kingston 

If there's a better place to post this question let me know, but what's the best plug for road tubeless? I was on a brevet last weekend with a guy running 25mm road tubeless. He got a puncture that we eventually fixed with a stans dart, but we had a heckuva time getting it in there, broke the first one trying. I could fit a 4mm allen in the puncture, so the hole seemed big enough, but getting that dart in there was definitely a two man job. He never would have gotten it in there if he was by himself.

WhyFi

Stan's Darts seem big and more MTB focused, to me - I'm not surprised that they were tough to jam in.

A lot of people swear by the brass-tipped Dynaplugs; I've never used them myself, but I intend to pick some up this year.

I've only used the typical "bacon strips", but those might not want to stay put on a 25mm, assuming high-ish pressure. What I've done with bacon strips that worm out, because of the combination of puncture size and pressure, is to tie the strip in a knot and shove it in so that the knot is inside the carcass, helping to hold it in place. It can take a little elbow grease but, the only two times that I've had to do this, each lasted 2k+ miles/the remaining life of the tire.

PeteHski

Dyanplugs are excellent. They are available with a few different tip profiles too. But the standard conical ones work well and would easily plug a 4 mm hole. Any hole too small to push a Dynaplug through easily would self-seal with sealant anyway. That's been my personal experience anyway.

Miles2go

Most of the reviews I've seen on Stans Darts mirror this experience, or turn out worse. I too carry Dynaplugs, though I haven't had to use one in the two years I've been riding with them. If I stop bringing them on rides, I'll no doubt end up needing them...so I carry the lightest racer version.

kingston 

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like dynaplug is the way to go. It was a rainy spring 200k with a lot of crap on the road so we had five flats across seven riders. I always run tubes on brevets, but I may throw a dynaplug in my bag in case I'm riding with someone who hasn't learned how to plug their tire yet.

WhyFi

Mighty nice of ya! If you do need to help someone out, make a point of having someone get a thumb on the puncture ASAP to hold in as much air as possible - it's easier to punch in a plug when there's pressure in the tire and it won't be as much work, if any, to top it off.

kingston 

Purely selfish motivation. Another 14g in my rando toolbag is nothing, and I'm the one who'll get stuck helping the new guy put a tube in a slimy tire. Eventually I'll get around to setting up a tubeless wheelset of my own so I'll need the plugs for myself anyway.

Miles2go

Liking the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR tires, but I can tell you after a few hundred miles of A group style/speed riding, that they don't stay planted at the back, as well as the 5000TL did, during really hard braking. I rarely ever locked the back tire up with the Conti 5000TL, or Michelin Power (tubes) before going tubeless. It's not a deal breaker, but does have a lower threshold in that situation than what I came over to them from.

WhyFi

Are you locking up the rear because they're being unweighted by the front braking? In the dry, the P-Zero Race are one of the grippiest tires I've ridden.

Sy Reene

Pirelli vs Conti -- same nominal size or same inflated size?

Miles2go

Same inflated size on my WTO 45s.

Miles2go

Wouldn't have posted this if it wasn't apples to apples. I went through 4 sets of 5000TLs on the same bike, same size tire, same pressures, same riding style and same routes. You've put a lot of time in riding the 5000TL?
Also, weather here in Tucson pretty consistently dry.
I still have plenty of confidence in the P Zero Race TLR, and descended 7,000 feet (ave 33.8/max 42.8), on them yesterday....but I now take more care braking the rear wheel compared to all the miles I put before with the Contis.

WhyFi

Apples-to-apple doesn't necessarily explain the "why?" Greater front traction could unload the rear which would make it more prone to breaking loose, which is why I was looking for clarification.

Nope, none - they're not compatible with my wheels current wheels, they have a rep for being a pain in the ass to mount and I found that the GP4kSII was way overhyped, so I was never terribly interested in them in the first place.

KJ43

Yup. I like the idea of the Dart, but in practice I haven't found it to really...work. The one time I got a fairly large puncture on my road tire I figured the dart would be perfect. I tried twice and both times the plug material broke off outside the tire even after reaming the hole. I tried pushing the plug material in with the barb from another tubeless patch kit I had but since the plug is so delicate it just kept tearing and I eventually just used regular bacon strips on that ride.

I got a hole in my tire today and I used a normal conical dynaplug which worked perfectly and got me home.

NoWhammies

Just mounted a 28mm Michelin Power Road TLR on my rear wheel yesterday. Tyre mounted easier than I thought it would after reading some of the posts here on the forum. Still, I did grunt and groan a few times before finally getting the bead of the tyre onto the rim. The tyre seated 80% or so with a blast of air from the air canister attached to my pump. The remaining 20% of the tyre had to be seated with a combination of a) Orange Seal and b) pumping up the tyre with the floor pump.

I only managed a 30k ride (thank you rain showers!) but over first impressions are the tyre seemed nice. If the weather cooperates I plan on getting in a longer ride this week.

WhyFi

I just caught wind of Michelin's new Power Cup TLRs, which are supposed to be their fastest tires (and possibly the fastest on the market). The Power Road TLRs are a great tire, so this has my interest piqued. Quick - someone buy them and report back!

robbyville

im about to pull the trigger on something and am willing to give them a try! Have you seen them anywhere?

WhyFi

I only looked briefly the other day, and saw them available at BikeInn - they were listed at an aggressive price and I've never heard of/done business with that site, so I had intended to look in to the site's legitimacy.

robbyville

yeah not finding them anywhere other than that Bikeinn place with way to many spelling or grammatical errors to make them even mildly trustable lol.

My friend who owns local LBE mentioned that there’s a new Vitoria (not the really poor lasting corsa) coming out that shows promise

WhyFi

Very cool - they're the last major tire player without a road offering that's ETRTO hookless compliant, so they're due (and I'm interested ).

phrantic09

I’ve bought stuff there, couple of weeks to get your stuff stateside but good deals

Trsnrtr

I have used Schwalbe Pro ones the most the last few years and been happy. Probably won't switch in the near future.

I just installed a 700-28 Pro One TLE on a Campy Bora WTO rim with bare hands and seated it with a floor pump. Didn't even have to use a compressor. After the tire "rests' for awhile, I'll put the sealant in.

TL tires have come a long way since my first attempts 5-6 years ago.

PeteHski

I have to say I am very impressed with the latest Conti GP5000s TR. They came with my new Canyon in 30 mm width on DT Swiss carbon wheels (22 mm internal width). They seat and inflate very easily compared to the Pirellis I've been running on my other bike. Not sure if that is due to the tyre or rims or both. But these are the first road tubeless tyres I have been able to inflate first time with a regular track pump. I've got just over 1000 km on them so far, with no signs of cuts or wear despite some really rough roads. Grip and comfort are excellent too. Unless something bad happens I think these will be my default choice from now on - at least on this bike. I found the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR too fragile for my local use, but I still like the bombproof Cinturato Velos for winter training.

WhyFi

I would guess that it's the rims - the Pirelli (well, the P-Zero Race TLR, at least) should have the same bead specs as the Conti S-TR. All of the tires of the same spec, that I've tried, have mounted mounted with only a floor pump.

Also, *knock on wood* my P-Zeros probably have ~1800 miles or so on them and they've been trouble-free. This is through the worst part of the year, as far as debris is concerned, too.

PeteHski

Yeah I agree totally about the rims. My DT Swiss rims are the latest and greatest, clearly designed around wider tubeless tyres. My other Giant rims are much narrower (17 vs 22 mm internal) and older design. I noticed Giant have updated these rims in the last year and made them wider.