New underseat puncture kit from Givi

PUNCTURES ON a bike suck. Well, they blow, obviously, ha, but you get the point(!). A puncture repair kit is, then, a very sensible thing to have on a longer trip. Or even a short one for that matter. We've used them all over the years, aerosol foam things, screw-in plugs, mad gluey strips of rubber with a dangerous stabbing weapon to insert them, the lot, with varying levels of success.

Enter this new S450 Givi puncture repair kit. It's one of the mad rubber strip ones with the stabby weapon - which takes a wee bit of practice the first time you use it. Luckily, Givi has provided a link to an instruction video, so you can call it up on your phone and refer to it as the HGVs thunder past... Essentially, the big rough stabby thing roughens up and prepares the puncture hole, so pull out the nail or screw or cyclist's femur which has punctured your rear Diablo, and get the stabby thing in there.

The next weapon has a notch in it, which holds the sticky rubber strippy thing. Slot that in, cover it with rubber cement, and then jam it into the puncture hole like a man or woman possessed. It'll take a bit of effort.

Then, when you pull the slotted stabbing tool out, the rubber strip should stay in place, sealing up the puncture. The rubber cement vulcanises it all into place, and you can re-inflate the tyre with the supplied CO2 canisters and connection valve. One tip - there are never enough of those to inflate a tyre properly, so get some extras. Bosh. Off you go.

The Givi S450 costs £38.49. More info from www.givi.co.uk