Is sealant really worth it?

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by bigbill

I pulled the tires off my gravel wheels last week to unlace the wheels and send the hubs to Old Potato for new rims. The tires were WTB Raddlers and today I was cleaning out the old sealant so I could reuse the tires. There were many dozen thorns poking through the tires and I never got a flat or been covered in sealant. I started using tubeless on the road in 2017 because I was getting at least two flats a week during the summer. The main culprit was shredded truck tires that leave steel wire on the shoulders. No flats on the road since 2017 and no spraying of sealant. I rode a Panaracer Race A to the casing before replacing it. I counted over two dozen objects through the tread that would have given me a flat.

Every one of these threads is anecdotal. I would venture a guess that most riders on tubeless have never had sealant sprayed on them, but most people have heard of a guy or seen it on a group ride. Wheels and tires are components which require attention, and tubeless requires a little more vigilance to make sure the tire is good and remember to top off every few months. In NE Texas, I would wear out a rear tire every 5-6 weeks in the summer so I never topped them off. Front tires every 3-4 months.

in your situation I would be tubeless all day long on all of my bikes! And when I get another gravel bike, it will most likely be tubeless.. but at this point, I don't get enough flats on my road bike to make the extra maintenance worth it, to me..

[benb]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

I'm sure there are use cases were sealant is an advantage. But in my case, it would be more trouble than it is worth. I've get several wheels and multiple pairs of wheels, so the time to maintain sealant would add up. I get less than 1 flat per year with tubes since I started using wider tires, so the time and effort to setup and maintain multiple sets of wheels with sealant would be greater than a few minutes to repair a tube on the road side every other year. Additionally, at the same time as I don't look forward to getting splattered with sealant if the rider ahead of me gets a puncture with sealant, I don't wan to inflict that on other riders either.

This is where I'm at, way less than 1 flat per year since stopping using 23s back around 2013 so not worth it. I think I've had maybe 2 flats in the last 11 years, both on my All City Space Horse (I've run 28c-38c tires on that bike), 0 flats on my 2016 Trek Domane which has always been on 26c-28c tires.

Tubeless for me is completely about
- MTB
- MTB tires are sometimes huge and the tubes weigh a ton compared to road tubes
- MTB ultra low pressures are interesting/worthwhile without ever even considering flats

All that aside I have had 1 tubeless flat since 2008. Cut a sidewall on an ultra weight weenie Hutchinson XC tire that was a silly choice for trail rides in NE.

My Trek farley the weight savings running tubeless is close to 1kg compared to butyl tubes and I ride 4-6psi. I don't even carry a full size spare tube as they are so big it's hard to carry them. They won't fit in my camelbak, you can't put them in a saddlebag without it hitting the back tire when you use the dropper post. They won't fit in the half frame bag I have, they won't fit in the bag I have that runs on top of the seatpost! That is a totally different universe from a road bike where Rene Herse and so on are advertising 32g TPU tubes for typical road bike sizes.

I am curious what % of people here check and re-inflate tires for every ride. I do. Tubeless loses less air sitting in the garage IME, with the caveat all my tubeless setups have run < 30psi. So if you are not a "check and re-inflate every time" user tubeless is going to keep you at the proper pressure more often, which will skew how often you flat tubed/tubeless. I am a "check pressure every ride" person because it was stressed so much in motorcycle safety courses.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by FastCanon

I suspect that when you do get sprayed, you'll go back to tubes

I’ve been sprayed before and I didn’t. multiple times in fact. I kept on riding and didnt flat most times, and other times had to get off and plug or do other techniques to stop the leak. I don’t have the challenge of cleaning my bibs. Regular Laundry did just fine with my bibs. once I didn’t clean my bike and let it dry and that was a bit of elbow grease to remove but no big deal. Other times I wipe when I get home and it comes right off.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by benb

I am curious what % of people here check and re-inflate tires for every ride. I do. Tubeless loses less air sitting in the garage IME, with the caveat all my tubeless setups have run < 30psi. So if you are not a "check and re-inflate every time" user tubeless is going to keep you at the proper pressure more often, which will skew how often you flat tubed/tubeless. I am a "check pressure every ride" person because it was stressed so much in motorcycle safety courses.

I push on my tire with my thumb each ride (I only use mtb and higher volume gravel tires). Over the last month and half while road riding in TN mountains, i inflated my tubeless 38mm tires two times. Each time i let them run down to the low 20s where i noticed I had more sag in the rear than preferred. Nice and cushy though!

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

I don’t have the challenge of cleaning my bibs. Regular Laundry did just fine with my bibs.

I wonder if there are sealants that are more water-soluble than others? I think I might have heard Orange Seal doesn't stain, but I can't be positive.. I do know not all sealants are made the same with the same ingredients, so..

[weisan]

Personally I don't know whether sealant is worth it or not but here's my dirty little secret....I injected sealant only when I first installed those gravel tires, it's been almost 4 years now and I never once top up or check sealant level. I carry a spare tube with me on rides and I keep thinking one day I will flat and I would probably need to use the spare which I am totally cool with that but it hasn't happen yet.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by fourflys

I wonder if there are sealants that are more water-soluble than others? I think I might have heard Orange Seal doesn't stain, but I can't be positive.. I do know not all sealants are made the same with the same ingredients, so..

Orange seal was the one I mentioned dried to my frame and it did go all over my backside and it didn’t stain black shorts.

I’ve tried many sealants and most seem to be different as you said; I’d bet some might. Most i have or had are white or cream colored but some like wtb change color exposed to air. I’d be curious if muc off stains given its pink purple color. One of the only sealants I steer clear of now after mixed results. I never got sprayed by it but it stained the tires.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

Orange seal was the one I mentioned dried to my frame and it did go all over my backside and it didn’t stain black shorts.

I’ve tried many sealants and most seem to be different as you said; I’d bet some might. Most i have or had are white or cream colored but some like wtb change color exposed to air. I’d be curious if muc off stains given its pink purple color. One of the only sealants I steer clear of now after mixed results. I never got sprayed by it but it stained the tires.

Well, I don't kow how you had such good luck but I use the same sealant and put my shorts through the wash and the stains/latex is still there absorbed into the lycra. It looks like a light spattering of mud. I'm going to try this Silca sealant remover I just ordered, but they say the results are best if it's used ASAP.

[redir]

One thing to consider is that using sealant it probably a safety concern. Imagine bombing down a mountain and getting a flat in a corner. The sealant might just keep your rubber on the road. That's what I like about tubular tires and one of the reason why I almost exclusively ride them on the road.

Tubeless for MTB though.

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Well, I don't kow how you had such good luck but I use the same sealant and put my shorts through the wash and the stains/latex is still there absorbed into the lycra. It looks like a light spattering of mud. I'm going to try this Silca sealant remover I just ordered, but they say the results are best if it's used ASAP.

Googling I see a few times at different sources to use Purell gel hand sanitizer or similar and let it soak in for a period of time and then use dawn or similar soap and scrub. Good luck!

[MikeD]

OS stained shorts after washing.

[RoosterCogset]

Originally Posted by cgolvin

Timely post for me as well. I had a series of flats on new wheels with TLR (road, then gravel) tires using tubes and it was a PITA -- really difficult getting the tire off and on, getting the bead seated, etc. Eventually resigned myself to going tubeless and so far working quite well, though I expect to invest in a compressor and not so happy about that expense.

Come on.

I guess a couple of points here. If you run tubes, don't use TLR tires, use tube-type counterparts. And mounting headaches are likely because the rims are TLR rims. The second issue is harder to avoid because the industry says so.

[weisan]

Designer clothing

[merckx]

It is really a shame that tires are becoming almost exclusively TLC.

[Spdntrxi]

Originally Posted by MikeD

OS stained shorts after washing.

hit it with water right after it happens and IPA when you get home. 99% of that will be gone. Silca is harder to get out.