Over the last couple of years we’ve been designing, testing and refining our own, unique, super fast, easy and steezy Peaty’s Holeshot tubeless puncture plugger kit.
What is a plugger and why do you need one?
Our Tubeless Tyre Sealant can fix most tubeless punctures straight away, but for the biggest holes or ‘snakebite’ punctures you need to physically fill the hole with a sticky rubber plug.
What’s a snakebite you ask?
Also sometimes called a pinch flat puncture, the snake bite is where the soft tyre is pinched between the edge of the hard rim and a much harder rock. If you’re lucky enough to not crack your rim, you’re very likely to end up with two holes in your tyre - one on top of the tyre and one right next to the tyre bead. Holes down by the tyre bead are the nemesis of tyre sealant since the centrifugal forces created by a spinning wheel fling sealant outwards, to the top of the tyre, leaving no sealant down by the bead. To make things even worse, cornering flexes the tyre bead, causing the hole to open up again, so, even if sealant does temporarily fix it, it's likely to be opened back up again with cornering forces. Without a tyre plug then, a tyre with a snakebite would typically end up with an innertube in it - or worse - going in the bin!
Why Peaty’s Holeshot tubeless puncture plugger kit tool?
At Peaty’s we get a massive buzz from making your biking life better but we knew we really had to think differently for this one. That’s because we all know most tyre tools are basically the same design. Clumsy, oversized ‘claws’ that rip big holes in your tyre, pull the plug out better than they put it in and leave you furious, not fixed.
When we came up with our own unique Peaty’s Holeshot tubeless puncture plugger solution though we were well happy with how simple it was and how brilliantly it worked once we started testing.
The Eureka moment was when we realised that a ‘hook and a half’ design would work way better than a closed claw. As soon as we started chopping and experimenting we clocked what a mic drop game changer that initial idea was for a whole bunch of reasons.
Because there’s no claw gap it’s an easier, instant load. Clean release means it doesn’t pull the plug out of the tyre after you’ve shoved it in either. As the hook is much smaller it’s easier to push into a reinforced tyre. Less force means less danger of punching the tool right through the tape or the other side of the tyre and doubling the disaster. It doesn’t rip an even bigger hole in it than you already have so your tyre will last longer. It also means a better seal with a smaller plug and reduces the chance of it blowing back out when you’re riding.
The tiny fork tool means we can make the whole capsule very small (only 6.5 x 2cm) so it's super easy to tuck into a frame wrap, bag or pocket.
Finally we textured it for grip and threaded the cap so the body could be screwed back onto the base to make a handle. Then - obviously - we anodised it in 12x Chris King colours so it was as super steezy as it was super easy to use. We even added double O-ring seals and paper free plug sheets so you can stuff it in the dirtiest places imaginable.
When it came to plug length, we didn’t just take the same off-the-shelf lengths everyone else buys, we had our plugs cut down to 50mm so they’re the perfect size to plug a bicycle tyre. When folded in half around the tool this gives you a depth of 25mm - insert around 15mm into the tyre to create a sticky ‘bulb’ behind the puncture and leave around 10mm sticking out to ensure the plug doesn't disappear inside the tyre. No samurai swords required, or wasted bits of plug to drop on the trail, just plug and ride!
We were already proper excited with our Peaty’s Holeshot tubeless puncture plugger kit and when we started giving our ride and race test team prototypes they soon confirmed we weren’t the only fans. The enduro racers showed us how they were pre-loading the tool by spiking the hook straight through a (self-healing) plug and wrapping it around the shaft - so the tool was ready loaded for an instant fix mid-stage.
Peaty even sussed you can hook the plugs straight off the sheet. This means you can keep your gloves on and and keep the plugs totally clean for the best stick and seal results.
Tubeless tyres aren’t just for mountain bikes either and it turns out it works just as well (maybe even better) for gravel and roads bikes too. Because those tyres are even more fragile and easier to stab straight through with a clumsy claw. Plus making the puncture hole bigger while trying to fix it even is more of a nightmare when your tyre is the size of your thumb not your fist.
Design sorted, it was time for Bryn to turn his magic on the recycled cardboard packaging to give you the least packaging possible to dispose of, and without killing the planet, then Muzz to fix pricing so you could fix your tyres without killing your wallet. A stealth show and tell at the Core bike expo got everyone who saw it buzzing and it made it onto pretty much every media highlight list too. Holeshot was definitely ready for a stab at the big time.
So yeah, we’re really pleased with our Peaty’s Holeshot tubeless puncture plugger kit, and we reckon you’ll be totally stoked on it too. Especially if you team it with our equally smart, easy and steezy Peaty’s Holeshot C02 Tyre Inflator Kit!
