NoWhammies

My road bike will have been hanging from the front wheel for approx 6 ~ 7 mos without any use when it comes time to go for a ride again. I ride a tubeless setup with Stan's as my sealant. When the time comes to get riding again, do I need to:

a) replace / refill the sealant?
b) if yes, then do I need to clean out the existing sealant on just add to what's already in there? and
c) does it matter if I'm switching from Stan's to another sealant?

Thank you.

Elvo

a. Yes, it dries out in about 90-120 days
b. You don't have to clean out the old stuff unless you are a weight weenie or it's clogging your valve.
c. None of the manufacturers will say they are intercompatible but I've mixed orange seal endurance with stans with no problems.

jadocs

I'm new to tubless, so I can't answer your question regarding whether it would be an issue after prolonged non-use....but my guess would be yes, based on what I have read about it.. I would just go ahead and clean it out and use the new stuff if that's what you are going to do.....but that's just me.

Marcus_Ti

Well the tires will have lost pressure and seating may be compromised....also there will be a solid booger in one side of the tire where the undisturbed pool was. Easier to just give the wheels a spin every few days over winter that to clear the booger out....then you can just top off sealant and repressurize and go.

JohnJ80

I've been using the new Finish Line sealant since it came out with great results. So far, haven't had to refresh the sealant at all. With the others (Orange, Stans etc...) I'd wind up with it dried out at the end of winter. I'll check it in the spring, but I doubt I'll need to do anything. For me, this is pretty much sealant that lasts as long as my tires do. I suppose if you don't ride the bike (and therefore, the tires don't wear), it wouldn't be reasonable to expect it to last years or something like that.

As an aside, there is apparently a benefit to replacing your current sealant with Finish line. Finish line is water based so it cleans sup well. Depending on the porosity of the tire, the sealant can become more viscous if any of the water evaporates from the sealant. If you had another sealant in the tire before (or, I suppose, more Finish Line), the porosity of the tire would be decreased by the sealant so the sealant would remain more mobile.

At any rate, it's worked pretty well for me and I don't feel like I have to worry about sealant levels much anymore.

J.

pdoege

You can suck the sealant out with a syringe and store it in the fridge with a tight lid. There will be a very small amount left in the tire. Small enough to be ignored.

Put about 30psi in the tires to keep the beads secure while they hang.

Inject the old sealant when you are ready to ride again.

NoWhammies

Thanks for the information. @pdoege the suggestion to suck the sealant out of the tyre is a good one. That never occurred to me.

@Marcus_Ti My bike has been hanging, unused, since the middle of September. Chances are I have a pretty big booger in the tyre already. But taking the bike off the hook and spinning the wheels every couple of days might not be such a bad idea after all.

@JohnJ80 I'm thinking of giving Boyd's tyre sealant a go. I have Boyd wheels on my bike and am very happy with them so I figured why not give the sealant a try too?

JohnJ80

bogydave

NoWhammies

@JohnJ80 Thanks for the tip/info. I have easy access to Orange and it seems to be the sealant of choice around here. So maybe that's a good option.

@bogydave My conditions are rainy and moderate. But yeah, I see what you're getting at. I might have to take my tyre off come spring and give it a good clean out.

carlton

^^^^ I use orange also. The tire had been recharged a couple of times already and was past due for another. The sealant was completely dried out. Had a thin coating on the sidewalls and fairly thick coat along the center of the tire. I decided to clean it all out and start fresh. Stiff bristle brushes, SOS pads, lots of dawn detergent, water, and about 2.5 hours of rubbing with my thumbs and fingers finally got it clean. Not 1 drop stuck to the rim or rim tape (DT Swiss). Hope yours goes easier. My tire manufacturer (compass tire) recommends that the original set up be orange and subsequent recharges be stans. Something about stans not drying out as bad as orange. Believe I'll follow their advice this time around. In my defense my LBS didn't stock stans.

WhyFi

Why in the world would you get that OCD about the inside of your tire? I make sure that the beads aren't gummed up so that they'll have no issues seating/sealing. At worst, I'll put on some gloves and quickly rub off the spiderwebs and snake skin with the heel of my palm, but nothing that can't be removed within two minutes is going to be noticeable, much less problematic.

carlton

^^^ I'll be more than happy to let you clean it up next time. Your hands must be so abrasive that you can outscrub a stiff bristle brush and SOS pads. And to do it in two minutes are less is most impressive.

WhyFi

I take it you missed the "put on some gloves" part.

In any event, yeah, the vast majority of the stuff comes off easily. The dried up stuff wants to stick to itself, so you let it. A lot of it can be peeled. If patches resist peeling, you flatten the carcass on a table or work bench and rub it with the flat of your palm and it'll roll up. You don't want or need abrasiveness - I only wear gloves on the off chance that there's something sharp embedded in the tire. The sealant has one job, to gum up air gaps - breaking it up with bristles and abrasives is just going result in a bigger mess while gumming up and clogging your bristles and pads... but you already learned that.

carlton

^^^Actually I tried to be nice to you but I see that didn't work. You are making the assumption that you know the condition of my tire, but you do not know. And you are not going to be able to clean a tire in the condition mine was in, in two minutes or less. Not happening. I repeat NOT HAPPENING! Life is much to short and enjoyable too me, than to waste my time talking to someone like you. So please find someone else to talk to. I'm not interested in your negativity or lack of knowledge on this matter.

Cyclist0108

I now feel fully vindicated running tubes in all my Compass tires.

WhyFi

But it's not too short to spend 150 minutes scrubbing the inside of your tires? Or is that one of the enjoyable bits? Either way, I'll leave you to it. Have fun making more work for yourself.

NoWhammies

So as a follow-up to the removal of the tyre to get at the dried up sealant, does the tyre need to be inflated with a significant amount of pressure (read - take the wheel to the LBS) to seat again? Or assuming I have the thumb strength to get the tyre back on the wheel, can I just inflate the Schwable Pro Ones at home and be good to go?

JohnJ80

Depends on the tire and the rim combination. Some, you can pump up with a regular pump even. Others, it's compressor only. In any case, a compressor is always easiest.

J.

JohnJ80

I would never ever use an abrasive on the inside of a tire. That is just asking for trouble.

J.

WhyFi

The first install is always the most difficult - you might be able to get it back on with just a track pump, but you'll just have to try.

Cyclist0108

Compass tires are atypical of tubeless. They weep quite a bit of sealant, which is probably why it becomes fused to the inner surface. As mentioned, I run mine with tubes, and fortunately haven't had any flats.

To go tubeless, the many associated hassles have to add up to something less than fixing the occasional flat.

I also don't want orange ooze weeping from and staining my gum-walls.

Abe_Froman

Man, if a tire can't handle an SOS pad, it's going to have an awfully hard time with 5,000 miles of asphalt...

JohnJ80

DowneasTTer

I have been using Pro Ones on both my and my. wife's bikes for a while now. Have opened them up a couple of time during then and also replaced them. I can tell you that this 69 year old doesn't have the power to use a floor pump to get them to seat on the rims. I purchased an AirShot to do the trick. Works every time. Then put the sealant in via the valve stem and use the floor pump to bring them up to desired pressure. You could use a CO2 cartridge ($$) or compressor ($$$$). But if you are planing on staying with tubeless I would suggest purchasing an Airshot. Here's the one I purchased: https://www.amazon.com/Airshot-1-15L...inflator&psc=1

Good Luck