How to fix a puncture on a tubeless tyre

If you use a tubeless system, there’s a good chance you’ve had punctures before without even realising. That’s because the sealant closes the punctures before the tyre loses much air.

Every now and again, though, you’ll get a puncture that the tubeless sealant struggles to seal. Before jumping into full repair mode, stop at the side of the road and spin the wheel so that the puncture is at the bottom of the tyre. That way, the sealant will move to the area around the puncture which may be enough to seal the hole.

Tubeless plugs are a quick and easy way to repair tubeless punctures. However, they’re not always suitable. If a punctured tubeless tyre has unseated from the rim, installing a plug and then trying to inflate it with a hand pump will be difficult. In this scenario, it's usually best to move onto the next step which is installing an inner tube.

Insert the plug into the insertion tool. Make sure that the plug is in the middle of the tool.

Insert the tool into the puncture hole. Push the tool in, making sure some of the plug is still exposed out of the top of the puncture. Be careful not to pierce the rim tape on the inside of the wheel as this will compromise the tubeless system.

Use your fingers to hold the plug in place while you gently twist and remove the tool.

Re-inflate the tyre. All being well, the sealant and plug should be enough to seal the puncture.

The small part of the plug that's sticking out of the now sealed puncture hole will wear away as you ride. However, you can trim it slightly if you are worried that it may rub against your frame.

If you don't have a tubeless plug, or if it hasn't worked, resort to the tried-and-tested inner tube. Inserting an inner tube to a tubeless setup is slightly different to doing it in a standard clincher. Here's everything to be aware of.

Start by fully unseating the tyre from the rim. Most modern tubeless tyres are very good at staying seated even when they’ve deflated so you may need to use tyre levers.

Check the inside of the tyre by running your fingers around it, ensuring that there are no sharp objects stuck in it such as thorns or other bits of debris. If your tubeless system has done a good job, there’s a good chance you’ll have had punctures you’re unaware of and you don’t want any foreign objects immediately piercing the inner tube.

If it’s a large puncture, you should patch it from the inside before you put in an inner tube. Failure to do so will cause the inner tube to haemorrhage through the puncture and burst. There are a few ways to do this. The simplest is to keep a piece of old tyre in your saddle bag and place this on the inside of the tyre where the puncture is. You can also use an adhesive tyre boot.