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review
£24.99
VERDICT:
Simple and fast way to fix a leaking tubeless tyre
Easy to use
Compact
Light
No Megaplug
No spare standard insertion tube
Weight:
37g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The Dynaplug Dynaplugger is a brilliant solution that should be in the pocket or toolroll of every tubeless cyclist. It will get you rolling again in far less time than it takes to fix an inner tube, and the repairs should last the life of the tyre.
Dynaplug is a US automotive accessory company with two decades of experience creating fast patch kits for vehicle tyres. Its premise is simple: got a hole in your tyre? Jam a rubberised plug in it to stop the air falling out.
> Find your nearest dealer here
There are other solutions on the market such as the £5.99 Genuine Innovations Tubeless Tyre Repair kit that follow the same thinking, but it's how Dynaplug approaches the practicalities that makes its solution a winner.
The Genuine Innovations kit is a fork onto which you thread a strip of rubberised string, then insert in your tyre. The fork's handle (were the Two Ronnies cyclists?) is small, and it can be tricky to stab into a thick tyre, and the process of preparation means it's quite likely your tyre is flat by the time you insert the strip.
Dynaplug offers a range of variations on the same theme: a handle with a metal pipe protruding, into which a rubberised plug with a metal tip is inserted. The mountain bike world has loved the Dynaplug Pill and Megapill products for years, each carrying multiple plugs in different sizes to effect multiple trailside repairs.
The Dynaplugger comes with two swappable insertion tubes – one standard, one 'mega' for the three-times-fatter Megaplug – so you can have two plugs ready, depending on the size of cut needing fixing (though you only get four standard plugs here, no Megaplug – they are available separately at £10 for three).
Swapping the tubes over is quick and easy, with one stored under the small 'business end' cap, the other inside the handle.
The three included spare plugs are held in a small clear plastic tray that's part of the packaging, so you'll need to store them elsewhere, and there's no way to store them inside the Dynaplugger handle. The Pill and Megapill win in this regard, as they come with multiple insertion tubes and machined cavities to hold them inside the tool.
If you're concerned about having a metal tip inside your tyre, don't worry – you and your tyre won't notice a thing. The only caveat is that if you suffer a sidewall cut so bad it needs a tyre boot and inner tube, be sure to pull the heads off any plugs you might have used in the past. That's to avoid the tip then puncturing your inner tube.
Size-wise, the 12.5cm Dynaplugger fits easily into a seatpack; mine lives inside the rather excellent Silca Seat Roll Grande Americano.
Unscripted emergency
Over the review period I managed one actual unscripted tubeless emergency – a decent cut in the sidewall of the Maxxis Re-Fuse 650B tyre. As it was a sidewall cut, the flexing of the tyre was fighting the sealant, meaning only a plug would do the job.
Having the Dynaplugger only seconds away in the seatroll meant minimal loss of air, and the stabbing into the tyre was easy with the large handle. After a few bubbles and a bit of a shake, face downwards, to get sealant into the gaps, the air held and only a few pumps were needed to get back to normal operation.
> Puncture prevention 101: learn how to swerve flats with these 11 top tricks
I also had to trim the end short to avoid a constant tick-tick-tick on the chainstay (the sharp blade on the Topeak PT-30 mini made short work of it).
Now, about 200 miles and a month on, the repair is still holding and I've no reason to suspect it won't hold indefinitely. I have other Dynaplug repairs on my mountain bike tyres that are a year old, and have had many harsh, rocky miles put on them.
Value and conclusion
It's the speed and ease of use that makes Dynaplugs in general a winner. You can spend nearly twice as much on the Pill or Megapill, but if they are overkill then the Dynaplugger is a great solution, and it's lighter too.
As mentioned, the only alternative is the fork-and-anchovy paradigm, which can be much lighter and cheaper, but compromises speed and effectiveness – and a faff in the cold/wet. You need good eyesight and a steady hand to thread them up, whereas the Dynaplugger could almost be used blind, if you could hear/feel where the cut was.
> 9 things they don’t tell you about tubeless tyres
Dave really liked what is basically the alloy version of the Dynaplugger – the £38 Racer. The critical difference here is that you get two Megaplugs included, and you don't have to swap the insertion tubes over if you need to use a different size in a hurry.
Are the two Megaplugs worth the extra £13 when you can buy three for £10? The Racer weighs about the same and is smaller, so would be a close contender for your money.
Whichever Dynaplug system you choose, you'll likely not be disappointed. At £25, it's a great system for getting you rolling quickly.
Verdict
Simple and fast way to fix a leaking tubeless tyre
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: Dynaplug Dynaplugger bicycle tubeless repair tool
Size tested: n/a
Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
It's for tubeless people wanting to get rolling again fast.
Dynaplug says:
The DynaPlugger™ is a simple, rugged, rad way to repair your tubeless tire. Just find the puncture, align the tool, push into puncture, pull out and the plug stays in place. Now you're ready to get back to shredding!
Dynaplugger™ is a molded of Glass-Filled Nylon. Even though it weighs only 35 grams, this tool is extremely strong. The push-on silicone end cap can store an extra insertion tube and seals the interior storage compartment.
What's our favorite thing about this kit? We collaborated with our friend NOTCHAS to create its awesome packaging! "This is the first packaging I have ever designed. It's even cooler because it's for a product that I LOVE and carry with me on every ride." - Chas
Limited Lifetime Warranty - Made in USA - PAT 8,707,829 - ONLY FOR USE WITH TUBELESS BICYCLE TIRES
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
From Dynaplug:
General Specifications
Tool Body Construction Glass Filled Nylon Body and Cap / 6061 Aluminum Insert / Silicone End Cap
Dimensions 4.875' x .875'
Weight
35g
Insertion Tube Hardened 303 Stainless Steel
Plug Material Viscoelastic Impregnated Rubber
Plug Tip Nonabrasive Brass/ 6061 Aluminum
Warranty Limited Lifetime
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Well made.
Rate the product for performance:
9/10
As a tyre sealer, it's great. But could do with storage options.
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
It feels solid in the hand.
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for value:
6/10
Not cheap, but worth the money.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Worked just fine sealing a large cut.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Speed.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
No Megaplug included. Boo.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
More expensive than the Genuine Innovations solution, but they're different approaches. As the cheapest Dynaplug product, it holds its own against the more expensive models, but storage is missing.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
The lack of any Megaplugs, or a way to store spare plugs, are the only things that let the Dynaplugger down, but only compared to other Dynaplug products that cost/weigh more. Otherwise, it's great.
About the tester
Age: 47
I usually ride: Sonder Camino Gravelaxe My best bike is: Nah bro that's it
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: A few times a week I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, general fitness riding, mtb, G-R-A-V-E-L
Living in the Highlands, Mike is constantly finding innovative and usually cold/wet ways to accelerate the degradation of cycling kit. At his happiest in a warm workshop holding an anodised tool of high repute, Mike's been taking bikes apart and (mostly) putting them back together for forty years. With a day job in global IT (he's not completely sure what that means either) and having run a boutique cycle service business on the side for a decade, bikes are his escape into the practical and life-changing for his customers.
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14 comments
My only flat in over 7000 miles since going tubeless was a small sidewall cut, acquired while riding across a fallow cornfield. It took two of these darts, but they worked, and it held air for several hundred more miles before I replaced the tyre.
Rear tyre, 48 mm, about 40 PSI.
Surprised the article doesn't mention Stan's darts as an alternative.
(And yes, the continuous Hunt advertising is really annoying.)
The puncture happened where it happened. And I'm currently reviewing the Hunt 650b wheelset. Are you suggesting the site shouldn't review a British product that consistently rates highly with reviewers and consumers? There may be some confirmation bias in your use of 'continuous'.
OK, "continuous" was exaggerated, but I didn't say anything about reviewing. Besdies, the article reviews Dynaplug, not Hunt wheels. The liberal display of the Hunt logo in articles that are not about Hunt wheels is manifestly a form of promotion. Regardless of the quality of Hunt wheels, this goes against the many excellent wheel builders in Britain who don't happen to have the marketing power that Hunt have.
'liberal display' and 'manifestly a form of promotion' seem to be saying that I (or nefarious editorial/marketing forces unseen) somehow planned this. It had nothing to do with me bouncing down a heavily-berocked estate track at the edge of control, and whanging the back wheel off a lump of billion-year-old Scottish granite that was minding its own business.
Are you saying I should have photoshopped out the Hunt logo?
Also, you do realise that the thing that pays for this site to give you reviews like this for free is ... drumroll ... 'advertising'? All these other UK wheel brands have the option to purchase advertising, and to send their no doubt excellent products for review. The two are explicitly separated, as Tony has said many times. Hunt or Dynaplug (or anyone else) have nothing at all to do with the editorial process.
Sorry Mike, but you continue to respond to points I never made. This is not about the puncture or its location being genuine or not. It is not about nefarious forces. It is, more simply, about the obvious visibility of this particular brand which - to me at least - seems a bit unnecessary.
It's great that Hunt (and others) purchase advertising as of course I understand that the money for the site has to come from somewhere (including from subscribers like me), and I'm fine with explicit adverts, but all I'm really saying is that their logo seems to be all over the place and that this amounts to extra promotion -- and it is mildly annoying that it makes it look as if they're the only wheel brand around in Britain, to the detriment of so many brilliant wheel builders who are simply not in a position to purchase advertising.
I've used Stan's darts and was not super impressed. They're constructed with a plastic sharp tip in front of a cloth skirt. I think the cloth part is meant to lodge in the tyre wound and seal it. However the few times I've tried to use a dart, the cloth part rips off with the force of insertion and remains uselessly outside the tyre.
Hmm, I've had better results, but maybe I was just lucky. I used the darts twice and both times they plugged the hole fine, although it was on chunky 42mm tyres, rather than normal road tyres, so I'm not sure if this made a difference.
I remember when I was a child, Blue Peter always used to have to cover up any product logos on the washing up liquid bottles et cetera they used to make things out of, so the BBC couldn't be accused of advertising. I think we've come on a bit since then, if the guy is using Hunt wheels when he is also reviewing this product, what's the problem? If he was using Bora Campags would he be accused of advertising those? There really are more important things in the world to get annoyed about.
(But if Hunt wheels really do give out wheelsets in exchange for internet mentions, lads, let the record show I'm your man!)
Most fortunate that the puncture was right above the HUNT logo 🤨.
I have one of these and have used it once. I'm not at all sure that they are suitable for road tyres: the brass dart is too wide and the plug too narrow. I had a hell of a job pushing it through the tyre, and then had to throw it away. I think these might be fine for MTB tyres and certainly work on car tyres - but I won't be using it again on my Conti 5000s.
They work fine on road tyres - the carcass of a road tyre is thinner than an MTB tyre, that's for sure.
The only consideration is that you need to take care not to stab down into your rim tape. Having some air in a small tyre definitely makes it easier, so you may want to reinflate as much as possible before stabbing.
Threads on the Internet read much like this person:
The end is rounded, so I would hope that the tape wouldn't get damaged. I have used the darts a few times on a mavic yksion (never buying those again !) and you do have to push hard if the pressure is low and it helps to squeeze the sides.
The brass end stops the rubbery bit being pushed out which I found a problem on the basic kits which are made by various suppliers. Also I did have a strange noise which I finally tracked down to the brass end coming off and tinkling against the inside of the rim !
I've only had to use my Dynaplug Racer (same design with the rounded/pointy tip) once on a rear tyre (can't remember which type, but it was either 25 or 28mm) and it worked like a dream. I didn't bother cutting down the excess on the outside of the tyre as I figured it would get worn away quickly enough and I didn't notice any issue with having the metal tip left on the inside of the tyre.