I got a tubeless pinch flat in 2002. Pi$$ed me off to no end because people told me tubeless tires didn't pinch flat.
At least a pinch flat with a tube means the tire is still fine. Pinch flat with tubeless means a giant hole in the tire.Then it's a pinch flat.
Dumba$$.
Sure, the cause may be the same, but the outcome is drastically different.
So in summary:
flat with tube = pinch flat
flat with tubeless = destroyed tire
Your conclusion is flawed. 'Cause the tire worked just fine with a tube in it. The tubeless pinch flat resulted in just a small "snakebite" type hole in the tubeless tire.
I argued with numerous people in 2002 about the semantics. They were wrong too.
.........so just run tubes from the get-go....
I have used superglue + more stans successfully. Car tire patches +rubber cement never worked that well for me. I'm wondering how well roughing up the surface, dabbing a bit of superglue in the hole, then covering around an inch about the area with an rtv sealant will do now.
Other things I have tried:
Liquid nails: Peels off too easily
Gorilla tape: Fell off
Gorilla glue: In combination with tire patches worked kinda
Shoe goo: Peeled off, but did better than liquid nails.
Other things I have tried:
Liquid nails: Peels off too easily
Gorilla tape: Fell off
Gorilla glue: In combination with tire patches worked kinda
Shoe goo: Peeled off, but did better than liquid nails.
No I use stans... my tires are not tubeless specific. I actually picked up some patches over lunch (along with some other goodies) and am going to try to patch the tire tonight. The only thing that worries me is that the stans will somehow detach the patch from the tire over time.Golgi... your tires are marked "tubeless" or UST right?
You could also try using this stuff as an adheseive instead of rubber cement.
We'll see. I have another tire that I'm going to try plugging the pinch flat hole with a sliver of inner tube and let the Stan's take up the slack. Should be an interesting experiment at least.
Pinch + flat = pinchflat... regardless of the survival of the tire.
more like pinch + annihilation = pinchannihilation
Crab + Joe = WTF OMG LOL HARBL HARBLMAO
That could be why the patch isn't working. Tubeless tires are a bit more reinforced than your regular tire.
Don't know if this will work for tubeless, but those fake credit card solicitations you get in the mail will not tear and make excellent side wall patches. Just stick it in place with duck tape. Other similar materials are a dollar bill folded a couple of times and old NORBA licenses.
You forgot PIIHB
Did the patch/vice method for starters last night. I'm going to put the tire in the corner of the garage for about a week with Stan's fully covering the patch. After that I'll mount it, air it up and leave it for another week. Trying to guage what the effect of the Stan's will be on the patch... doesnt seem to adhere to the tire quite as well as it would to a tube, so I'm reluctant to mount and ride it without a bit of torture testing 
BTW I'm sure everyone has seen that video where the stans tire is ridden though a bed of nails over and over again... the hole in my tire wasn't even as big as one of those nails. So wtf? What was different in that test than on my bike? I had just added sealant before my race on Sunday so I know there was enough in there. And I always hold the bottle upside down and shake it just as recommended.
BTW I'm sure everyone has seen that video where the stans tire is ridden though a bed of nails over and over again... the hole in my tire wasn't even as big as one of those nails. So wtf? What was different in that test than on my bike? I had just added sealant before my race on Sunday so I know there was enough in there. And I always hold the bottle upside down and shake it just as recommended.
They used a 26" wheeled bike.
several days of sitting submerged in stand and the patch looked pretty good, so last night I thought I'd mount it up and put it under some pressure.
Held for about 20 minutes until I squirted some water on the hole... bubbly bubbly. Patch method fail.
Now to try the plug method and see if it holds.
Held for about 20 minutes until I squirted some water on the hole... bubbly bubbly. Patch method fail.
Now to try the plug method and see if it holds.
Quit mowing down rocks using XC weight-weenie tires. Buy UST and quit bitching.
You're using race tires with rice paper thin sidewalls.
You either have to be really careful to hit rocks straight on (with the tread) or you need more robust tires.
Sidewall tears are the Achilles heel of tubeless setups.
Hole was not on the sidewall. Was in the tread from a pinch flat... regardless, that's not the point, point it that I'm testing different methods to repair a tubeless/stan's setup. The tube patch method has failed. One down, several more methods to go.
You're using race tires with rice paper thin sidewalls.
You either have to be really careful to hit rocks straight on (with the tread) or you need more robust tires.
Sidewall tears are the Achilles heel of tubeless setups.
I got nothing that can help you. I've never seen pinched a tire on the treads. How the hell are you doing that?
We have a LOT of rocks around here and sometimes to get my heart rate up I need to really hammer, if I hit a rock just wrong at that speed... psssssssssss...
Last edited:
I gotta think your only solution is to get a bigger tire then, and leave the race treads for race day use only.
I've been running more pressure. Standard for me was 35psi... up to 40+ now... that's a lot for a tubeless IMHO, especially for a 165lb guy.
I've only been on tubeless for about 3 months, so I'm still learning what works for me. 40+psi and michelin Wild racers seem to be a good combo. 700g tire, grippy, seal up very well... just need to be vigilant with checking my tire pressure before every ride.
Running more pressure and you lose the big benefit of tubeless though...
If I was you, I'd go with a more robust tire and run down at 25psi.
If I was you, I'd go with a more robust tire and run down at 25psi.
700g for a tubeless tire seems REALLY light.