Group test: Tubeless repair kits

Tubeless tyre setups are great for reducing the number of punctures you have to deal with. Smaller holes caused by things like thorns and crumbs of glass usually self-seal. If the hole is too large, however, the sealant will keep spraying out instead of hardening into a plug. That’s when you need a tubeless repair kit.

A tubeless repair kit consists of some pre-glued strips (variously called plugs, worms or anchovies) and a device for shoving those plugs into holes in your tyres. There’s quite often a means of roughening the sides of the hole as well to help the plug adhere.

All you do is clean the hole, jab the plug into it to seal it, and reinflate your tyre. Each manufacturer will have specific instructions, and quite often a video, about how to use their kit. Study this before you stick the repair kit in your bag and have to use it in anger; the instructions are usually on the box you’ve just binned.

Using a tubeless repair kit is faster and easier, in theory, than stripping the tyre off and putting your spare tube in. But you’ll still need to carry a tube for those rare occasions when a plug won’t work, because the hole is more of a gash.

1. Peaty’s Holeshot Tubeless Plugger Kit

Price: £24.99. Available from: Peaty’s.

A neat and lightweight kit with six tyre plugs in two different sizes (three 1.5mm, three 3mm). The plugging tool includes a reamer on the shaft, and the single-sided fork head is well designed. The tyre plug goes on easily so you don’t have to handle it much, and comes off it just as easily when you stick it in the tyre.

The barrel of the storage section screws onto the plugging tool to give a more secure handhold when using it. When not in use, the barrel keeps the bits together and protects the sharp fork. The barrel even has O-rings to act as weather seals.

The kit is available in 12 different colours. Plug refill kits (six plugs, one size) are £4.99.

Verdict: Cracking, well-thought-out repair kit. The fork design is particularly effective.

2. Muc-Off Puncture Plug Repair Kit

Price: £15. Available from: Muc-Off.

Muc-Off’s plugging tool has a good-sized handle, which makes it easier to jab plugs into the tyre but adds bulk. It comes with a small storage bag, plus a cap for the tool when it’s not in use.

You get 15 plugs in three different sizes, which is good value. Refill packs of 10 plugs are £7.

The tool has a reamer on the shaft for cleaning. The tip of the tool is the traditional two-sided fork which, while secure, does make getting the strip onto it tricky and more likely to involve handling it. Still, a good kit that’s fairly easy to carry.

Muc-Off also makes a bar-end-stored kit, the Stealth Tubeless Puncture Plug (RRP £45 but only £11.25 at time of writing).

Verdict: Bulkier but easy to use, and with a good selection of plugs.

3. Effetto Mariposa Tappabuco

Price: £20. Available from: Upgrade Bikes.

Tappabuco is Italian for ‘stopgap’ or ‘hole plugger’. The minimalist kit fits in your handlebar as bar-end plugs.

There’s no means of roughening or cleaning the hole in the tyre. You get just the fork tool (albeit two of them) and the strips. There are three versions of the kit: one with 1.5mm plugs (£14); one with 3.5mm plugs (£14); and one with both (£20).

Effetto Mariposa says the tool also fits in Hollowtech-style cranksets, although you’d have to keep the strips elsewhere to protect them from the trails. It’s simple and neat but the tool isn’t as large as others and not quite as easy to use.

Spare plugs (25×1.5mm or 3mm) are £11.

Verdict: A bit fiddlier but bar-end storage offers fit-and-forget convenience.

4. Weldtite Tubeless Repair Kit

Price: £11. Available from: Weldtite.

This was one of the first tubeless repair kits available; I remember using one about five years ago and it worked well. It comes in the same sort of box as an old-school puncture repair kit.

It’s neither minimalist nor light but it does contain all you need. The tools – fork, knife and reamer – are all separate, and you’ll need to cut the plug to length after insertion.

While the plugs are sticky, you get an extra tube of glue as backup. There’s only one size of plug so if you are patching a small hole it can be tricky to get the tool in the hole.

Weldtite’s more compact Tubeless Repair Capsule, which is similar to the Peaty’s kit, is £24.99.

Verdict: It looks dated now but is inexpensive and functional.

Overall verdict

All four repair kits work fine, at least in the comfort of the workshop. The Peaty’s kit is by far the easiest to use when it comes to fitting the plug to the fork. All the others need the plug squashing and threading through the fork, which is faffy and removes some stickiness.

For that alone, the Peaty’s kit would be my first choice. But it’s also a neat and light kit that’s well designed, especially for mountain bikers.

The Effetto Mariposa kit would be great for a road or gravel bike, weighing little more than standard bar-end plugs and removing the risk that you might forget to take it with you.

However, the Muc-Off and Weldtite kits both offer good value for money.

First published in Cycle magazine, February/March 2024 issue. All information correct at time of publishing.