First tubeless road flat tonight...

[brokenladder]

So i guess that it was bound to happen: got my first tubeless road flat tire 24 minutes into my after work ride. here's the good news: this is first flat that i have had in almost two years since i installed them! and this is riding in a potholed, broken glass aplenty urban environment. the tires are fusion twos mounted to ksyrium superlight premiums with an imprecise squirt of stans...

now in the spirit of full disclosure, i switch between riding a cross bike and mtb throughout the year so i'm spreading the miles across a whole bunch of tires (though all are tubeless). also, i'm a middle-age guy who rides after work for an hour and half three or four times during the week and twice on the weekend at around two hours. i'm really not racing--save for the periodic sprint with the other middle-age-types i ride with....

but back to tonight's puncture perhaps more interesting is that the tires sealed quickly enough that i didn't have to bother patching to get home. total ride time ~45 minutes. this is EXACTLY why i wanted to go the tubeless route--convenience; ride time is precious to me as like many on this forum i have a full schedule. as the monsoon season continues here in western pennsylvania this weekend, i'll mount up some new hutchinson intensives and retire the fusion twos...

i currently have five tubeless wheelsets (two mtb, two road, one cross). my experience has been very positive. that said, i'm not a zealot at all. if not for the counsel of a close friend and co-worker (who also is on this forum) i would be tooling around on a set of carbon tubulars. of course, he reminded me that my current system was working so why mess with it. but every time i see a pic of some lightweights....

[A1CKot]

Um can we get a picture of the complete bike and a ride report. You shouldn't hide that Eriksen from us :no: ;)

Btw I think I'd be more afraid of getting a flat on a tubeless set up than a tubular setup. The few flats that I've had on my tubulars, 3 sets wheels now, were slow and could be pumped up and ridden for a few miles.

[DRietz]

It makes me really happy to see an Eriksen on this forum.

I like to think that I'm one of Kent's buds - he let me toodle around in the shop and prep my frame over the summer. Great guy, already saving up for a nice frame for when I stop growing.

[Louis]

So how quickly does the Stan's work?

You roll over the glass, nail, whatever, and the tire is punctured or cut and it begins to loose air. Depending on how big the hole is, it takes a while, but you eventually realize that you have a tire issue and you stop. At this point I assume that the hole is not yet quite sealed.

How long do you have to sit there waiting before adding air to the tire?

Also, I assume very small holes or cuts might be sealed without you even knowing something happened. Is that correct? Since smaller punctures are more common (at least for me) that would definitely be nice. (Except that I don't flat very often, knock on wood.)

I have a pair of Ultegra something or other tubeless wheels and I'm debating whether I should use it them that way or not.

Louis

[soulspinner]

Um can we get a picture of the complete bike and a ride report. You shouldn't hide that Eriksen from us :no: ;)

Btw I think I'd be more afraid of getting a flat on a tubeless set up than a tubular setup. The few flats that I've had on my tubulars, 3 sets wheels now, were slow and could be pumped up and ridden for a few miles.


Ya, showing us a flat on a sweet bike like that (without showing the whole thing) is just the worst. Spoke with Kent before, cool guy.

[A1CKot]

Related question... Has anyone used Stans in tubulars? Hows the mess and has it work? I always carry a spare and a can of pitstop but why not add even more protection to the equation?

[brokenladder]

So this morning before work i checked the tire. still holding air. i would say that the tire sealed itself in ~2 minutes. i take out my crank bros. mini pump and try to add a few pumps (topping off a road tire not its strong suit...). i pumped the tire up to 100 before leaving my house. i reckon that the tire lost about 20lbs of pressure -- based on a very scientific pinch of the tire... but again i was able to pedal the five miles home safely without worry.

the eriksen has been a great buy. i've had it for about five years now. i also have a cross bike from kent. i've attached pics of both. cross bike looks slightly different now with a mavic ksryium wheelset, a sram crankset with rotor chainrings, and sram cables...

[LesMiner]

Related question... Has anyone used Stans in tubulars? Hows the mess and has it work? I always carry a spare and a can of pitstop but why not add even more protection to the equation?

A riding buddy put Stans in a tubular and so far so good. I don't think he has had a near flat experience yet.

So i guess that it was bound to happen: got my first tubeless road flat tire 24 minutes into my after work ride. here's the good news

I going into my 4th season with tubeless on a set of Dura Ace wheels. I have had two similar cuts both were much longer than yours. I had to resort to putting a tube in. So I am on a second pair of tires. The seal to the rim is all important. If you can not maintain the seal you will lose pressure at various rates depending on the quality of the seal. The stock valve stems on the Dura Ace can not be disassembled like Stans. That makes it difficult to get enough the sealing fluid in the tire. The Mavic stem does not hold up to the higher road tire pressure. The plug at the end of the stem is not large enough.

[oldpotatoe]

Related question... Has anyone used Stans in tubulars? Hows the mess and has it work? I always carry a spare and a can of pitstop but why not add even more protection to the equation?

I use it on my tubulars(Conti Sprinters).

NOT a mess at all. Take valve out, use wee Stan's bottle, squirt 1/2 in, valve back in, pump up, spin-go ride. I haven't had a flat for about 12 months.

I carry a preglued spare which is also 'treated'.

[benb]

Hey Brokenladder,

How long had it been since you "refreshed" the stan's?

That is my big concern, that the sealant is going to "age" in the tire and let me down when I need it.

I run Stan's with UST rims/tires on my MTB, I've only had one flat.. I got about a 1/2" cut in the sidwall and the sealant was very old, far older then Stan says to let it sit. It still sealed well enough to ride back to the car and just stop and top off the tire every once in a while.

I ride my road bike way more often then my MTB so I think I'd be less likely to let the sealant age so much, but I very rarely get flats with my tubed clinchers so I think I'd actually picking up maintenance load if I had to "refresh" the sealant. (I know I didn't have a single flat last year for example.)

Curious cause I would like to try tubeless road... my worst case scenario though would be a flat that didn't seal a long way from home. I know I can change out a tube way faster on my road bike then I can unmount a tubeless tire on my MTB and insert a tube.. without soapy water, etc.. I would worry about having trouble getting the bead off and back on while on the side of the road..

Still encouraging to see it worked for you.

[brokenladder]

i haven't done any maintenance to the tires in two years and it sealed just fine. just one data point. also i put very little sealant in--i'm not sure that i even have it in a couple of wheelsets. that said i have no idea what the *right* practice is. last year i got a flat on my mtb; i just put a tube in and did the rest of the ride. to be honest when i got a flat last night i was all set to put a tube in and remembered that it might just seal--and it did... a real easter miracle.

[benb]

Huh.. maybe the directions are overly conservative then..

ISTR the directions say you need to change the sealant every 3 months... maybe that is for "best results".

If I could put it in and feel safe relying on it till the tires are worn out that'd be really cool and would probably push me into making my next wheelset tubeless.

[noonan1970]

Love the bikes! I use Stan's for my mtb and do add more sealant every season. It dries up over the winter (I'm in MT.).

I have thought about the road tubeless. I have done it for Cross!
how much Pressure do you run and how much do you weigh?

Thanks

[c-record]

Most of my team mates and myself run about an oz of Stan's in our 'cross tubulars. We add an oz every season and it works great. Much cleaner than Hutchinson's, Tufo and other stuff I've tried. I also add an oz to each road tubie and I've been lucky so far.

[brokenladder]

I store my bikes in the basement. we're in pennsylvania so it certainly gets cold enough to freeze things... i can say with great certainty that i haven't and won't be changing sealant every three months. i weigh around 165lbs. the cross tires have held up very well with lots of trail riding and double track. as for pressure, i'm not real sure; in general, though, i probably run too high a pressure--but i'm getting better!

[A1CKot]

Most of my team mates and myself run about an oz of Stan's in our 'cross tubulars. We add an oz every season and it works great. Much cleaner than Hutchinson's, Tufo and other stuff I've tried. I also add an oz to each road tubie and I've been lucky so far.
That is good to know. I used that Tufo stuff a while back it sometimes shot out of the valve stem when I would disconnect my pump. Looks like I have something new to try now but I will still carry a spare and a can of Pit stop.

Really cool pair of bikes. I really like what Kent did and what he is doing. Someday I will have one of his bikes.

[dekindy]

Two years is about 4 times longer than I have ever heard anyone state that Stan's was still effective. How many miles do you ride annually that a tire would even last that long? Are you only riding 500-600 miles per year on that bike?

The only time I have flatted a road tubeless was on a brand new tire that I installed late at night the night before a ride and did not want to add further to the install time or the mess so I did not install Stan's even though I had installed it in every other tubeless road tire.

I am considering the CaffeLatex because it can be installed without having to have a removeable valve stem. CaffeLatex is supposed to be effective but it is difficult to argue with Stan's reputation.

[benb]

I don't know where I came up with 3 months.. Stan's FAQ says 2-6 months depending on environmental conditions.

In my case it does freeze, I bring my road bike in the house in the winter but no way I'm letting a MTB get anywhere near the inside of the house.. way too dirty.

[martinrjensen]

The time may be dependent on local humidity so I will tell you that in Seattle, Stan's is still effective after a year in the tire. At the 2 year point, it just seems to have dried out. I now refresh it every year.I don't know where I came up with 3 months.. Stan's FAQ says 2-6 months depending on environmental conditions.

In my case it does freeze, I bring my road bike in the house in the winter but no way I'm letting a MTB get anywhere near the inside of the house.. way too dirty.

[brokenladder]

I estimate about 1500 per year on that bike--so just shy of ~3000 would be my guess. now keep in mind that i knew that the tires needed to be replaced and i bought a new set over the winter (went with the intensive since the weight difference was marginal and the FDJ rode them successfully in PR...). if i get super bored over the weekend, i'll look through my garmin data to see if i can come up with the exact count but i'm quite confident of that estimate.

as for the sealant staying viable i guess that i chalk it up to dumb luck.