Summary of gravel bike puncture repair methods and recommended repair kits

How to repair a flat tire, depending on the type of tire

In the case of clincher tires (tubed tires)

In the case of a clincher tire (tubed), the location of the puncture determines whether it can be repaired or not.

On road bikes, punctures are often caused by a hole in the tube itself, but on gravel bikes, because they are often ridden on rough roads, the tire itself can often be punctured.

If the tube has a hole, it is best to replace the tube when on the road. If you repair it at home, you can use a butyl tube again as usual by applying a commercially available puncture repair patch for tubes.

For on-the-go repairs, we recommend Panaracer’s Easy Patch Kit, which can be repaired by simply applying the patch.

For latex tubing, just cut an old latex tube and apply rubber glue on top. This can also be used normally.

If the tire itself has a hole, you can use sealant or a tubeless repair kit to plug the hole if the tire is tubeless, but you basically cannot repair a tire with a tubed tire. For slick tires, a patch applied to the tire may help, but it is only a stopgap measure as it will peel off.

For block tires, you can use a tubeless repair kit to plug the hole, but if you use a repair plug to fill the hole, it is best not to use the type of plug that fills the hole, as the plug may puncture the tube.

In the case of tubeless/tubeless ready tires

The following are the two major ways to deal with a punctured tubeless/tubeless ready tire.

1. plug the hole with a tubeless repair kit
2. tubed.

Tubeless repair kits are available from tire manufacturers and others, but the easiest to use is Lezyne’s Tubeless Tire Repair Kit.

It comes with a tire reamer, plug, and case for about $25 in actual sales. The plugs are also sold separately, so they are very cost-effective.

If you prefer a more cosmetic solution, we also recommend Panaracer’s puncture repair kit for tubeless bicycles. The usage is the same as Lezyne’s, but instead of a plug, a sheet is cut with scissors and repaired with rubber glue, which requires more work, but the price is cheaper than Lezyne’s.

Note that both are designed for MTB and can only be used with block gravel tires.

Also, the puncture repair kit for clinchers is “for inner tubes” and cannot plug the hole in a tubeless tire (and even if it could, it would come right off).

Which puncture repair kit should I carry when riding?

Gravel bikes have higher puncture risk than road bikes because of the rough terrain.

For clincher tires (tubed), you can only carry a spare tube, but you should carry a tube repair patch in case you get multiple punctures.

In the case of tubeless, a “tubeless repair kit” and a replacement tube are basically all you need; you can use the tubeless repair kit to repair a hole the size of a pin pole, and the rule is that if you have a tear of 3 mm or more or a side cut, you should go tubed.

Note that tubeless systems require replenishing the sealant, so your hands will be covered with sealant when you make a tubed system. Carry vinyl gloves along with the repair kit.