NoWhammies

This morning when I took my bike down for a ride, I noticed the Orange Sealant weeping through three different spot/holes in my front tyre. Is it worth taking the tyre off and patching the holes?

Thank you.

Atlas Shrugged

Yes

colnago62

Is the tire worn out?

WhyFi

If there's plenty of tread left, and it's weeping through punctures rather than weeping because you've worn through the carcass, I'd address it. Make sure that the debris isn't still in the cuts and re-opening them. If OS isn't keeping it sealed, it's a pretty decent sized hole, in my experience. Before pulling and patching, you might want to try bacon strips (look for Genuine Innovations Tubeless repair kits, or similar). It's a 20-second operation per puncture, rather than pulling, cleaning, patching, re-mount, etc.

That said, I recently had a puncture that was just a little too big to seal with those, and the strips were getting slowly pushed back out at road pressure (~75psi). The cut measured about 3/16" (5mm). In this case, I pulled the tire and patched the inside with a regular tube patch. It held up just fine for 125 miles over the last two days. This was actually the first time in about 10k miles that I'd received a puncture that didn't total the tire, yet OS wouldn't permanently seal, so I'm curious about the nature of your three leaks that aren't sealing.

NoWhammies

Good tip. I have some strips of bacon that I have never used/tried. This is a good time for me to give them a shot. I'll track down a YouTube video and learn how to use them.


I'll see if I can get some pictures of the punctures and post them up here. I'm fairly certain I'm looking at hole though, since there seems to be a specific spot on the tyre that is wet.

I don' believe so. Only 3,700k on the front tyre. If I could get some more use out of it, that would be great.

eduskator

If it's not worn out (or close to being), then yes.

3700kms is a lot. Unmount it & inspect it. You'll know how worn it is.

noodle soup

That's only 2300 miles. That's not much for a front tire.

eduskator

It depends which one & how it was used. Only one way to find out...

jimincalif

I've had a few weeps where I wondered if the sealant would be sufficient. So far all but one completely sealed up. That one did seal initially but then started leaking again on a subsequent ride. I Dynaplugged it and so far so good. All the other punctures the sealant eventually handled. I walk past my bike when getting into my car, so I make a habit of giving the wheels a spin most every time just to keep the sealant distributed.

NoWhammies

Thanks for the info folks. Still haven't gotten around to pulling the tyre yet. Life keeps getting in the way. Hopefully I'll find the time this weekend to try out the strips of bacon and plug up the tyre.

Considering the tyre is on the front of my bike, should I move the tyre to the rear?

NoWhammies

So here are all the holes on the front tyre that are seeping fluid.









And here is a shot of what the tread looks like.



Based on the number of seeping holes on this tyre, I'm leaning towards junking it. Even if the tread looks to be pretty good.

Thoughts/comments?

jimincalif

Those don’t look unusual. Are they continuing to weep or are they sealing up? Does it hold pressure normally? How old is the sealant? Have you added any? Seems to me like they should seal and stop weeping. Sometimes it takes a little while. My rear tire was losing pressure faster than my front after a couple of punctures. Still holding well enough to ride for a full day, so I didn’t do anything but add another ounce of sealant. After a couple weeks it sealed up to the point it is no longer losing pressure any faster than the front.

WhyFi

That sealant looks like crap to me - watery, bubbly. Definitely not fresh - OS should look like slightly orange-tinted half & half, not.... that. Take off the tire, clean out the old stuff, put in new sealant - I bet they'll close. Tread looks like there's a lot of life left in the tires.

NoWhammies

Thanks folks. I'll take your advice and give the tyre a clean and add some more Orange Seal.

@jimincalif they are continuing to weep, but the tyre is holding pressure. I am not sure how old the sealant itself is, but I put the sealant in the tyre I'd say anywhere from a month and half to two moths ago.

ThermionicScott 

For what tire is 3700km in front "a lot", @eduskator? Just curious.

billyymc

Did you shake the sealant thoroughly before putting it in the tire?

eduskator

The one that's worned out after 3700kms. I had one giving up after 2000kms this summer.

Do you expect to get 10 000 kms per tire? If so, please tell me which model so I can run to the store and buy a set.

ThermionicScott 

What brand and model is this mystery tire? I've never worn out a front tire ever.

eduskator

Perhaps you should stop wheelying when you ride.

ThermionicScott 

Why are you dodging such an innocuous question?

I've never wheelied in my life, and even my rear tires last more than 3700km unless they get a bad cut. That's why I'm interested.

WhyFi

Yeah, I can't say that I've ever had a front tire even remotely close to being done at 2,000 miles.

NoWhammies

Yes I did. Although I can't speak for how old the sealant was at the co-op when I bought it. I'd expect it be fairly new though.

Sy Reene

fwiw, I think they're Pirelli Cinturatos.

ThermionicScott 

I think you've nailed the OP's tires, for sure.

I can still see the points at the ends of the lightning bolts in the tread, so it definitely doesn't look worn out.

2manybikes

How many miles on this tire?