TUBELESS TIRE REPAIR TOOL: HOW-TO

You’ve got mountains to conquer. Gravel to kick up. Sites to see. You don’t have time to screw around changing bike tires. Tubeless tires are becoming more and more common for all styles of bikes – mountain, gravel, road, and more.  Whether you’ve been thinking about switching to tubeless or are a loyal tubeless fan, chances are you’ve started down the rabbit trail of how they actually work. 

The genius thing about tubeless tires is two-fold. They seal small punctures instantly, so you’re not stuck pulling over and wasting time changing tires. This is only possible because of the tubeless tire sealant that is injected into them. 

Here’s the thing. As practical, innovative, and life-changing tubeless is, there’s always going to be a time when your tubeless tire needs a repair because a hole is too big to seal itself.

Longtime tubeless fans know the challenge that comes with repairing tubeless tires. Saying it’s messy is a massive understatement. But there’s good news! Our tubeless sealant inject and tubeless tire repair kit make repairing and filling these tires stupid simple and mess free. 

Getting back on the trail after a flat doesn’t have to be a time suck. We’ll show you how you can hit the trail and quickly repair your tubeless tire in just a few steps. One quick thing to note, our tool performs best with higher volume and lower pressures like in gravel and mountain bike applications, but can also be used for road tubeless applications.

STEP 1 – OH NO! YOU GOT A FLAT!

This is the part of riding that every biker dreads. If you haven’t gotten a flat yet, trust us, you will. Pull over to a safe spot and take a second (or two or three) to find the puncture.

STEP 2 – REAM AND CLEAN THE PUNCTURE

The tubeless tire repair tool is basically two tools in one. The reamer side is perfect to use if you need to clean out or open up a small puncture. 

Unthread the cap to reveal the reamer tool.  Note that each cap of the tool contains

4 Tubeless Bacon Strips inside (these are the plugs that will fill the hole in your tire).

Pinch the tire with one hand on either side of the puncture, and insert the ream tool.

Pull it out, and clear any large debris from the area. Next, replace the cap of the

reamer tool.

STEP 3 – PLUG AND REPAIR THE PUNCTURE

This is a crucial step in the process. Do your best to be as exact as you can to follow directions and guarantee the job is done as thoroughly as possible. This helps to ensure you have a quality job and can rest confident your repair will last through the rest of your ride. No one wants to have to handle their bike with kid gloves after repairing their tire.

Next, unthread the cap to reveal the tire fork tool.

Remove one tubeless bacon strip from the plastic packaging and thread it through

the fork tool. Only thread it in halfway, leaving equal lengths of bacon strip on either side of the tool. Note that for large punctures, you may twist two or three bacon strips together, to create a larger plug.

Pinch the tire with one hand on either side of the puncture. Insert the fork tool with bacon strip(s), making sure to leave at least 1cm of plug sticking out of the tire.

Carefully remove the tool, leaving the bacon strips behind in the tire. Next, simply inflate your tire as you normally would, with a CO2 cartridge or mini pump. Note that you may need to spin the wheel immediately after inflation to help distribute the tubeless sealant inside the tire – which may need to assist in making the final seal around the bacon strip plug.

Bam! You’re done. Plugging your tire is super simple and faster than replacing an inner tool (we’ve timed it). Our team has many riders who use tubeless tires and the thing that we all agree on time and time again is how absolutely life changing using tubeless is.

Give it a try, stock up on the right tools, and kick up some dirt. Oh, and then be sure to enter our next #KOMTakedown contest on Facebook or Instagram.