Part way through a very long road ride the other day I heard the tick tick tick of something in my tire (32mm GP5000), it was a big industrial type staple almost dead center through the tire. When I pulled it out the smallest amount of the Stan's Race Sealant sprayed out and then amazingly stopped as it should. It barely lost any air and held up for the next 200km and the following 2 days in my garage. Until now I'd never really thought about the permanence of sealant. Do I need to do anything more, like patch the inside, or can I really just pretend it was never punctured at all?
It’s not wise to ride around on a punctured tire that has sealed, the purpose of sealant is to keep you from walking home. For a permanent/reliable repair you need to patch it. I personally like the Hutchinson tubeless repair kit.
That's what I wasn't sure about. It's funny though, I saw this one so I worried but I've taken off mountain bike tires had multiple cauliflowers inside that I never even knew about.
I have had plenty of punctures that have self sealed, and I have never done anything to the tire and didn't have any issues long term. As long as it stays sealed and doesn't leak, I leave it alone.
I have had some instances where a puncture starts to leak again (or I had to insert a plug), for those I wound up removing the tire and patching it on the inside
Yes, you can keep rolling. Especially for something that seals right away. Basically, 3 scenarios.
1. Cut or puncture that seals right away - you should be good with nothing else to do. 2. Cut or puncture that leaks a good bit of sealant - if you didn't plug on the spot, could try at home. Make sure you have enough sealant still in tire, and keep rolling. 3. Cut or puncture that won't seal - take off tire, clean, can try and patch if the rest of the tire is in good shape.
ljsmith wrote:It’s not wise to ride around on a punctured tire that has sealed, the purpose of sealant is to keep you from walking home. For a permanent/reliable repair you need to patch it. I personally like the Hutchinson tubeless repair kit.
I feel you need to add context. I've put thousands of miles on tires that have sealed simple, small and rather clean punctures. If it was a puncture that did not seal fast, a tear or was jagged I would do a repair or replacement.
Yep, will self seal. I use orange seal - and that pretty much coats the tire with a layer of dried latex anyway. With a small puncture like that, it shouldn't be a problem.
Thanks everyone. I've ridden on it twice more and all is well. Maybe it's my aging eyes but I can't even find where it was, I'll take that as sign that it's fine.
If it seals right away, you are good to go. If you can’t get a puncture to seal, I like using bacon strips to plug it. For the record, I live in the land of goat heads. Many times when I wash my bike I peel dried sealant off like a rubber glove. Probably go through 6 oz of Orange Seal per tire per year, around 2k miles of gravel riding per year. I have only plugged one puncture and I’ve never patched a tire. Maxis Rambler EXO if you are wondering what tire. On my second set of them, have tried others that didn’t last 200 miles.
I know I am late to the party but I got my first flat on tubeless yesterday. It was due to low sealant causing a leak at the bead. I refreshed and it appears good to go. I have probably 2500 miles of tubeless riding so far and I always ride dirty with no tools or spares. I walked two miles because of that yesterday but for all the riding I have done that isn't too bad.
I am late to this also---but for a small puncture like this with a thorn, staple, or other size object, I never patch the tire--the sealant does the job almost all the time. Anything larger gets baconstrip or stans dart. And, be sure you are not low on sealant. I top off sealant every 2-3 mo here in Az.
