Yesterday came home just to hear one of the most annoying sounds ever- a silent PSSSSSSS… out of rear tyre… Another day- another screw, isn’t it? As we are all (well, mostly) riding in London, where it looks like builders are preparing for winter all year around (just instead of salt they cover the tarmac with shiny sharp screws… Well, for better grip…), most of you must be using some kind of puncture repair kits… But which ones?
A simple, cheap tyre repair kit? (to be honest, until now I have been using that… Well yesterday was a second time… First one still holds after a year and a bit…)
At this point yes, I know, using these kind of repair kits is only for a short period till you get to garage and all, and that best option is to change a tyre straight away… But I work in central London, so I would have to through a set of tyres every couple weeks.
Not had much luck with the sticky string type. Don’t seem to have a long shelf life. Have seen the hex key for in action and seemed very impressive and easy to use.
I plugged my tyre with sticky string stuff a month ago. Quick easy and effective. Still holding at 42psi last week. Will check tyres on the way home when I fill up again.
Still have couple of sticky strips, but just to be on the safe side just bought that pocket tyre plugger… Kind of like the idea that the “mushroom” covers larger area in the inside of a tyre, which means adding pressure actually makes it tighter…
I used to carry a Dynaplug, but it didn’t seal any of the four punctures I tried it on.
I carry round a sticky-string kit now (which definitely tend to work), and I’ve one of those Stop and Go kits in my pannier which I’ve not yet had cause to use.
Big Red S - yeah, I think the issue with Dynaplug is that it only lets you put single string (while when you put the cheap string in, it bends in U shape, and you end up having it double…)… That’s what caught my attention at least… Well, this tyre still got a string (second one already…), but I think in next few weeks it is gonna be time for a new set of tyres! Goodbye metzellers!
Note, tyre repair kits can, and often do, damage the tyre even further. For the best chance of getting it professionally repaired in a garage, I leave the nail inside the tyre, checking the pressure and topping up, if necessary, periodically, until I slowly get to the mechanic (getting it towed by RAC/AAA/whatever to the garage is even better).
Using a repair kit should also not be considered a permanent fix. The puncture has to be inspected by a professional from the inside of the tyre and the fix applied (if the damage is not too great) from the inside. Of course, there is plenty of people who have had their repair kits last them for thousands of miles, and it is more likely that when it does fail it will simply start slowly deflating rather than catastrophically fail, but you should be aware of the risk.
+1 for Rema. Have used it circa 5 times now and it has got me and others out of the proverbial. However, having said that… I haven’t tried anything else.
I carried around the sticky string kit like the one in the first post for about a year. When I went to use it the string had perished and fell apart when pushed into the tyre. The Rema type work and are what the RAC guys use when I have seen them doing roadside puncture repair.
I carried around the sticky string kit like the one in the first post for about a year. When I went to use it the string had perished and fell apart when pushed into the tyre. The Rema type work and are what the RAC guys use when I have seen them doing roadside puncture repair.
Giuliano
Even the Rema stuff goes off and becomes hard. It is really something that needs to be renewed every couple of years.
