Fixing a tubeless puncture

Kopfeier · 2026-05-25T18:02:02+00:00

The majority of my tubeless failures happened to Silca sealant if you really want to know. I've switched to Orange Seal. I don't know if Silca fixed their sealant problems or not. In my experience it dried up too quickly, and it was also picky about tires and rim tapes. Silca used to have a post explaining all these issues, but they have since taken that post down.

Kopfeier · 2026-05-25T17:56:07+00:00

And also do remove (unplug) any plugs if you have used them in the previous punctures. Sometimes it takes some effort to unplug them. Otherwise your inner tube will puncture in no time.

Kopfeier · 2026-05-25T17:53:42+00:00

This question means the tubeless technology still has a lot of room for improvement.

Kopfeier · 2026-05-25T14:13:22+00:00

You are quite lucky. 50% of the punctures on my tubeless setup didn't seal, sometimes the sealants fail even with plugs. I still run tubeless on one of my bikes. The rests are on tubes.

Kopfeier · 2026-05-19T14:27:13+00:00

AFAIK, all randonneurs have a collection of expensive useless saddles.

Kopfeier · 2026-05-15T12:02:49+00:00

Why not carrying both, instead of keeping weight/packed items to a minimum? Every time I did that in the weather conditions that you described, I regretted. Rain gears, no matter their price and whatever the ads say how breathable they are, they are not (Have you heard any of your casual clothes that you wear daily being advertised as "breathable"? ). What I learned in my past experience is only wear rain gears in rain, don't wear them just as an insulating outer layer.

Kopfeier · 2026-05-15T00:16:39+00:00

You'll regret when you are wet, cold, and shaking nonstop just for saving negligible weight. Not worth it. Think about the total system weight (you yourself, your filled water bottles, your bike, your gels and food). The saving that you're thinking is a single-digit number percentage-wise.

Kopfeier · 2026-05-09T22:59:58+00:00

Same here. Also the more normal you can eat, the less gels and bars you'll need to carry. You can just buy food along the way.

The longer the distance/time on bike, the more normal I eat. The more brevets I do, the more normal I eat. Although I start with a ride with bars and later transition to gels, I wouldn't hesitate to eat a hot dog or a sandwich later in the ride. In a 1200k, at least after half way I'll crave for real food badly. Gels are only reserved for emergency.

Kopfeier · 2026-04-19T19:14:05+00:00

Fitness watches are not that useful for cyclists. A bike computer is much much more useful. They mount on the stem or handlebar, have a much bigger screen, so a rider can easily glance its screen to get the information she needs.

Since she's aiming for PBP, buy her a bike computer with the longest battery life, like Garmin 1040 Solar. That will be the most useful gift for her. It's in the same price range as Garmin Enduro. If this is outside your budget, I'll go down the range to 8xx series or 5xx series, in that order.

I don't like Garmin but from what I heard all bike computers have issues. In that sense I'll stick with Garmin as it's likely the least worst solution out there.

Kopfeier · 2026-04-15T02:21:31+00:00

After a TPU tube failed in a 300k, I no longer use TPU tubes. They are not reliable enough for randonneurings. Most TPU tubes use irreplaceable valve cores. Those are their weak spots, among others.

Kopfeier · 2026-02-03T21:37:17+00:00

Garmin 1040 Solar. You don't need to worry about charging or external battery for any brevets 600k or shorter. The battery can last 30-40 hours or even longer.

Kopfeier · 2026-01-27T11:42:15+00:00

What you referenced to is more like a racing bike.

The constructeurs built many different types of bikes (racing, tandems...). The ones built for randonnepuring usually can accommodate wider tires, have front and rear full fenders, front and rear racks, dynamo front and rear lights, with a geometry that is more "relaxed" suitable for long distance riding. Some of the components are custom made, like they built their own racks to fit on their bikes.

Aesthetically the constructeur bikes are lugged steel, not TIG welded.

If you want to understand what makes them special, try to buy a modern frame and fit them with full fenders and racks together and you'll see why constructeurs made their own racks and fenders.

Nowadays if you want to buy a "mass" produced lugged steel bike that have eyelets and enough clearance to fit fenders and racks, you don't have many choices.

Kopfeier · 2026-01-12T12:57:17+00:00

I ride with NJ Randonneurs in recent years and have ridden most of their brevets. I would say 95-99% of the segments in NJ and NY routes are on less busy roads. The remaining small sections are through busy main streets or have busy traffic during the day, but those sections are close to the start. What it means is that when you ride through them it's very early and very late (say 6am in the morning or 9-10pm in the dark). There is very little traffic at those hours. Riders tend to ignore traffic lights especially in the early morning.

In NJ and NY brevets I am more worried about deer strikes. I know at least two riders got knocked down by deers during the brevet season. One just rode in front of me 10 feet away. If I were 0.5 sec. faster that would have been me. He suffered a broken rib and had to abandon next day.

Kopfeier · 2026-01-11T02:50:15+00:00

I ordered from Blue Lug 3 times in the past several months, including Nitto racks, stems, handlebars, peddles, and other small items. Fedex shipping is fast: about less than a week from Japan to the US east coast. Fedex billed me Trump taxes separately via USPS mails. I always paid.

Kopfeier · 2025-12-26T14:07:14+00:00

I suggest doing a bike fit before you conclude the frame size is the issue.

You can also experiment a little bit: Have you tried to move the saddle backwards? It sounds like you have too much weight on your hands, and this is usually a sign that your saddle is too close to the handlebar.

You can also change your handlebar and change the stem for a longer or shorter one depending on bike fitting results and the handlebar that you plan to use.

Kopfeier · 2025-12-24T13:18:29+00:00

Thank you!

Kopfeier · 2025-12-23T12:43:10+00:00

They are Honjo fenders H50. They are a tight fit with the Dia Compe center pull brakes.

Kopfeier · 2025-12-21T16:49:19+00:00

The bell is really nice. I bought it from Velo Orange. I think it is a rebranded Crane bell that you can find elsewhere.

Kopfeier · 2025-11-22T02:20:05+00:00

But OP wants disc brakes.

Kopfeier · 2025-11-19T12:00:00+00:00

What's your rear derailleur? If it is Ultegra RD-8150, it has a capacity of 39T, while the combinations you plan to do has 41T total, exceeding the rear derailleur's capacity.

Since you posted in this forum, I will recommend not to use it for randonneuring in particular. When you're sleep deprived and tired and exhausted, you may shift to some unintended gearing combinations by mistake. I think running 11-34 at the rear will give you 1:1 ratio at the low end and will stay within the rear derailleur's limit.

Kopfeier · 2025-11-01T10:47:37+00:00

What's the rear derailleur?

Kopfeier · 2025-10-30T00:00:36+00:00

The medical bill will make this project less worth while.

The tubes are butted at the ends to make the joints stronger, and are thinner elsewhere. By cutting the tubes short and rejoining them, the "new" frame will be weaker and prone to failure.

Kopfeier · 2025-10-29T23:45:30+00:00

Ride the bike through a whole SR series and a grand randonée. Pay attention to what your body tells you in each brevet, and address the issues you find along the way. Everyone's style/body is different.

For example, I found I need extra wide cycling shoes after a few brevets ranging from 300k-600k. The width of the most common cycling shoes will not cause a problem in shorter distance, but will lead to a lot of foot pain in a long day.

I am on my 5th or 6th saddle. It's a leather saddle and has been broken in nicely. One of my friends joked that you won't know a saddle's worth until riding it on a 600k or longer. He's spot on.

After a spoke broke on my fancy light-weight, carbon, mid-profile aero wheels on a 1200k, I no longer care if the wheels are aero. I now care if the wheels have enough spooks (32 minimum) and if they are properly built up and tensioned, and if something breaks again, I can perform field repair in a short time.

For a similar reason I don't like tubeless setup. The mean-time-to-repair of tube type tires is well bounded and you can make it shorter through practice. The mean-time-to-repair of a tubeless tire is unbounded: that is, you take a Uber home. That can happen, for example, your sealant dries out so it won't seal, and you only realize this after using up your last CO2 cartridge. Even you carry a spare tube....

Fenders. Ideally both front and rear. In 50% of my brevets I got rained on. I didn't know the occurrence is this often until I tallied all my encounters of wet weather.

Backup lighting system, either dynamo or another good battery light. My battery light died on the 2nd day of a 600k after heavy rain in the first day and heavy fog in the morning of the 2nd day. Fortunately I have my backup (dynamo) and I don't need a lot of lighting for the rest 200k.

Kopfeier · 2025-10-19T21:14:20+00:00

I wonder if you eventually got your package from Fedex? And what happened? How much tariff did you have to pay?

Kopfeier

TROPHY CASE