Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
Rating: 
Hot
- Repair tubeless punctures without wheel/tire removal
- No need to drain sealant from tire as when installing spare tube
- Large and small hole plugs pre-loaded in Racer tool
- Racer comes with a frame mount for easy access
- Both kits Include extra plugs for more flat fixing
- Both are small; Racer is super light
- Air includes 2 16-gm CO2 cartridges, small air hose and carrying pouch
- Air has controllable inflation so you can fill only as much as needed
- Can use multiple plugs to fill larger tire cuts
- The Carbon Racer comes in Carbon color. The Air is available in Black, Purple, Red, Blue
Not
- If you’re prone to flatting you might wish more spare plugs were included
Price: Carbon Racer $47.99; Air $74.99 (includes 2 CO2 cartridges)
Weight: Carbon Racer 14 grams + 10 grams for the included holder; Air – it depends on which setup you choose to carry, but about 75 grams
Source: Carbon Racer: http://www.dynaplug.com/carbonracer.html
Air: http://www.dynaplug.com/air.html
How obtained: samples from manufacturer
RBR sponsor: no
Fix Tubeless Flats the Super Easy Way with Dynaplug
Back in early May, I attended the Reveal Global virtual bicycle show and wrote up some of the product highlights. One of the goodies that grabbed my attention was a way to patch flats on tubeless tires by the company Dynaplug.
It turns out that they’ve been making plugs to repair tubeless tires since 1991. Their do-it-yourself kits are for making permanent repairs fast on motorcycles, cars, trucks, SUVs, ATVs, scooters, trailers, garden tractors and now even bicycle tubeless tires.
Just Plug It Up
To use their kits you simply remove the object that punctured the tire and insert one of their repair plugs. In case you’ve used plugs to repair automotive punctures, with Dynaplug you don’t need to do any reaming or use any chemicals or wait for patches to dry. Once the repair plug is in place, it seals and cures on its own.
After the Reveal show, Dynaplug sent a couple of samples of their latest road bicycle products for us to try, the tiny and super light Carbon Racer and the Air. The big difference between these models is that the Air (as its name suggests) includes 2 16-gram CO2 cartridges so it both repairs punctures and inflates tires.
The Carbon Racer
The Carbon Racer is designed strictly to repair punctures. So, you won’t want to leave your pump at home as you could with the Air. Both tools are made in the USA to exacting tolerances. The Carbon Racer is made of “Nylon 6 with 30% glass fill” for durability and an impressive weight of only 14 grams!
The Air Road
The Air is made of 6061 aluminum. For quality manufacturing, Dynaplug uses Swiss CNC machines. They say they are actually designed for watch making so they’re well suited to carve the components of Dynaplug’s precision plug-pushers.
With Dynaplug’s Air, you twist to turn on/off the flow of CO2 into the tire. That way you won’t overinflate and can save CO2 for later if needed (in other words not waste the whole cartridge on a single flat). Also, the Air acts as a regular pump with the included air hose that screws onto the cartridge and Presta valves.
Plugging Tires
The way the tools work is that the plugs that patch the hole in the tire load into the nozzle of the tool, which is a hollow stainless-steel tube (you choose the length based on your tire type – road, gravel). The plugs are small rubber cylinders with pointed metal tips (aluminum or non-abrasive brass so as not to risk rims). The rubber goes inside the hollow end of the tool leaving the pointed end out so it can be pushed into the tire. The pointed end will follow the path the object that punctured the tire took.
Once you’ve pushed the pointed end into and through the tire (takes considerable effort to do this), when you pull the tool’s end out of the tire, the plug is left inside the hole sealing it. If air is still escaping, another plug can be added next to the first and even more if needed until there are no more leaks.
The plugs are made of viscoelastic impregnated rubber designed to mold to the tire for an airtight seal. They’re long enough to patch thick rubber treads and if there’s a tail left, you just trim it flush with any blade – or you can leave it to wear off while riding.
What You Get in the Packages
Dynaplug Carbon Racer
Dynaplug Carbon Racer tool
3 Standard Soft Nose Plugs
2 Megaplugs
1 Silicone Dynaplug holder (mounts to bottle cage screws)
Dynaplug Air
Dynaplug Air tool
4 Soft Nose Plugs
2 16-gram CO2 Cartridges
1 Air Hose with Presta Adapter
1 Pipe cleaner (for cleaning tool after use)
The Fastest Flat Fix in History
The best thing is, because you don’t have to remove the wheel or tire, there’s no need to deal with the tubeless sealant or use your spare tube. If it’s a larger hole and requires more than one plug, or if you lost a lot of air removing whatever punctured the tire and pushing in the plug, then you’ll need to inflate the tire. But, that’s still much quicker than removing the wheel and tire and installing a spare tube to get home.
A Game-Changer for Racers
For fast group rides that don’t wait for those who flat, or any race, Dynaplugs would save your day. If you had the tool in your jersey pocket, you’d just leap off the bike, look for the sealant leaking, pull out the sharp, insert a plug and get racing again. With a little practice, you could do this in seconds not minutes. It’s pretty amazing.
My Test Results
Please watch my video to see the whole test. The basic results:
- Installed 4 plugs in a single tire
- Let sit for 26 hours – tire retained 82% of its pressure
- Installing plugs takes much more force than I expected
- Plugs work with the sealant to fix the flat in seconds
- I could not feel the 4 plugs in the tire when riding
- As far as I could tell, the plugs do not damage the tire
Conclusion
If you’ll forgive the pun, I’m blown away by the performance of these Dynaplug flat fixers. Finally, if you flat with tubeless tires and the sealant can’t stop the leak, you can fix it in seconds with a Dynaplug.
It’s always a pain to fix tubeless tires because of having to dump the sealant and deal with installing a tire that wasn’t made to go on easily with a tube stuffed in it. Not to mention having to take out the tubeless valve and trying not to lose it. And, also the tendency for tubeless tires not to seat right away when installed with a mini pump with a tube inside.
These issues are reasons lots of roadies who try tubeless give up on the technology after a few bad flats like this. I think now with a weapon like Dynaplug along, tubeless tires become that much more viable and if you get a chance to try it, I believe the Dynaplug will blow you away, too.
Ride total: 9,688
I tried the Dynaplug carbon racer. And yes it works great. I find putting spit on the tip to be inserted greatly eases the insertion. I’ve been running tubeless for about a year and have had three incidents. One, was a side gash of about the size of a penny. I inserted three of their large plugs and actually got home. With a small puncture where the sealant got me home the hole was so small I couldn ‘t insert it. In this case I used a 1.5 worm. My experience so far is to carry a 3.5, 1.5 worms plus the inserters, Although I really liked the racer I didn’t like the brass plug inside the tire. Apparently its a permanent fix but I feel more comfortable with a worm in the tire. We are planning a cross country trip and my plan is to carry a spare tire, no tube. I would replace the tire on the road if needed and sewup and boot the damaged tire once in camp.
Thanks, David. In my video I put spit on the first plug I put in but still had to work to get it through. Now that I’ve had some practice learning what it takes, I’m pretty sure I’ll get them in easier next time and use even more lube 😉
Appreciate you sharing your experience patching your tires with plugs – very helpful.
Regarding your cross country trip, you’re going to have the time of your life. I did it in 1979 with my then girlfriend (now wife), riding from NH to FL and then across to CA. We didn’t follow any specific route, just looked at the map and went where we wanted. Every day was a new adventure.
But, I wanted to share that we had 25 flat tires. Tires have improved significantly since then, but still, if I was going to do it again I would carry spare tubes just in case.
Thanks again!
Jim
I have been using a repair kit from a company called Innovations on my tubeless tires for about three years. They are a smaller version of plugs that are used on automobile tires. They are relatively inexpensive, about $6 to $10 and work reasonably well. However, I have noted that if I inflate my tires to 80+ PSI, they tend to work their way back out of the tire and they do not bond with the rubber of the tire. Did you have an opportunity to ride the patch after repair? What pressure to you ride?
Thanks Big Ring Bob,
Here’s a link to Genuine Innovations’ website showing some of their kits:
https://www.genuineinnovations.com/collections/bicycle-tubeless-tools-accessories
To answer your question, I inflated the tire I plugged to 90 psi and rode it, but only about a mile. It has 4 plugs in it now.
Thanks!
Jim
I previously had the genuine innovations set, which worked ok when fresh.
Unbeknownst to me, through some combination of age, heat or pressure, the structure of the plugs deteriorated over time, making them all but useless when I later needed them. The dynaplug system protects the plugs and is a much better solution in my opinion.
I’ve used Dynaplugs (Micropro) for over a year. I have two patches in my back tire that have held for several hundred miles now. I generally inflate to 80 psi. The brass tips tend to come off inside the tire and rattle around at low revs, which is a minor annoyance but harmless. I am comfortable enough with them that I don’t bother carrying a tube or tire levers on rides
Someone commented that they couldn’t get a replacement plug into the insertion tube. If you put spit on the plug, press the end into a point, then twist as you push, it goes in. .
Great review and demo. I have a Dynaplug® Micro Pro and had to fix my first flat on the road recently. What I discovered:
– Yes, it’s very hard to get the plug into the tire. I almost gave up but was stubborn and finally got it in.
– The Micro Pro comes with a little knife to trim off the excess sticking out of the tire. I used it and it worked well but I don’t know if it was necessary.
– I filled my tire with CO2 and took off.
– When I got home I tried to put a new plug into the used insertion tube. I couldn’t. I tried cleaning the insertion tube with alcohol and wetting the plug and it sort of worked (went most of the way in) but finally wound up buying new insertion tubes with preloaded plugs.
So I agree that overall it works very well. You just have to learn a few tricks, in particular how to insert the plug.
Thanks for your review, Nathaniel – good tips!
Jim
Would like to see a demo and review for this kit when used with tubular tires. I race with tubular tires and for long rides I have to carry Effetto Mariposa Espresso in case of flats. I’d switch to this if I knew it worked.
Also, has anybody had any experience with this on punctures that happen on worn tires that have lost some of their thickness on the wear surface? Sometimes those walls get extremely thin, which is part of the reason they puncture in the first place.
Hi Nate,
If you use tubular (also called sew-up) tires that do not have tubes inside, the Dynaplug will work. As far as I know, the only company making such a tubular tire is Tufo. On other tubular tires, there is a tube inside the tire. Although I haven’t tested this, I believe the plug would make it through the tire fine but then it would push the tube out of the way instead of patching the hole in the tube. So I don’t think it will work in anything but a tubular tire without a tube inside.
On your second question, the plugs should work in any tire no matter how worn out it is because they go straight through the tire and are held in place on the inside and outside. Even if the tire is worn out, there’s enough there for the plug to find a good purchase.
Hope this helps.
Jim
What happens if the tire goes completely flat? Will the Dynaplug system still work?
I used it on a completely flat tire. It was hard to get the plug in, but once I did that it worked well.
Thanks Nathaniel. Just curious. Was it a road or mountain tire?
Been riding and racing on tubeless road tires since they first hit the market. Fortunately, I’ve had few flats. For those where the puncture has been relatively small, the Dynaplug system has worked well. Larger punctures, especially when the tire has been sliced which has allowed the tire to go completely flat, have been more of a challenge. If and when the bead has been broken, game over. No hand pump can deliver the shot of air necessary to reset the bead and using my one or two CO2 cartridges is often risky as there is no guarantee that in the end, the tire will reseat. I always carry a tube which has been my ticket home a number of times.
Recently sent for Stans Dart Kit which is mechanically very similar to the Dynaplug system. The plugs, however, are quite different. Stans claims that the Dart plug will chemically react with their sealant to form an occlusive seal at the puncture.
Thanks for sharing your observations and tips John!
Very helpful,
Jim
Bought a Dynaplug instead of a $70.00 tire. Worked first time out of the box. I haven’t had any problems with tubeless tires, but this puncture was a bit to big to seal. So I thought I’d give the gadget a shot and it worked easily. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about sticking the dart plug into the tire, but it did the trick and have ridden with the repair twice with no loss of pressure. Very nicely finished product. Made in the USA too!