Two Wheel Blogs

This is a short story about a product I have been testing out for a few months now. I never mentioned it before because I was so skeptical that I feared being laughed at for trying it. Laugh away, to my surprise, Veloplugs work better than anything else I have ever tried.

I have had numerous flats over the years and several were a result of a bad rim strip. I have had them break mysteriously, and I have had rim strips move (perhaps during a hasty roadside repair (it happens, particularly with a really tight fitting tire and rim combo).

Long story short, Veloplugs are an alternative to rim strips, and they are the bomb. Do the numbers and you will quickly find that they are lighter than rim strips, but that is only one reason that you should try them. I have found that I can not make them fall out (and get lost). In fact they are difficult to pry out when you try. Another benefit is they take up less room, so I no longer need tire levers because the drop center is deeper on the wheel.

I suppose a deeper drop center could be bad in the event of a catastrophic air loss during a descent. In this scenario, a tire could more easily leave the wheel. I would point out that if you suddenly loose 100 PSI during a descent, you are going to be doing really good to stay upright long enough for a clincher to leave the rim anyway.

I am using the red plugs on my Niobium rims and they work just dandy. The yellow plugs are for larger spoke holes on some wheels. These yellow plugs are heavier...you pay a 1 gram penalty if you have 64 spoke wheels, but if you are running 32 spokes front and rear, you are not counting grams probably. Obviously if you have less than 64 spokes you are likely saving weight without resorting to light tubes and tires which often carry a durability penalty.

So in recap, they do their job just fine, they weigh less, take up less space (so tube/tire changes are easier), and I do not need to carry a tire lever anymore which I guess knocks a few more grams off the package..not that I should care about weight at my level.