Test: Can the Rema Tip Top set permanently repair tubeless tires?
Flatless, as Schwalbe calls it, tubeless tires are of course not flat-less either. "Self-sealing" is more appropriate, because this is ensured by the breakdown milk, which circulates inside and, in the case of many defects, ensures that only a little air escapes and the cyclist can continue his journey without interruption.
However, the following can happen, especially with light tires with little or no additional puncture protection under the tread: If you use the air pump to bring the tire back to operating pressure, the latex stopper is pushed out and the tire hisses happily until the sealing liquid has plugged the hole again. Next attempt: Almost 4 bar is still possible, but the next pump stroke reopens the wound.
And now? You don't want to just throw away a 60-euro tire, and driving it with a tube from now on isn't a solution either: on the one hand, mounting is difficult, on the other hand the smooth-running advantage is gone, and the puncture protection is also missing Damage now equal to zero.
Rema Tip Top has the solution ready: "Repair-Set Tubeless & Tubetyres" is what the company with the well-known green boxes call their remedy for tubeless tires. The small package costs around six euros; Included are three square patches with a side length of 3,3 cm, rough sandpaper, a tube of special cement and another with mounting liquid, which of course you don't really need.
Anyone who has ever repaired a tube should know how it works: The damaged area is cleaned and roughened, making sure that no carcass threads are damaged. Then the blue special cement is applied and after about ten minutes the patch can be applied. Please use as much pressure as possible so that the cross-linking of the molecules, known as “cold vulcanization”, is successful – the tire and patch are then firmly connected to one another.
Of course, you could also try just sticking a self-adhesive tube patch to the inside of the coat, but it's not the same. If the tire is inflated vigorously and stretched slightly, the adhesive film tears off and there is a risk of air escaping again. In addition, the tip-top patch is a whopping 2 mm thick, which means it forms a second puncture protection layer and makes the damaged area puncture-proof again. The large area of the patch also prevents cracks from spreading in the carcass, which of course only works within certain limits.
Incidentally, the repair patch does not lead to an imbalance; despite its thickness, it is almost weightless. And after successfully executing tubeless tire rescues twice, Velomotion can certify that the concept works best. Of course, the repair kit is only suitable to a limited extent for on the road – in order for it to work properly, the tire has to be completely removed from the rim and cleaned properly.