Sahmurai Sword tubeless tyre plugs

June 25th, 2015

Essential Enduro tyre repair kit

Three-time Absa Cape Epic champion Stefan Sahm has recently released Sahmurai Sword tubeless tyre plugs.

These are an on-the-fly kit that effectively repair holes instantly and are easily stored in the ends of your handlebars.

The Sahmurai Sword kit consists of two bar end plugs – one featuring the reamer, and the other the prong tool for installing the plug – and a set of rubber repair plugs.

If you’ve ridden a major Enduro or Endurance MTB event, you may well have seen a rider patching up a hole in a tubeless tyre with a plug kit – which uses worms of sticky rubber, that are pushed in to the tyre hole with plug and reaming tools. Motorcyclists have used the system for some time – and on-the-ball Enduro specialists are in on the game too.

With the plug mounted on the prong tool, you push the plug in to the hole, sealing the tyre. Holes may need reaming to ensure the best chance of a good seal.

But the tools are sharp items to carry safely; the rubber plugs can lose stickiness if not stored carefully and the system can be a faff to use if kept in the bottom of your bag. Elite racers like Stefan would tape a plug tool to the bike for easy use during race situations, but the UCI state it’s not race legal to attach a reamer to the bike as it’s deemed unsafe. And you wouldn’t want to fall off your bike with one in your jersey pocket…

Stefan Sahm was looking for a way of carrying the plugs in a safe way that wasn’t externally mounted on the bike in a dangerous way

On the bike storage

The Samhurai Sword tubeless tyre plugs system mounts in the end of your handlebars in place of bar end plugs – which keeps the tool safe, but in an easy to access place for rapid use in race situations. Stefan can plug a hole in 20 seconds with this system, barely losing any tyre pressure – and getting back in the race.