Topeak Tubi Master

The Topeak Tubi Master is a tubeless repair kit that ups the puncture fixing game. The frame-mounted kit comes with everything you might expect when repairing tubeless tyres, plus you get the convenience of a CO2 inflator and canister mount – bring your own CO2 canister, though. If you factor in the inclusion of an inflator in the lofty price tag, this comprehensive tubeless repair kit is worth a look.

At £54.99, Topeak's range-topping Tubi Master is one of the most expensive tubeless repair kits I've ever come across, and it doesn't even come with a CO2 canister... That's a bit cheeky, if you ask me.

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So what do you get in the kit? As with the Tubi Pod X I've also been testing, the kit is made to be mounted to your frame via a Velcro strap that keeps it held firmly in place. Its footprint is a little bigger than the Pod X, and it's heavier too – more on that in a bit.

You get an insertion tool inside one end of the left-hand pod, and in the opposite end you'll find the repair plugs. The insertion tool has a removable cap, which simply pulls off, while the repair plugs are protected by a screw-on cap – both are watertight thanks to o-rings that seal them from the elements.

The left-hand pod is made of aluminium and feels like it could take a licking – I certainly didn't notice any degradation of the exterior finish during testing. Both ends feature a knurled grip to make them easy to hold.

Unlike the Pod X, which comes with five 3.5mm x 10cm plugs, there are only four here, and in a bid to save space they're just half the length of the X's. So, in effect you're only getting two full-length plugs by comparison.

As I mentioned in that review (and in the review of the more basic Pod kit) you don't need to use the full length anyway; the shorter plugs in the Master are perfectly adequate for repairs.

You also get a retainer plug built into the neck of the insertion tool handle (shown here still with the cap on). When you've inserted both the tool and plug inside the tyre, simply unscrew this plug to hold the excess repair plug in place, allowing you to focus on removing the tool without pulling the plug out.

I spoke of this before with the Pod X, and I'm still only mildly convinced of its effectiveness versus using your fingers, but it's a nice touch anyway.

The one thing you don't get with the Master is an air plug. Both the cheaper Pod and Pod X include one, but since I consider it a pretty superfluous tool, I'm happy that it hasn't been included.

The kit comes with a knife for trimming plug ends, and just like the Pod X this is held in the centre of the mount – just slot it in to fix it in place. It's held very securely and didn't come loose at any point during testing. Echoing my thoughts with the Pod X's knife, the Master's isn't particularly sharp, so it takes quite a bit of work to get through the end of a plug. You also need to be careful not to pull the plug out as you're doing so.

It differs slightly from the Pod X by not only being a bit bigger, but by having a handle built in – you don't need to swap the insertion tool out like you have to with the Pod X. Sure, it's not quite as neat a solution, but it'll probably save you a bit of time during a repair.

Most notable in the Master variant of the Tubi lineup is the inclusion of a CO2 inflator and cartridge mount, which is held in the right-hand side of the mount. It's made of CNC aluminium and feels rock solid. The Master comes with a cartridge blank that you simply replace with a working cartridge and screw into the inflator to hold it in place on its ring mount.

Using the inflator is incredibly easy – when the time comes, you simply remove the inflator and cartridge from the mount, screw it in fully and insert it onto the valve (it works with Presta or Schrader). Then push down on the head to activate the cartridge.

The nice thing about the design of Topeak's inflator versus the screw-on types that need to be turned on, is that the cartridge only works when you push it onto the valve, so there's no chance of accidentally spending a cartridge if you've left the valve open.

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The Master's overall weight of 90g isn't especially light, but when you consider you get a CO2 inflator included in that – which typically come in at about 30g – it's certainly competitive with similar kits. The Birzman Tubeless Repair Kit, for example, is 44g without an inflator, and you're looking at a pretty basic kit, by comparison.

I tried all three of Topeak's Tubi repair kits at the same time, the Pod, Pod X and this, the Master, and they all work pretty similarly. There are minor differences in the size of the tools (the single Pod is the chunkiest), with the Pod X and Master having slightly longer tools – that makes it easier to insert a plug without the handle butting against the tyre.

As I mentioned in the reviews of the Pod and Pod X, Topeak appears to have designed its range to work best with mountain bike tyres (even the product shots demonstrate the kits in use on a mountain bike tyre). The Master's inflation tool is 'small size for road bike' according to Topeak, but although it's a little smaller than that in the other two kits, and it'll work with a 28mm road tyre at a push, it's far from ideal. It's better with gravel tyres over 38mm.

In testing, the repair plug sealed a puncture from a 4mm screw, but nothing more. You might get better results from larger punctures on a mountain bike tyre, but I doubt it – the 3.5mm thick plug would suggest a puncture about 3-3.5mm is where it's most effective.

Value

It's not a cheap option, but if you factor in the inflator that comes with the Tubi Master, it doesn't compare that badly against some of the more premium offerings. The Dynaplug Racer tubeless repair kit is now £37.99 and doesn't come with an inflator. Nor does Muc-Off's Stealth tubeless puncture repair kit, though that's £30 – and does double duty as your bar end plugs. 

Topeak's own mid-range Tubi Pod X does everything the Master does, and more, sans inflator and cartridge holder, for £36.99.

At the complete opposite end of the scale, if you want the most repair kit for your money, you could look at something like the Genuine Innovations Tubeless Tire Repair Kit at a mere £5.99; you could then use the money saved not buying the Tubi Master kit to get yourself a decent CO2 inflator, some spare cartridges, and maybe a case to store it in.

Overall

If you want a high-quality tubeless repair kit to work with your fleet of bikes, then the Tubi Master is a good one-size-fits-all solution, but it's expensive, and personally I would rather use something more bijou (and lighter) for road riding.

It's worth noting that Topeak lists a version of the Tubi Master that comes with Topeak's own CO2 cartridge. At the time of writing I couldn't find it for sale, and given that you've probably already got cartridges, you're better off just purchasing it without.

Verdict

A one-stop-shop tubeless repair kit for tyres over 38mm wide, though the price tag is daunting