Anyone else using Silca's new tubeless sealant?
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Anyone else using Silca's new tubeless sealant?
I like Silca's chain lube and I needed more tubeless sealant so I bought some of their new sealant a few weeks ago. Here is the pitch if you missed it. The main claim is it contains recycled carbon fibers to help plug leaks.
I have been using it but have not gotten any flats to test it. But, my rim tape seems to be reaching end of life and it blew out twice (first time I re-taped the one spoke hole, second time I saw the pattern and re-taped the whole rim). Anyway in the process of dealing with this I got to inspect how the sealant was doing. Oddly enough, after several weeks of riding all of the little carbon fibers floating separately in the solution when I poured it in had glommed onto each other in small footballs about 3mm long.. there were only 2-3 of these balls in the whole tire and that was where all the carbon fiber was. Anyway I'm not sure this is going to be of much help unless one of the footballs gets into the leak. So, I'm not sure there is any advantage to this stuff, other than perhaps a few hours after you put it in before the footballs are formed. My guess is several hours of tire rotation causes these fibers to glom onto each other.
Has anyone else tried out this stuff? I'm going to keep using it but not sure it will be any better than my old stuff (Panaracer).
I have been using it but have not gotten any flats to test it. But, my rim tape seems to be reaching end of life and it blew out twice (first time I re-taped the one spoke hole, second time I saw the pattern and re-taped the whole rim). Anyway in the process of dealing with this I got to inspect how the sealant was doing. Oddly enough, after several weeks of riding all of the little carbon fibers floating separately in the solution when I poured it in had glommed onto each other in small footballs about 3mm long.. there were only 2-3 of these balls in the whole tire and that was where all the carbon fiber was. Anyway I'm not sure this is going to be of much help unless one of the footballs gets into the leak. So, I'm not sure there is any advantage to this stuff, other than perhaps a few hours after you put it in before the footballs are formed. My guess is several hours of tire rotation causes these fibers to glom onto each other.
Has anyone else tried out this stuff? I'm going to keep using it but not sure it will be any better than my old stuff (Panaracer).
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haven't used it. seems to be acting as a counterweight for an balancing situation.
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.. I guess there are no other users yet. If you do end up getting some please pop a look after a week or so and put here what you find in the tire .. footballs yes or no.
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Following up here on my own thread, I had my first significant puncture today. It was 1/16-1/8" long and the Silca stuff didn't seal it super well.. it sprayed a lot for maybe ten seconds, then some seal when it got to about 25psi but still bubbling. So I popped a dyna-plug in it rather than have to stop and pump up several times on the way home.
This behavior is not too far off the other sealants I have used (Specialized road stuff and Panaracer). So my next bottle will be purchased based on price.
This behavior is not too far off the other sealants I have used (Specialized road stuff and Panaracer). So my next bottle will be purchased based on price.
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I've had good luck with Orange Seal. I've only had one puncture that it wouldn't seal, but it was a slice about 12mm long. Also seems fairly easy to clean out when changing tires.
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Interesting observation about the microfibers all clumping together. In the case of the Panaracer sealant, I managed to filter out most if not all of the walnut shell fibers by trying to put the sealant in via a syringe. All of the walnut shell fiber stayed behind, so for the next tire I used the conical cap. When I got a new bottle, it did not include the conical cap, which leads me to believe users were clogging that up in the same way. I think the only good way to get the Panaracer sealant in is to open the tire up, pour it in quickly, and then re-seat the tire. My guess is the walnut shells do the same thing as the microfibers -- they cluster together, probably as the wheel spins and centrifuges them out of the suspension.
Next time I am going to fill my tires with Ox blood, and let the natural coagulation process seal the wounds in the tire.
Next time I am going to fill my tires with Ox blood, and let the natural coagulation process seal the wounds in the tire.
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Converted Orange Seal user here. I used to use Stans, but after reading the claims on Bikeforums about a) how Stans might not work under higher pressures and b) how great Orange Seal was, I made the switch. I've had a couple of punctures since then and OS has done the job well.
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My experience has been very positive with the Silca sealant. Switched from Orange seal which worked really well on smaller punctures but a major tire cut which needed to tube the tire to get home. I received two noticeable cuts with Silca and both effectively stopped the leak however they continued to weep and require plugs. In my view the ability to continue riding with the size of these cuts is amazing and transformative.
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The reviews are not positive over on the Weight Weenies forum. I've only punctured once, and Orange Seal Endurance sealed it fine, so not going out of my way to try the Silca stuff.
Silca products seem to be quite hit or miss. I've been trying their SS wax, drip lube, and Synergetic wet lube. Only the wax has been as good as advertised.
Silca products seem to be quite hit or miss. I've been trying their SS wax, drip lube, and Synergetic wet lube. Only the wax has been as good as advertised.
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You might be on to something! They use a "blood patch" for a hole in the spinal membrane that is leaking spinal fluid and causing headaches. They inject a little blood into epidural space and the coagulating blood plugs the hole.
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The reviews are not positive over on the Weight Weenies forum. I've only punctured once, and Orange Seal Endurance sealed it fine, so not going out of my way to try the Silca stuff.
Silca products seem to be quite hit or miss. I've been trying their SS wax, drip lube, and Synergetic wet lube. Only the wax has been as good as advertised.
Silca products seem to be quite hit or miss. I've been trying their SS wax, drip lube, and Synergetic wet lube. Only the wax has been as good as advertised.
It is good to see it is not just me, lots of people there are noticing the footballs. I checked on the price and it is a lot more than other lubes so I am done with it.
Re: their other products, their drip lube has been working pretty well for me which is why I wanted to try their sealant. I'm not sure I will keep using their lube though, it has been similar to Smoove which is a lot cheaper.
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I have been using Silca Sealant for about 4 months now. Reasonably priced when on sale. I used the replenisher once; easy. No flats that I know of. I read about disintegrating tape; no problems so far. I haven't pulled the tire to check for clumping "footballs". I'll let you know when I do.
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not tubeless, but tubed and tubular i have had best luck with Effroto Cafe Latex sealer
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There is a new product and they finally came out with a more regular bike tire version. it is supposed to handle up to 1/4" holes. I have only used it for maybe 3 weeks so we will see but I have not had to add air to the one tire I got right in over a week the other I had to keep tightening the valve and now it seems to hold too. but my tires are only 70 psi. but the big deal is it does not dry out so it does not need replaced unless you run out. but its not for weight weenes as you need about 4oz.
https://shop.flatouttire.com/collect...mall-tire-32oz
https://shop.flatouttire.com/collect...mall-tire-32oz