tempocyclist

Alrighty tubeless people, it seems Big Tubeless finally got to me and I recently switched one wheelset over to tubeless. A few questions for the long time tubeless aficionados out there:

- What sealant brand(s) do you use?
- What sealant brand(s) have you found no so good for higher pressure road use?
- How much sealant are you putting into your road tyres?
- How often are you having to replace sealant?
- Have you successfully used a "tyre plug and CO2" to fix a bigger hole?


I've gone with Stan's sealant simply because that was what the bike shop had in stock at the time. Hopefully it does the job!

garciawork

Been using the pink one, Muc off? Works well. Before that, orange seal has been my main for a while, again, no issues. I have also used stans in the past, but it was the most notorious for "stans monsters".

DaveSSS 

Orange seal endurance. Use a dipstick to check for adequate sealant.

jaxgtr

I used the Bontrager stuff, but it clumped up too much, so I moved to Orange Seal Endurance and like that much better.

alcjphil

In the last couple of years I have been using WTB sealant. Prior to that, I mostly rode tubeless without sealant

WhyFi

Friends don't let friends use Stan's. Hell, even anonymous Internet people don't let other anonymous Internet people use Stan's - you'll just end up bashing road tubeless a year from now, if we let that happen.

With road tires/pressures, my general rule is that you want a sealant with particulate to help clog up punctures.

I use Orange Seal, regular or Endurance.

I usually put in 1.5-2oz in 28mm tires on wide rims.

How often you need to top off depends on a number of factors. Folks in hotter and drier climates report that they need to tend to it more frequently. Also, the more frequently you puncture, the more quickly you'll exhaust the supply in your tires; at the outset of the road riding season in my area, there's a lot of grit and debris on the road, and I tend to go through sealant faster.

Oh, and I've found that, even if the sealant still looks good after 6 months in your tires, the effectiveness may suffer. My running hypothesis is that the previously mentioned particulate gradually sticks to the inside of the tire carcass, rather than flow freely to punctures, at which point you're basically running Stan's. I had a puncture this year that should have sealed but didn't. I had checked the sealant a few days prior and it looked good, even though it had been a couple thousand miles. When I got home, I put in a fresh dose of sealant and inflated - the puncture sealed within a second or two.

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Polaris OBark

I just went from Orange Seal Endurance to Orange Seal regular. Their own website chart says the regular one plugs slightly larger holes and lasts longer. Waddi miss?

WhyFi

Oh, and for any discussion involving sealant maintenance, I'd be remiss if I didn't link mention sealant syringes and tubeless valve stems that can pass the plastic needle - it makes adding/removing sealant trivial. There are a few syringes on Amazon (they're rebranded medical equipment), but this is the one that I've used - https://www.amazon.com/Tubeless-Seal.../dp/B07WR9MMDW For valves, I think that all of the machined, lightweight aluminum ones will pass the needle (the steel ones often narrow or have some kind of internal obstruction); I generally use Muc-Off because they're available locally.

WhyFi

If you don't often get punctures large enough to warrant regular, the service interval with Endurance is longer.

oldwinger14

Been using Orange Seal Endurance for 3 years and only once did I have a puncture that it could not seal. For that, I used my DynaPlug kit to plug the hole, and it worked fine.

You mentioned high pressure on tubeless road tires. No need for high PSI. I run at about 70psi and it works fine. Others will have different recommendations. I’m not sure there is a correct psi…it’s a personal thing based on many factors.

I use a Kom Cycling sealant syringe to inject/extract sealant into the tires. There are lots of brands of syringes on Amazon but the Kom works great. Be sure to put the valve in the 12 o’clock position and let the sealant flow down to the bottom (i.e. 6 o’clock position) of the tire before removing the valve core and extracting or topping off sealant. Once you remove the valve core and all the air escapes, move the valve down to the 6 o’clock position to inject/extract sealant. Then install the valve core and inflate the tire Don’t ask how I discovered this now-obvious hint. If you follow this hint and use a syringe, injecting/extracting sealant can be done mess-free. Once the sealant is in the tire, rotate the tire around slowly a few times to get the sealant distributed inside the tire.

2 -3 ounces of sealant when there is none in the tire is plenty. I usually put in 2 ounces, and inject a bit more every few months to keep the level up. I store my road bike for the Winter months since I have another bike permanently mounted on my trainer. Prior to storing the road bike, I use the syringe to extract all of the sealant, and then inject a dose of new sealant in the Spring when outdoor riding starts up again.

robbyville

I’ve also been using Orange for the last at least 5 years I’d say, never had an issue with it.

like Whyfi mentioned, I’m one of those in a hot dry climate. I generally forget to put new sealant in and am often puzzled for a moment or two when I go into my garage at 105 degrees to find a semi soft tire, then remember that I can’t remember when the last time I put sealant in lol. I use about 1.5 oz but as mentioned it evaporates easily in summer within 3 mths requiring additional. I probably add 1oz or so, but unlike everyone else I haven’t gotten a syringe yet, keep meaning to though. I just use the plastic tube that goes over the valve and squeeze the bottle a couple times. Works fine but I’d definitely do the syringe thing (and will eventually).

i carry a plug kit on my rides but haven’t had the chance to use it yet. Seems relatively straightforward though!

good luck and have fun!

PeteHski

I've been using Muc-Off sealant recently. I think it's pretty good and lasts a good 6 months. I would be tempted to try the new Silca sealant next.
On 30mm wide road tyres I use approx 70 ml per tyre. A bit more than recommended.

I have successfully plugged large holes on the roadside with a Dynaplug kit. I use a mini-pump rather than CO2 to re-inflate. It doesn't get much use!

chaadster

I’ve been high-pressure road tubeless since ‘14 and used many brands of sealant. I’ve also had as many as many as 5 bikes and 6 wheelsets tubeless concurrently, but now only keep 4 bikes tubeless all the time, including lower pressure 650b x 48.

The net of that experience is that I’m not much fussed with sealant, and will basically run whatever, although my favorite is Panaracer SmartSeal.

I also like Bontrager quite a lot, and Stan’s is fine by me. I do not like Joe’s Eco (do they still make it?) nor do I like OrangeSeal, which I find both messy and tends to clump into “boogers” all over the bead and casing.

I have a big jug of SealSmart, but will probably shift to Silca sealant next, since I find them thoughtful about the stuff they put their name on and trust them to do good stuff.

Although I carry both Stan’s Darts and some UK brand of “bacon strip” plug tool, I’ve never had to use them, so my only thoughts there are to pack one and skip the spare tube.

Also, pack both CO2 and mini-pump; sometimes you just need a little pressure so there’s no point in bustin’ a gas cartridge for that.

NoWhammies

After reading the various reviews and comments here, I have been using Orange Seal for the past couple of years. Does the job well. No complaints.

tempocyclist

Interesting. What's wrong with Stan's sealant? It seems a popular choice with good reviews. I didn't have a choice this time, but will next fill.


Haha yeah I probably should have been clearer. I meant "road pressure" I guess, rather than the 15-20psi I run in my MTB tyres. 🙂

Trsnrtr

Another vote for Orange Seal but I have put Orange Endurance in one set of wheels that I have.

BTW. I just replaced a front tire, a Schwalbe Pro One TLE that had at least 6,000 miles on it. After topping off the sealant every couple months, the inside of the tire looked something like Alien afterbirth.

Eric F 

I use Orange Seal Endurance on my road and MTBs. I was having some valve clogging issues on my MTB, and switched to Muc-Off vale stems, which are quite nice.

WhyFi

I've never used it myself, but complaints on the forum about road tubeless, not sealing at road pressure, almost always circle back to Stan's. I think that it's the lack of particulate; even with MTB and gravel, you'll see many Stan's users recommend mixing in glitter to plug up punctures.

There was one guy that thought it was standard operating procedure to: get a puncture, limp home at 20psi, take the tire off and patch it internally, and then remount. Every single time. That just blew my mind... and many others didn't even get results that good.

Most of the time, you shouldn't even notice a puncture.

spdntrxi

Orange Seal by a mile.. forget the rest seriously

surak

That you're wrong.

Orange Seal states that Endurance is supposed to last significantly longer and works in colder temperatures than Regular. I've only used Endurance, had one noticeable leak that took a while but eventually sealed. Might consider using Regular next season, or mix them together, since Endurance lasted so long for me that I might not need to top off Regular as much as I initially was concerned about.

Years ago, a friend had Stan's that didn't seal and was going to swear off tubeless when I tipped him off about OS. He switched and hasn't had any more issues until his sealant dried up.

Polaris OBark

Well, now I have a mixture of Panaracer, Orange Seal Endurance and Orange Seal regular sloshing around. I have another wheel-set with the same tires and tubes. I think the tubes at this point are lighter than all of the solid + liquid latex, and the ride is indistinguishable. (Jan Heine claims tubeless is actually slightly slower.) About the only significant advantage I can see is that I get to run Peaty's valve stems that match my Chris King hubs.

I'll wear out these tires doing tubeless, but I am seriously thinking of going back to tubes. Maybe I should follow Jan's suggestion and add a little sealant to the tubes. I would probably find tubeless more compelling if I lived in goathead territory.

DangerousDanR

I use Orange Seal Sub-Zero in all my bicycle tubeless tires, so that I only have to stock one kind of sealant.

Polaris OBark

I must have misread the chart (it was a different one from what you linked, but it, too, says the same).

Polaris OBark

As far as I can tell, all the Latex sealant that doesn't involve ammonia is interchangeable; the main difference seems to be what particles they use,

jsigone

standard orange sealant in both the roadie and gravel bikes.