Dynaplug Megapill tubeless repair tool review

Has Dynaplug really nailed the answer to easy, effective tubeless tyre repair?

Dynaplug Megapill
(Image: © Guy Kesteven)

BikePerfect Verdict

By far the most effective, fast and user-friendly tubeless tyre repair tool we’ve used and well worth the money

Pros

  • +

    Instant sealing of small to medium holes

  • +

    Inserts easily and stays in securely

  • +

    Decent range of easy to use kits for various applications

Cons

  • -

    You’ll need ‘Megaplugs’ for really big slash wounds

  • -

    Not cheap, but worth it

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Most ‘screwdriver and rubber strip’ based tubeless repair systems are a real faff to get to work and potentially damage your tyre even more. That makes the unique Dynaplug system even more of a joy to use on the trail.

Construction

Most kits make you push a folded rubber strip through the tyre hole with a cleft screwdriver like a downsized version of car/motorbike kits. That often makes a bigger hole and involves a real fight to get the rubber strip in the tool only for it to pull straight out again still attached so you have to poke and fudge around to get a seal. Instead, Dynaplugs fit a pointed ‘bullet’ to the end of a viscoelastic impregnated strip that stays sticky and fresh inside the ‘insertion tube’. 

The anodised alloy £59.99 ’MegaPill’ tested here includes five standard plugs plus a small cleaning brush for cleaning the insertion tubes before refilling, a tapered air stopper and a tiny plastic-handled knife for trimming the rubber plug tail or microscopic cooking. There’s also a Micro Pro using the same metal canister and contents but with only two insertion tubes for £49.99, a plastic Megaplugger with three normal plugs and two oversized Megaplugs (£29.99). Minimalist weight watchers will want the 23g £34.99 Dynaplug Racer which has a ready to go Megaplug in one end, a standard plug in the other and two spare plugs in the anodised alloy body. The £19.99 Carbon Ultralite isn’t actually carbon but does come with four standard plugs, a cleaning brush and an insertion tube is probably the best value kit tho. Standard plugs are £8.99 for four, while Megaplugs are £9.99 for three.

Dynaplug Megapill

Three soft nose standard plugs are left after our testing period. These are stored alongside a tapered air stopper, the micro knife and a pipe cleaner (Image credit: Guy Kesteven)

Performance 

While it took years for the small US company behind the idea to perfect, actually using Dynaplug couldn’t be easier. Just thread the tube into the handle (they come with one pre-installed) push through the hole, the brass head catches inside, you pull out the tool, rotate the tyre to get the sealant to fill any small gaps and you’re good to go. If you need to plug a bigger hole, just fold the tail over and press it down to glue in place and/or stick another plug alongside it. Alternatively, get the Megaplugger which puts several strips behind a fatter head. Either way, the head holds the plug in place indefinitely and we’ve used it on everything from enduro tyres to lightweight road tyres with 100 per cent first-time success.

Verdict 

Well packaged in a range of options, with an excellent user-friendly design that we’ve had an instant, 100 per cent permanent repair record from on all sorts of tyres. It’s more expensive than normal kits, but the fact it works far better makes the price well worth paying with only Stans Dart potentially coming close but we’ve not actually tried that outside a trade show yet. 

Tech spec: Dynaplug Megapill tubeless repair tool

  • Price: £59.99
  • Tools: 5 x standard and 2 x Megaplug compatible stainless steel insertion tubes 5 x Soft nose standard plugs, 2 x Megaplugs, 1 x micro knife, a handy carry pouch and a pipe cleaner
  • Size: 6.6 x 2.8cm
  • Weight: 85g
Guy Kesteven
Technical-Editor-at-Large

Guy has been working on Bike Perfect since we launched in 2019. Hatched in Yorkshire he's been hardened by riding round it in all weathers since he was a kid. He spent a few years working in bike shops and warehouses before starting writing and testing for bike mags in 1996. Since then he’s written several million words about several thousand test bikes and a ridiculous amount of riding gear. To make sure he rarely sleeps and to fund his custom tandem habit, he’s also penned a handful of bike-related books and talks to a GoPro for YouTube, too.


Current rides: Cervelo ZFS-5, Forbidden Druid V2, Specialized Chisel, custom Nicolai enduro tandem, Landescape/Swallow custom gravel tandem

Height: 180cm

Weight: 69kg