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TECH NEWS

milKit: tubeless tyres made easy? Plus video

New system is designed to simplify measuring and refilling sealant in tubeless tyres

A new product called milKit allows you to measure the amount of sealant you have inside your tubeless tyres and to refill them with the correct volume.

As you probably know, with a tubeless system you use a sealant inside the tyre to prevent flats. You need to top up the sealant every so often, but finding out how much is left inside your tyre isn’t straightforward.

milKit comprises two patented valves that are compatible with all standard rim types, and a measuring and refilling device. The team behind milKit say that a rubber flap prevents sealant from clogging the valve and allows super-fast inflation without a valve core.

To check how much sealant is inside your tyre, the system allows you to let it flow out of the valve and into the measuring device. Then you add any more sealant that’s necessary and push it back into the tyre.

The Swiss team have a working prototype and are looking for crowdfunding on Indiegogo to create the production tools necessary for large-scale manufacture.

You need to contribute US$25 (around £16) to be in line for two milKit valves while US$49 (around £32) gets you the valves plus the measuring and refilling device.

For more info go to www.milkit.bike or the milKit campaign on Indiegogo

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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3 comments

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KiwiMike | 8 years ago
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OK, I get it now - you push a thin tube down through the valve to the bottom of the tyre, then air pressure forces it up into the tube/syringe.

This vid shows it much better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwQlUK-mi1Y&feature=youtu.be

Yep, that's properly clever. Should be standard.

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wellcoordinated | 8 years ago
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I like that the valves are black. I wish they were smooth though, with only just a little bit of thread. I like black valves. Oops I said that already.

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joules1975 replied to wellcoordinated | 8 years ago
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wellcoordinated wrote:

I like that the valves are black. I wish they were smooth though, with only just a little bit of thread. I like black valves. Oops I said that already.

But how far up would you stop the thread? With so many rim depths, you have to thread it the whole way otherwise you'd massively limit the wheels they would fit.

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