Stan’s NoTubes, the purveyor of modern mountain bike tubeless tyre technology, has just unveiled a brand new product called the DART tool. Standing for ‘Dual Action Repair for Tubeless’, the Stan’s NoTubes DART tool is a tubeless repair kit that’s designed to seal up those large punctures in your tyre that standard tubeless sealant just won’t quite seal up on its own.
Put A (Tubeless) Plug In It
While latex tyre sealant does a darn good job of keeping your tubeless tyres airtight and sealing up small punctures, there are times where you’ll get a properly big puncture that’ll leave your tyre spewing white tubeless goo all over the place. To repair those sorts of punctures on the side of the trail, you’ll need a tubeless tyre plug to help ‘mechanically’ plug the hole.
A tubeless plug is typically made using a long cord of rubber that you jab into the tyre using a little metal fondue fork. It’s a relatively simple technology brought over from the automotive world, and for the most part it works pretty well for mountain bike tyres too.
Given Stan’s NoTubes reputation in the tubeless tyre world though, it would seem that working ‘pretty well’ wasn’t quite good enough. So the US brand went and made its very own tool.
The Stan’s NoTubes DART Tool
The general premise of the DART tool is the same as your average tyre plug. It features a moulded plastic handle with a carbon rod/prong, which you use to drive the rubber DARTs in through the puncture wound in order to seal the tyre casing. So far, so normal.
The DART doesn’t just seal a puncture mechanically though. According to Stan’s NoTubes, the rubber used for the DART is coated with a special chemical compound, which is designed to set off a rapid reaction with any latex sealant that comes in contact with it. This reaction causes the sealant to coagulate more vigorously, creating a faster and more robust seal. Just like its latex-based tyre sealant, NoTubes says this compound is environmentally safe.
Plastic-Tipped Barbs
Also unlike other tubeless repair tools that use metal tips (like those from DynaPlug), each DART plug uses a plastic tip instead. As well as being lighter, NoTubes says the plastic tip is less likely to damage rim tape or the rim itself. The tips are barb-shaped, which means they press in smoothly, but latch on inside the tyre casing when you pull the tool away from the tyre.
The laser-cut rubber plugs also get an unusual feathered shape that is both soft and highly flexible. This allows the material to conform to holes of different sizes and shapes, and it also means that you don’t have to trim off the excess material. NoTubes reckons you won’t be able to tell it’s there while riding, though it’ll wear away on its own anyway.
Double-Headed
The tool itself comes with an in-built valve core remover and stores two DARTs inside, which gives you a bit more firepower for repairing particularly nasty punctures. Because of the plastic construction, it’s very lightweight at just 15g claimed.
Stan’s NoTubes will be selling the DART Tool on its own for $59.95 AUD, along with 5-pack DART Refill packs for $44.95 AUD. If you’re after more info, check out the Stan’s NoTubes website, or drop a line to Jet Black Products to find your nearest stockist in Oz.
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