The Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder and Valve kit offers a stealthy way to keep track of your wide-tyred bike – and it does it well.
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Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder & 44mm Valve Kit – Technical Details
This review is focusing on the Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder even though we received the whole Tag Holder and valves kit for the test. If you’re interested in how the valves fared, make sure you read our Muc-Off V2 Tubeless Valves review.
>Buy now: Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder & 44mm Valve Kit
The kit comes with two black 44mm valves, the Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder and three pairs of rubber valve bases. It is possible to also purchase the Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder and valves separately, in which case you can choose between 44mm, 60mm or 80mm valve length and from a range of colours.
In essence, the Muc-Off Tubeless Tag Holder offers a discreet way to install a tracker inside of your rear tyre. The tracker is housed in a protective, three-part silicone and rubber tubeless valve mount and supplied with a range of tubeless valve bases.
Installing the Stealth Tag Holder is not any harder than a tubeless set-up, as you basically just hide your Apple AirTag (which you need to purchase separately) inside the silicone cover and then pop the tyre back on.
Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder & 44mm Valve Kit – Performance
Setting up the Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder was an easy task; the little kit box came with instructions and it was a simple matter of inserting the AirTag into the holder, covering it with the Silicone, and then putting the valve on the rim.
Muc-Off provides three valve bases in each kit, ensuring that you can get that tight fit regardless of your rim shape. I must admit, the mushroom-like shape of the Tag was slightly worrying me after I had got it all secured on the rim (21mm internal, 24.6 external width).
Putting the worries aside, I set up my tyres tubeless as usual and inserted the sealant through the valve to test if the Tag Holder impacted the flow – it was possibly slightly slower than the front valve, but still worked well. Although it shouldn’t be an issue, I am curious about how the sealant will impact the AirTag long-term, as neither the device nor the Tubeless Tag Holder are fully waterproof. I will update this review in due course in case there are any issues – but this far the set-up seems to work all fine.
Muc-Off recommends the Tubeless Tag Holder to only be installed on the rear wheel and on tyres wider than 38mm. I tested the Tag inside 40mm WTB Nanos and Goodyear Connectors and fitting the Tag in this width was a bit of a squeeze. Squeezing the tyre around the valve I could easily feel the Tag Holder, which wasn’t exactly reassuring. This made me think about what would happen to the Tag in the event of a flat tyre but this is merely a worry based on assumption.
And despite being able to feel the Tag Holder through the tyre by hand, I did not notice it when riding except for one time when my rear tyre was definitely below the recommended pressure. This resulted in feeling the tag on every turn of the wheel but surprisingly this did not impact the tag holder at all.
The ease of installation and ride feel aside, the most important aspect of this tubeless tag holder is the AirTag it holds inside. Our sister site, road.cc, has reviewed the little device in depth so I will not go into the details, but for the purpose of this review, I will explain the principle.
AirTag is an Apple-only product, meaning you can only use the Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag holder if you have another Apple product that runs the “Find my” app. The AirTag sends a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network, and these devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud. In essence, for the AirTag to work you need it to be near an iPhone.
I found having the AirTag inside the tyre hardly impacted its signal at all – I was able to see that my bike was at home even from the other side of the country, as long as there was someone near it with an iPhone. Whereas other bike-specific AirTag holders are made of aluminium, or placed inside the bike frame can impact the signal, I think the way the Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder sits above the rim and is only surrounded by the silicone cover and the tyre, works to its advantage.
Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder & 44mm Valve Kit – Verdict
I think this product is great, especially for someone who travels with their bike a lot. Considering it’s designed for off-road use (because of the minimum tyre width) I cannot really think of any other situation where you might need this kind of tracking device on your off-road bike – unless you’re prone to losing your wheels.
Another scenario would maybe be one where you lend your bike to someone else and would be curious about its whereabouts – which then again could be classified as stalking.
Whatever the reason for tracking (please don’t track anyone against their will), the Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder works great at its given purpose. It shows you where your bike (wheel, to be specific) is at any given time. The signal is great but the performance is limited by the requirement of an Apple device proximity.
We haven’t reviewed similar products here on Off-Road, and there isn’t another similar product out on the market so it’s hard to directly compare the value of the Stealth Tag Holder. But in essence, in case you don’t have Muc-Off valves, the tested holder + valves kit will set you back £34.99, plus an additional £29 for the AirTag. The kit comes with 44mm valves only, so in case you have deeper wheels, you will need to purchase the Tag Holder (£14.99) and valves (£24.99) separately. In the end, you’re looking at paying £64 to £69 for the set-up. It’s not cheap, but it all depends on how much you value being able to track your bike in a way that is not easily spotted by thieves.
The Muc-Off Secure Tag Holder that road.cc reviewed costs £29.99, and is more easily spotted and removed by a thief. AlterLock Anti-Theft Alarm & GPS Tracking Device is a similar design and costs £114.90 and the Knog Scout is priced at £49.99. So in this comparison, the Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder is good value – but does require wider tyres.
Overall, there is nothing to fault on the Muc-Off Stealth Tubeless Tag Holder’s performance and it’s a great safety accessory if you have over 38mm wide tyres, and an Apple device for tracking.
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Please note: AirTag Tracker & All-New Tubeless Valves are not included with the mount, sold separately. Only compatible with our All-New Tubeless Valves.”
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