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review

Muc-Off Ultimate Tubeless Kit

8
£40.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Decent collection of quality products that make going tubeless an easy and relatively cheap option
Some of the best valves out there
More sealant than you get from most brands
Weight: 
365g
Contact: 

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With more and more riders going tube-free as the technology becomes more affordable, Muc-Off's Ultimate Tubeless Setup Kit makes a handy collection of quality bits of kit, with everything you need to make the transition.

The Ultimate Tubeless kit is available in a range of options to suit different disciplines and their corresponding wheel sizes plus rim depths. I've been testing the Road/Gravel set for deep-section rims, which includes a 21mm x 10m roll of Muc-Off's own tubeless rim tape, two 60mm valves and two 140ml pouches of its No Puncture Hassle Tubeless Sealant.

> Find your nearest dealer here

Compared to a lot of tapes, the Muc-Off version feels quite thin and I thought I was going to need a couple of layers to be on the safe side, but after trying it with just the one, everything has been fine when running tyres at 100psi.

It has just a small amount of stretch which means it fits snugly against the shape of any wheel, with enough tack that it sticks well first time and doesn't move. The fact that it's clear makes finding the valve hole easy too.

Many new wheels already come with a pair of tubeless valves but the ones you get here, Muc-Off's Tubeless Presta Valves, are a thing of beauty – I was certainly impressed when I tested them last year.

In fact, I'm currently running them on about three sets of wheels and they haven't missed a beat. CNC-machined from aluminium, they are very well made, and I've had no issues with them gunking up when I haven't opened the core in a while.

In the kit you also get a selection of rubber grommits to make sure the valves sit leak-free in the hole, regardless of rim bed shape.

> Buyer's Guide: Tubeless tyres – all your options

I've also tested the No Puncture Hassle sealant previously too, and it is right up there with the best on the market. I found that it lasted for about five months before it had dried out and needed to be replaced.

It'll repair the majority of small holes up to around 4-5mm and will cope with a decent amount of pressure, depending on the size of the hole. On larger cuts, 60-70psi was about the maximum before it would occasionally blow the set sealant out and have to reseal itself, but that's enough to get you home and patch up the tyre if needs be.

> What they don't tell you about tubeless

Many other sealants are like this, and it's why I think tubeless is a better solution for mountain biking or gravel riding, where tyre pressures are lower than on the road.

My only real criticism was that the sealant pouches were quite expensive to buy compared with the larger workshop bottles. They make sense for an initial try out, though, and if tubeless is your thing then you can buy accordingly.

As a kit, the price is pretty good, to be fair. Individually, the valves would cost you £22.50 and the sealant £9.99 per pouch, so you are basically getting the rim tape for free.

Muc-Off Ultimate Tubeless Setup Kit - box.jpg

Stan's NoTubes Road Kit will set you back £32 and is regarded as some of the best sealant going. You are only getting 120ml of sealant, though, compared to the Muc-Off's 280ml.

For a road tyre, Muc-Off recommends 30-45ml and for a cyclo-cross/gravel option around 60ml, so you are going to be able to sort a bike from just one pouch and have one left over.

Orro's tubeless kit costs a very impressive £26.99, but it's the same deal here, with just two 60ml bottles of sealant – and the valves from Muc-Off are in a different league.

Overall, the Muc-Off kit mixes quality components with a decent price for dipping your toes in the world of tubeless.

Verdict

Decent collection of quality products that make going tubeless an easy and relatively cheap option

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: Muc-Off Ultimate Tubeless Kit

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?

Muc-Off says, "The Muc-Off Ultimate Tubeless Kit contains everything needed to get a tubeless-ready wheelset set up and ready to roll. Each Kit contains a Muc-Off Tubeless Rim Tape, Seal Patches, 2 CNC-machined black tubeless Valves and 2 pouches of No Puncture Hassle Tubeless Sealant."

It makes switching to tubeless easy.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

From Muc-Off:

Five kits available;

Road/gravel/CX with shallow rims (44mm tubeless valves and 21mmx10m Rim Tape)

Road/gravel/CX with deep rims (60mm tubeless valves and 21mmx10m Rim Tape)

XC (44mm tubeless valves and 25mmx10m Rim Tape)

DH/Enduro (44mm tubeless valves and 30mmx10m Rim Tape)

DH Wide (44mm tubeless valves and 35mmx10m Rim Tape)

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for value:
 
6/10

The performance of the sealant and tape is up with the best in the business and the inclusion of quality valves means that, although the likes of Stan's and the Orro kit are cheaper, you're still getting your money's worth here (and extra sealant).

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

All of the parts work well and the sealant does a good job of closing up holes.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

A kit made up of quality components.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

It would be cool if you could choose what colour anodised valves you could have in the kit.

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

Not the cheapest out there but you are getting more for your money than most kits. All the products work well too.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 41  Height: 180cm  Weight: 76kg

I usually ride: This month's test bike  My best bike is: B'Twin Ultra CF draped in the latest bling test components

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, fixed/singlespeed,

As part of the tech team here at F-At Digital, senior product reviewer Stu spends the majority of his time writing in-depth reviews for road.cc, off-road.cc and ebiketips using the knowledge gained from testing over 1,500 pieces of kit (plus 100's of bikes) since starting out as a freelancer back in 2009. After first throwing his leg over a race bike back in 2000, Stu's ridden more than 170,000 miles on road, time-trial, track, and gravel bikes, and while he's put his racing days behind him, he still likes to smash the pedals rather than take things easy. With a background in design and engineering, he has an obsession with how things are developed and manufactured, has a borderline fetish for handbuilt metal frames and finds a rim braked road bike very aesthetically pleasing!

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