Joe’s No-Flats Super Sealant

SO GOOD
Joe’s is the cheapest sealant here but it does the job. It’s on the thinner side, which allows it to coat the inside of the tyre nicely but remain mobile enough to fill any holes.

It deals with sidewall punctures fairly swiftly as a result. Our testing involved puncturing the tyres with increasingly bigger screwdrivers, and the Super Sealant did manage to plug a hole made by our biggest 6mm tool. The seal broke once we pumped the tyre back up to 20psi though.

NO GOOD
Many of the holes that it plugs still leak slowly afterwards. You need to shake the bottle more vigorously than the others here to get the particles mixed in.

Price 27$ for 1l

Cannondale Trail SL 29 SS

The fat aluminium tubes are a constrast to the skinny items seen elsewhere in the test, but this rigid Cannondale uses them to create one of the most old-school - and lightest - rides here.

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Merida Big Nine 100

Wit the bikes swapped over, we head out on the same loop again, this time on the 29in Big Nine 100. Whereas the Big Seven was snappy off the line, the 29er takes a couple more pedal strokes to get up to speed. That said, once it's up there, it's easy to keep the big wheels rolling, allowing us to cover ground with ease. The fire road is at times a little rough, and the bigger wheels roll over the imperfections so we barely notice them.

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SKS Airbuster CO2 inflator

The alloy Airbuster has a large knob so you can regulate the flow of gas, a mechanical stop to prevent the cartridge being pierced in transit and a dust cap to keep the valve free of debris. While it works with Presta and Schrader valves, switching between them requires a fiddly change of the valve head. The thin rubber sleeve doesn’t provide much protection from cold spent canisters. You can’t insert much of the valve into the inflator head, so you have to be careful to avoid leaks. Price $33 w/16g cartridge

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KONA SHRED

With a reputation for no-nonsense ruggedness and a background in the always progressive and punishing riding of Canada, Kona have been building hardcore hardtails for longer than almost anyone else. The Shred is the most expensive bike on test but it’s a proper trail tank.

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