STAN’S NOTUBES THE INJECTOR

£13

SPECIFICATION Weight: 110g • Presta and Schrader compatible • Contact: paligap.cc

Mountain bikes have been running tubeless tyres for the best part of 20 years, and for some reason it’s still not easy getting the bead to seat on certain wheels, even using a fancy pump or compressor. Since this is a pain, removing the tyre to top-up the sealant is never a good idea and it’s much easier to just unscrew the valve core and inject some fresh sealant through the valve stem.

The best tool I’ve found for this job is Notubes’s The Injector. Obviously, a lot of those little sealant sachets do fit directly onto a valve stem, but if you buy tubeless sealant in bulk – which is more economical and environmentally-friendly – The Injector is one of the only ways to get it in there without making a mess or wasting valuable sealant.

Topping-up the sealant is something I do every few months, because most sealants break down, leaving either a congealed mass or just water inside the tyre, and neither of those will seal a puncture. It’s pretty easy to do, just remove the core (I use Notubes Core Remover, £10), and give it a clean while you’re at it. Notubes recommends removing the handle to pour in the sealant, but I just poke the nozzle into the bottle, suck a load up then inject it into the tyre – job done.

If I do have to swap tyres, this feature also allows me to suck up any excess sealant in the bottom of the used tyre and transfer it to the new one. Sealant is not quite as expensive per litre as printer ink, but it’s not cheap, so I’d always recommend reusing it if you can.

The Injector isn’t a new tool – I’ve had it for nearly four years – but it’s definitely a musthave part of my tubeless gear when testing tyres for mbr.

I could use a basic syringe, but this is the right tool for the job and it's paid for itself many times over.