staehpj1

Okay so I am a happy tubless user and about to get a new bike that is tubeless equipped. So far my only tubeless wheelset was on a bike that was ridden daily, but the new bike will replace it for that function. My concern is that tubless may be less of a slam dunk on bikes that don't get ridden much. I wonder if my current daily ride might languish and have the sealant dry up while it sits being seldom ridden if it gets relegated to once in a while use. I am not sure how much the old bike will be ridden. It may not be an issue, but it may regularly sit for months unused.

Do those of you with seldom ridden tubeless equipped bikes just add sealant when it dries up or do you convert back to tubes for seldom ridden bikes.

easyupbug 

I have too many bikes so most are seldom ridden or only when a certain kid or grandkids comes to town and so I avoid tubeless and the maintenance to insure they are ready, many definitely would not pass the slosh test and have to be topped off with sealant at a minimum if not pulled off which is unpleasant maintenance in my opinion. A ride every couple month or so would let you get away with topping off.

chaadster

It depends on a few few things, to me. If the “seldom ridden” bike is a seasonal switch-up, I keep it tubeless because I have time to prep ahead of the need/use, and once it’s in service, it gets regular use for some period of time through the season. This is the case for my winter/spring roadie and my summer roadie.

In another case, of my three townie/cafe bikes, I only keep the most frequently ridden one tubeless, and the other two tubed, because I don’t know when I’ll ride them, but when I do, I want them ready to go, and just needing to shoot some air in tubes in more reliable than making sure tubeless are set up securely.

Usually tubeless are fine after months of sitting, but it’s not uncommon for me to come across a wheel with a slow leak, or one that that just won’t hold air at all. Sometimes it’s just a matter of adding sealant and inflating, but sometimes it’s cleaning a valve core or retaping, so stuff that takes more time. Point being, there’s potentially more to go wrong with tubeless.

I think a lot of the tubeless hassles could be mitigated with the right equipment, like a solid rim bed and airtight (or lined) tire casings, but for the most part, those are things I didn’t prioritize in the equipment selection when I originally set up the bikes, so I don’t doubt a seldom-ridden tubeless bike could be made quite dependable.

staehpj1

I should maybe also consider what the specific usage of the bike is. For use where there are a lot of thorn flats the benefit of tubeless might make it more worth keeping tubeless on a even seldom used bike. On my pavement oriented bikes used for local riding flats are pretty infrequent so maybe aerothan tubes or similar might be nice if I want something lighter and more supple than butyl tubes. If heading out for a multiweek or multimonth tour where there are goathead thorns pullng tubes back out and going tubeless for the tour might be worthwhile.

In this case it is a hard tail mountain bike that I will likely ride on gravel if I ride it so maybe in a bit of a gray area. I am lazy enough that to start with I'll likely leave it as is, but may stick tubes in later.

Atlas Shrugged

I find Orange seal does not congeal and works for long-term storage. Please STAY away from Silca Sealant as it pools and hardens into a latex slug which is impossible to remove. Otherwise, I have had no issues with sealant on bikes I haven't ridden for months.

DaveSSS 

I use orange seal endurance. It will eventually dry up. A bike left unused for even weeks might have little or no air pressure left in the tires and the bead may become unsealed. As long as the dried sealant doesn't cause a serious imbalance in the tire, just inject new sealant, inflate the tires and start riding again.

Eds0123

your question seem to suggest that the bike sitting dries up faster than the one being ridden daily? Why is that? Actually The bike being ridden would dry up faster since the act of riding it makes the tire warm and facilitate the drying up anyways. However though new tubeless set up with fresh sealant and new tapes etc needs to be ridden to get everything sealed properly at first.

msu2001la

I'd recommend keeping the tires aired up and giving them a spin once a week or so just to move the sealant around. If you do that, it should last as long as a bike that is frequently ridden.
Similarly, if you have an open bottle of sealant sitting on a shelf I'd recommend giving it a shake once in a while. This stuff starts to congeal after a few weeks of not moving.

That said, for a rarely-ridden bike that is sitting unused for long periods of time, I would probably just run tubes.

tFUnK

I have a gravel bike that maybe qualifies as seldom ridden (a few times a month, at most 2-3 weeks between rides). I ran it tubeless for a while and it seemed to hold fine without additional maintenance. I find that I really only had to top off the sealant a few times a year, anyways.

staehpj1

Not so much that as that a tire will wear out in a reasonable amount of time on a bike that gets ridden often. A bike that doesn't get ridden will have all the sealant gradually evaporate. Likely it will get filled and have that happen again and again if the tire is around long enough. My bike that gets ridden everyday will need new tires fairly often and loss of sealant will be more due to thorn punctures than evaporation. The hardened sealand also won't be all in pooled one spot.

staehpj1

I find the same for Stans. BTW, if I wind up with just weeks of non use I definitely wouldn't sweat it, but if months or a year maybe.

bruce19

I use tubeless on my cross bike and on 3 road bikes. Been doing this for 4 years.When I'm ready to ride I just pump them up and go. I rarely add sealant. I'm sure this violates all the rules of maintenance OTOH I have done this for 4 yrs with no issues. And, BTW, no flats. Just one man's experience.

Mtracer

My experience with a bike not ridden often, actually a wheel set not used often, was the sealant dried up and then it wasn't ready to use when I wanted it. I don't think it dried up faster, but it certainly dried up in one lump where it had settled.

While I had intentions of rotating the wheels every week, that didn't happen. It likely wouldn't have affected the drying up, but at least it would have been more evenly distributed.

I now just have tubeless in the bike I use most of the time. I run tire liners, and tubes with Slime in those not ridden often. Yes, they are heavier and probably have more rolling resistance, but since I don't use them as often, I don't care. Nice they are ready to use when I do ride them.

If I had an event where I wanted to use these wheels and wanted maximum performance, I could convert to tubeless pretty quickly.

I also suspect that how fast sealant dries is variable. I have to top of tires about every 6 weeks, unless I've had a leak requiring adding sealant sooner. Others on BF seem to go months without issue. My guess is, the sealant, tires, rim strip/tape, and environment all play a roll in that. I use Orange Seal Endurance and my tubeless wheels have been in an air conditioned space. So, high temps aren't the issue.

chaadster

Yes, for sure, and quite a lot depends on the construction of the tire; some are more or less air permeable than others, particularly through the sidewalls, and so I also think that attention to initial setup-- i.e. making sure sealant coats the sidewalls-- may be another factor in addition to those that you mention.

Darth Lefty 

It dries up and I add an ounce (gravel) or two (MTB).

I’ve been known to forget so I carry sealant and a core remover stem cap.

On bikes that don’t get used much like my tandem, I am definitely going to keep the tubes.

Chandne

I have several bikes. All are tubeless. A few do not get ridden that much till the winter. Keep the tires pumped up since the sealant dries less quickly that way, I find. I also spin the wheels every now and then and regardless, I put new sealant in when it is time to ride them again.

ThermionicScott 

I suspect it helps to not only spin the wheels occasionally, but to take them off and shake them around in all directions to make sure the sidewalls and bead seating areas get a fresh coat of sealant.

rsbob 

I believe this is called the theorem of the Hokey Pokey.

ThermionicScott 

Yes, that's what it's all about.

rsbob 

Positively brilliant!