Cycling UK Forum

As per title really. I’ve been using tubeless on the Bianchi since I bought it. They’ve been pretty good, I’ve only needed to worm them once. However, today I found the limits of them. My rear tyre sudddenly developed a show stopping issue. Essentially the tyre developed lots of holes around the entire circumference, at the edge of the tread ( it looked like it had perished basically). I had no tube to put in it, and ( unsurprisingly) none of the guys who stopped to try and help had a tube with an 80mm valve. So that was a three mile walk, in cycling shoes, with cleats, to get to the nearest train station then . Fortunately, I’ve been doing this sort of ride for many years, and I deliberately route them so as that I’m never more than a 45 minute ( or there about ) walk, from a train station, or somewhere I can call in a spousal evacuation, should I encounter a show stopper like this. Fortunately I have a new tubeless tyre and sealant at my place, so it’s easily sorted.

They used to fix punctures at the roadside with a spare tube back in the day!!!!!How quaint.They would even venture into areas with no train links at all!!!!!Some of them carried proper pumps!!!!Zut alors,formidable.

Some were a bit more cautious and carried a spare inner tube or possibly two. Ultra cautious was to also have a folding tyre. I've done all three depending on the ride. A 600k audax was definitely ultra cautious

cyclop wrote: ↑13 Feb 2022, 8:09am They used to fix punctures at the roadside with a spare tube back in the day!

Or even mend the tube.

Grandad wrote: ↑13 Feb 2022, 10:27am Some were a bit more cautious and carried a spare inner tube or possibly two. Ultra cautious was to also have a folding tyre. I've done all three depending on the ride. A 600k audax was definitely ultra cautious

I had to use my spare folding tyre once, after running over something that put a cut of about 5 cm in one tyre and 4 cm in the other (I didn't go back to see what the culprit was).
The spare tyre went on front wheel, the back wheel had a section cut out of the worst tyre as a boot, two spare tubes, and a 100 mile ride back home.

(The incident was about a mile short of Nice airport, the ride home was from Heathrow, through the night, after a late arrival at about 10 p.m. Saturday evening)

Ultra cautious plus

How old was the tyre?! Touch-wood I've had no issues with mine (Panaracer Gravelking SK's on the OEM Charge Plug 5 wheel), but it's also a reasonable concern being caught out by it.

I put a 4 inch gash in a Continental tyre while riding thru a very rural part of Italy a few years back. I think it was a sharp rock I hit. Anyway I had a spare folder, but it was incredibly tight on the rim. Two and a half hours later with the help of a local garage and my truly appalling Italian I managed to get back on the road.

And the motto is: Always test your spares,

The most likely time to need a spare innertube is right after you have used your first spare innertube. This can be due to: -
There still being part of the culprit lurking in the deep recesses of the tyre,
The tube being perished around the valve due to un-use,
Nipping the tube when getting the tyre on
Or, the road being contaminated with sharp bits for sometime after the initial puncture.

So its always best to have a spare spare. Also, tubes can disappear when you meet that fellow cyclist who never thought he'd need a tube because bla bla ...

I've also had a double blow out (in the middle of the Highlands no less) when running straight over a sharp rock I didn't notice till too late. Took out both tubes. Luckily I was with a few others and we had 9 tubes between us...

Sounds as if the tyre was wrecked, so an inner tube may not have been much help.

David2504 wrote: ↑2 Mar 2022, 5:33pm Sounds as if the tyre was wrecked, so an inner tube may not have been much help.

That’s about it. When I gave the tyre a proper post mortem, it looked as though the sealant had eaten through the butyl layer, and the carcass of the tyre. It was essentially perished from the inside out. These were proper tubeless tyres as well. It’s something I may have to bear in mind in future. This bike doesn’t get a lot of use during winter, and I guess the pooled sealant in the tyre was the issue, as it doesn’t get distributed evenly during long periods of inactivity. The replacement tyre has been good as gold so far.

The front tyre failed exactly how the rear did, on a 100Km bank holiday Monday ride. Fortunately I had a tube with me this time.
It’s the exact same failure, the tyre had perished around the circumference, from the inside. It’s almost exactly 2 years since I installed them as tubeless, so I guess I can’t argue too much.

Was putting a tube in a messy job?

Grandad wrote: ↑20 Apr 2022, 2:14pm Was putting a tube in a messy job?

Yes, initially, but once I’d got the sealant out, and wiped my hands, it wasn’t so bad.