A few weeks ago I clipped a slightly smaller than golf ball sized rock on the road with my GP5000TL. As I didn’t hit it head on, it contacted the sidewall before shooting off. I ended up with a small pinhole leak in the sidewall which at the time sealed up with sealant and I was able to continuing riding.
I keep finding though after every few rides it continues to leak air.
The hole is the size of a brad nail diameter, but its stubborn and even after adding some more sealant to the tire its still not sealing properly.
What are the best practices here? The tire is pretty new (it was a week old when this happened) so I’m not really wanting to toss it, but will if needed. Can this be booted, if so what is the best way to do it?
Yeah, stick a patch inside - a tube patch should do, even though there are also special tubeless patches. Be warned, it takes a while to stick! I had to leave mine overnight, before that I could just peel it off easily again.
I had a similar issue with a MTB tire. I patched it. It held for a couple of weeks then started leaking air again. It’s best to just replace the tire - that way you won’t have to deal with a potential failure of your patch.
I’ve done this multiple times with standard tube patches, using the normal rubber cement that comes with them. Like someone mentioned above, it does take a while for the cement to dry enough to hold the patch in place. I think since the inside of the tire is more casing than rubber, you need the orange softer rubber of the patch to melt and sort of ‘weld’ into the casing. I’ve had really good results by using one of my wood working clamps to put a fair bit of pressure on the patch, with a lot of cement, and leaving it overnight. I’ve been able to repair too-large-to-seal nail punctures, reasonably sized glass slices, and even a nasty pinch flat on a gravel tire, all using this method.
I’m curious why so many people are suggesting to patch this, it sounds tiny and something a worm/plug would deal with really easily(?) without needing to unseat the tyre.
I’ve never had to use my Dynaplugs in anger but assume permanent. They specifically state…
1. Is the Dynaplug® repair permanent?
The plug material makes a permanent repair when one tire repair plug is used and the puncture is made by an object no larger than a 16d (16 penny) common nail.
I’ve used that tube patch solution too, but I’m not sure if it does much. It could just be that the latex thats still on the tyre dries overnight. However it works, it keeps the patch in place just fine. I’ve had one patch in a cx tyre for two years now, I even raced a very rought race on it (unintentionally, I mixed the tyres up).