Put a brand new set of 40mm Maxxix Ramblers (60 tpi with silk shield) and I got a puncture on the rear at about mile 55 on them. Put in a plug and got home, but these are the NEW tires I am supposed to run the 222 mile route of Gray Duck Grit (Gravel Race in Southeastern Minnesota) on.
So do I just stick with them and leave the plug, or swap them out with a set of low mileage (200 miles) puncture free WTB Nanos I have on another set of wheels?
what’s your worry? that you got a puncture within 55 miles or running a plugged tire on a race?
Normally, the first is just bad luck and part of the game (but there are exceptions and bad batches of course). Running a plugged tire should not be an issue, if you don’t trust the plug, you can always stick a patch on it from the inside (did that once on a 8mm glass cut on a new MTB tire)
All of my tubeless tires have patches in them… even my road tires. It’s not a big deal.
I’d probably want a patch but I don’t think based on my road bike experiences of tubeless but doubt I’d have much concerns about a repaired tyre, especially on a lower pressure mtb tyre. The one hole that wouldn’t seal on my road bike and I patched with a worm and was good for another circa 30miles at speed. The centrifugal forces eventually caused the worm to get pulled out and subsequent repairs, as sealant diminished probably, held up for less and less time, so I gave up at 62miles and got a train. On another day I would have put a tube in but my hands were wrecked by chemotherapy so the train was an easier option.
The one other time I’ve used a worm was on my mates disc wheel. It wouldn’t hold at first when he insisted on 120psi in his tyres but when he accepted my recommendation of running 90psi or less it was a good repair for a sub 20min 10mile TT.
120 psi in a tubeless tire… ? really?
Which I’ll follow with “90 psi in a tubeless tire….really?”
I usually run around 85psi on my TT bike but I’m not too precious about topping up on the day so it can be lower (exactly by how much is anyones guess), should I be running lower again? I think I said 90psi to him as a more acceptable climb down from 120psi+
Edit: Silca says I should be running 92psi on the TT bike but I find it makes no discernible difference to me running them lower; 92psi is close to my frame capacity anyway (at 95psi the tyre rubs when loaded)
I got a double sidewall gash 0.5 miles into a 380 mile race. Too much for a plug and sealant. I tubed it and finished the race with no more punctures. Afterwards I binned the tire and put a new one on.
If you don’t have any issues with it sealing, I’d run it. If it can’t go more than a day or two without going flat, then I’d replace it.
If the race is important to you and you’re trying to reduce variables, I’d replace it.
The plug should hold, but it’s up to you whether you want to chance it. Also, if you got a defective tire, it’s likely to happen again - but there is now way to know. This happened to me with a Schwalbe g-one tire … punctured 3 times in the first 100 miles.
Sometimes you get a lemon,
Thanks for talking me down team TR. Plug held strong overnight and since it’s a dyna-plug it’s unlikely (but not impossible) for it to fall out at this point. I’ll top up the sealant and keep an eye on it.
Oh and yeah 90 psi on TL? yikes.
For a Road TT Tyre that according to Silca’s calculator is actually marginally a little low and I’m relatively light (I actually run 85psi on the TT bike); on the gravel bike though I’m running sub 25psi. My mate trying to put 120psi in was crazy though, he definitely isn’t that much heavier than me. Its all relative. My point though is the tyre worms can take high pressures so you should be fine with lower pressure off road tyres. Touch wood I’ve no experience of a Worm on a off road tyre.