Tubeless trick--No more headaches.

[bshell]

Such different experiences.

Having had to insert an inner tube and a temporary boot a couple of times due to big slices, I've never had the slightest adhesion of tube to tire.

And yes, it is a messy drag to do roadside or in the woods but the number of lesser flats avoided is astounding.

[deluz]

I don't run tubeless, but it seems people make a big deal about sealant spraying all over the place when there is a large cut.
Why is this a problem? Is it hard to clean off the frame, components, clothing?
I assume it doesn't happen very often.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by deluz

I don't run tubeless, but it seems people make a big deal about sealant spraying all over the place when there is a large cut.
Why is this a problem? Is it hard to clean off the frame, components, clothing?
I assume it doesn't happen very often.

If you have rim brakes, a rear tire leak can spray sealant into the nooks and crannies of your rear brake. That's kind of a pain to clean.

[Chris(NJ)]

Originally Posted by deluz

I don't run tubeless, but it seems people make a big deal about sealant spraying all over the place when there is a large cut.
Why is this a problem? Is it hard to clean off the frame, components, clothing?
I assume it doesn't happen very often.

It's not hard to clean off a painted frame. Not as easy as wiping off dust, but not hard. Clothing, thats a different story. I'd recommend using the same clothes when setting up tubeless tires as when you're changing oil. If it gets on the clothes, it's probably not coming out. So if it happens when you're riding, your kit might have some new, permanent, stains on it.

[NHAero]

Originally Posted by benb

I had a wheel get damaged by it from that time period. It was a think. (MTB wheel)

It is important to clean the sealant out of a wheel if you're having to remount it..

It's a big big dumb mistake if you have to mount one of the beads by inserting a tube and you do it with sealant on the tire.. or have to put a tube for an emergency. (Hard to avoid sealant + tube in that situation)

The sealant will glue the tube to the tire and it can be really hard to unseat the tire after that. REALLY hard.

The one time I had to put a tube into a tubeless setup (screw not only punctured the tire but managed to drill three holes into the taped rim bed!) it was easy to get out when I repaired everything. And it didn't require power tools to get the older sealant globs out. I've been using Stans on my MTB since 2015 and on my all road bikes and so far just not an issue. I've been more hesitant on the two 700x25 wheelsets I have on the Firefly and the spare for the Bingham, but that's mostly because I get flats so infrequently so that the tubes aren't an issue. The spare set of wheels on the Bingham don't get ridden enough to use sealant IMO.

[makoti]

Originally Posted by Chris(NJ)

It's not hard to clean off a painted frame. Not as easy as wiping off dust, but not hard. Clothing, thats a different story. I'd recommend using the same clothes when setting up tubeless tires as when you're changing oil. If it gets on the clothes, it's probably not coming out. So if it happens when you're riding, your kit might have some new, permanent, stains on it.

This is the only downside I've seen. If it gets on your clothes, it stains. Found out the hard way, and now wear old clothes. I've also got the routine down so that if I HAD to change/refill a tire in a Tux, I would be more worried about grease than sealant stains.
I've also had one blowout and a couple of smaller holes that sprayed as the fill. The frame gets hit, maybe my legs, but that's it. Never noticed stains on my socks. It would peel off the shoes.

[unterhausen]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

8 years no issues sounds impressive at first, but you must've not had many miles on it, right?

I am not sure how many miles, but I think gravel might wear tires less than road and the small knob tires have a lot of tread. The knobs were completely gone in the center of the tread. I have ridden it a lot, it doesn't owe me anything. We can't really ride gravel here from between November to sometime in March, so it's a bike I only ride part-time for half of the year. I really want to convert to sealant on the road, but I'm conflicted on what tire to use. Such a big difference between what happens with a pinhole puncture with a tube vs. tubeless. The gravel bike rear tire was deflating slowly one time so I realized I needed to put in new sealant. When I put in new sealant, there must have been dozens of wet spots on the tread from pinhole punctures. Not sure what I rode through. But I got home without needing to air up. No way that would have happened with a tube, I might have had to put on a spare tire.

Originally Posted by m_sasso

Surprised you still have a rim that early sealant was pretty corrosive/caustic on Aluminum rims.

I'm using it on a DT Swiss rim that is fully anodized so maybe that has something to do with it. There is some bare aluminum showing on the very outside of the rim, I don't know if that's from sealant or because I rode it flat on gravel a couple of times.

Originally Posted by Applesauce

That “early sealant” from 2014 worked OK for mountain bikers.

Is 2014 early for sealant? I thought it had been around for quite some time at that point.