Hi all, I am running into some issues with my tubeless tires on my roadbike (Schwalbe Pro One 700x25c). They have only about 2-2.5k km on them and wear indicators show plenty of life but some cuts I cannot really fix.
Some weeks ago I had a 4mm cut which Salamis could only temporarily fix (they just popped out after 20-40km) so I took it off the wheel, cleaned everything out and applied a tube-patch with vulcanic paste from the inside. This worked for about 200km when earlier this week I had another cut, fixed it with a salami, rode 50k and observed the tire pressure the days after. Pressure remained well so I went out for another ride yesterday and had the messiest experience ever. Every 10-20km the salami flew out, spraying sealant everywhere. I fixed it up 5 times, sometimes with 2 salamis (small+medium) and got everytime between 2km and 30km until eventually taking the bus.
After taking the wheel apart afterwards I discovered that it was the same cut from some weeks ago which was patched from the inside but also the patch is cut now, pictures attached.
Some notes/questions:
- I believe I did one major mistake which was not cutting off the salami so it sticket out to the extent that I could feel a slight bump when riding over it. I believe this might be partially the reason I burned through so many yesterday. Will carry a razorblade going forward and try to shave it off in line with the tire surface (because any excess doesnt help sealing anything, right?)
- How the hell did I get the cut right where the patch was? I cant tell how big the cut was initially because I then „punctured“ it with the tubeless tool 6 times to get the salami in but still it definitely started there. Will a cut always remain a weakpoint because the opening will collect grit/sand and the patch is less prone compared to the tire?
- Are there any ways to further protect these locations? Ive read about applying superglue or vulcanic paste also to the outside of the tire, any opinions on that? Could it also help to carry some on my rides and applying it to the spot after the salami is cut?
- How to proceed with my tire now? The patch has quite bonded with the tire outside the cut so I believe I wont get it off easily to replace. Patching on top of the patch sounds wrong as well. I have put on another tire for now (GP5000str, knocking on wood theyre worth the price and dont cut as easily in the first place) but would still like to repair these and maybe put them on again in the future.
I did quite some googling but most posts/videos focus on the salami part only and not so much about permanent repair or using glue/volcanic so Id be happy to hear some thoughts.
Cheers
by stoevi
3 Comments
It looks like you used a patch for an inner tube. There are tubeless specific repair kits.
Try permanent tubeless plugs, I used Minicombi A3 from Rema Tip Top on my tire when I had very visible hole, similar to what you have on you picture. there are numerous sizes but for bicycle tires I think 3mm one is the best as isn’t to big. You will need vulcanising cement for that.
Also Lezyne makes bike specific permanent plugs but I wasn’t been able to buy one when I needed it and turns out car ones work as well.
Last week I had the same issue with my Continental Terra Speed tire.
I romeved an old patch from that place and patched it with Hutchinson “Rep’Air Tubeless Road” patch and additionally on top of that I put another much wider patch that I had (common big no-name patch I guess for cars).
So far so good, but I havent rode on that bike more than a 60 km since then.