I have been running tubeless wheels for over a year now and until last weekend I'd never had a puncture, well not one that wouldn't seal itself. I was strangely gutted about the whole situation, I had been ranting how tubeless was the end of punctures as we know it and here I was being proved wrong!

So what went wrong? Well coming down a rather fast rocky descent in the Lake District I had launched off a pile of rocks and as I landed I managed to slice a nobble of my rear tyre. This was a slice too much for the sealant and the tyre went flat instantly. Not a problem you might be thinking, stick and tube in it and I'll be up and running in no time. However it wasn't quite that easy, firstly you have to get the tubelss tyre off the rim getting up to the eyes in sealant before removing the valve and then trying to patch the tyre so the tube doesn't pop out of the hole. However my Park emergency tyre boot wouldn't stick to the tyre because it was soaked sealant so I had to get a mate to hold the patch while I put the tyre in place in the hope that the part inflated tyre would hold it in place. Thankfully it did and I was up and running but not after the reputation of tubless tyres was dented for the spectators. A normal puncture would be fixed in minutes, this took considerably longer.

So is it worth the effort? Well given that I'd gone so long without a flat I reckon so but it's going to be harder convincing everyone else now!

My rear Kenda Nevegal UST isn't the most rubust tubeless tyre and this might have played a part in the problem, if I'd had the Schwalbe Nobby Nic UST on the rear like I do up front I'm not so sure the tyre would have sliced the way it did.