Repair · 4 min read · updated 4 September 2026
Why a Tufo tubular is not opened
A conventional tubular is repaired by unstitching the base tape, patching the tube, then stitching it back. A Tufo tubular has no separate tube: its butyl inner tube is vulcanised to the casing. So you do not open it — you repair it from the inside, through the valve, with a liquid. It is faster, and can be done at the roadside.
Before: the sealant
Tufo tubular sealant is injected through the valve before the first ride, core removed, 20 to 30 ml depending on the section. It stays liquid in the tubular and moves towards a puncture as soon as one appears. It seals holes up to about 5 mm: most flints, thorns and bits of glass. You lose a little pressure, you re-inflate, you finish the ride.
It does not excuse you from checking the tread from time to time, nor from removing the flint that stayed lodged.
After: the Carbon repair liquid
If you had no sealant, or the puncture is too big for it, use the Carbon repair liquid. It goes in after the puncture, also through the valve, using the supplied key to remove the core. It seals up to about 6 mm. The 50 ml bottle is enough for one or two repairs; it fits in a jersey pocket.
- Find the hole and remove whatever caused it. Place the wheel hole down.
- Unscrew the valve core with the key, inject the liquid, screw it back.
- Inflate to riding pressure and spin the wheel, hole down, for a minute. The liquid fixes onto the puncture.
- Ride straight away: heat and rotation finish the repair.
Track and time-trial tubulars — Elite Jet, Track Pulse, Elite Track — are too light to carry sealant without losing their point. They are repaired after the fact, or not at all: they are race tubulars.
What cannot be repaired
A sidewall cut, a hole larger than 6 mm, a torn tread or a tubular that has been ridden flat for several kilometres. In these cases, that is the point of a tubular: it stayed on the rim, you got home, and you replace it.
And on a tubeless ready?
Same logic. Tubeless Ready sealant goes in at fitting; a puncture it does not seal is dealt with by a plug from the Elite TR kit or by the Carbon repair liquid through the valve. A spare inner tube remains the last resort — Tufo TR tyres accept it.
