Finish Line tubeless sealant now shipping

[dem]

Seems to be the first real innovation since Stan's mixed antifreeze and liquid latex together - https://www.bikerumor.com/2018/02/12...never-dry-out/

I did not have good luck with the latex goo in 95+ PSI small (700x23) road tires.. but I figured I'd give it a shot again with this new stuff.

Should be at my house next week, and I have a paper thin set of Corsa Speed TLRs to install, that should be a good test!

[rwsaunders]

Question...what’s the difference between Finishline with Kevlar and this stuff other that you pay about the same for an 8oz bottle of Finishline that you pay for a 32oz bottle of Mulitseal?

https://www.multiseal.us

[tuscanyswe]

They claim its bike specific and thats the difference .)
Or maybe its just the price that is bike specific?

[dem]

Ha, yes, no clue.. if it is magic, it seems like a reasonable deal regardless.

I have a set of 700x38 tubeless gravelkings waiting to go on, it would be nice not to worry about sealant drying out and have CO2 compatibility.

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by dem

Ha, yes, no clue.. if it is magic, it seems like a reasonable deal regardless.

I have a set of 700x38 tubeless gravelkings waiting to go on, it would be nice not to worry about sealant drying out and have CO2 compatibility.

Re: drying - look at the new Orange Seal Endurance. I saw a test on bikepacking.com I believe and they reported it stayed fluid for a long tour.

[dem]

Well, so far.. this ain't goin' well.. I think the Finish Line goo may not be appropriate for "Tubeless Ready" tires (requires sealant to make them air tight) vs. "Tubeless" (full butyl liner, air tight without sealant)

Losing about 40 PSI in an hour and doesn't seem to be clotting up or anything so far. I'll do the rotate and shake and let them sit on their sides for a day or two and report back.

[dem]

Well, I'm pretty close to calling this a bust..

Would suggest not using this new sealant in any "Tubeless Ready" tire, since it doesn't seem to be able to seal the carcass. True "Tubeless" tires may work out better.

Here's a video under water after rotating and constantly inflating over night (was totally flat this morning)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpXtfBt3s3I

[Cicli]

The best tubeless system I ever rode had a tube in it.

[simplemind]

I'm thinking the Finish Line works by a different mechanism, using the fibers as a seal rather than latex and glitter (or corn meal) as in most other sealants. There has to be some sort of polymerization product at some point in the sealing process though, just not as effective as latex in this application (sidewall porosity). Keep us posted.

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by dem

Well, I'm pretty close to calling this a bust..



Would suggest not using this new sealant in any "Tubeless Ready" tire, since it doesn't seem to be able to seal the carcass. True "Tubeless" tires may work out better.



Here's a video under water after rotating and constantly inflating over night (was totally flat this morning)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpXtfBt3s3I

That video makes it look like it's leaking at the bead and not through the casing. Do you think it would leak that way with latex sealant or is there something else at work, like the rim strip/tape at fault? Try something like Orange Seal to see if that works. I thought that TLR tires had UST beads, which means no sealant required to seal at the tire beads.

[dem]

Originally Posted by MikeD

That video makes it look like it's leaking at the bead and not through the casing. Do you think it would leak that way with latex sealant or is there something else at work, like the rim strip/tape at fault? Try something like Orange Seal to see if that works. I thought that TLR tires had UST beads, which means no sealant required to seal at the tire beads.

My experience so far with all tubeless (Tubeless Ready & Tubeless) is yeah, the bead seat is imperfect due to the tire moulding lines, etc. and the latex goo seals it up. Also if the tubeless tape fails, bubbles come out of the spoke holes.

However in this case it seems to be the bead & the carcass - if you see there is a continuous stream of bubbles coming out of the sidewall itself too (and it happens around the entire tire, I just picked an area both showed up for the video.)

Just added another ounce in both tires, and then I'm going to time how long they deflate from 100 psi to 80 psi and go ride them - maybe some agitation + flexing will move around the magic (I did do 10 minutes of riding yesterday.)

(and for those wondering why-the-fudge I'm bothering - Tubeless works really really well for me in MTB & larger volume applications.. and I keep dreaming of getting the same magic in road tires. And the latex just doesn't work reliably at high pressures.)

Appendix of road/gravel tubeless tires I've tried (Tubeless = full liner, TLR == require sealant)
Schwalbe One 700x23 (Tubeless) - latex sealant, would not seal reliably @ 100 psi.
Hutchinson Sector 700x28 (Tubeless) - latex sealant, ~60 psi, no flats but only ~1500 miles because they were too small for dirt use and the treads started cracking/separating
Compass Bon Jon Pass 700x35 (TLR) - latex sealant, 50-60 psi, no flats in ~1500 miles, wore out very quickly and increasingly weeping sidewalls. Blew off the bead at 65 psi, would not use again tubeless.
Specialized Trigger 700x38 (Tubeless) - latex sealant, 40-60 psi, no issues, ~2000 miles

Pending: GravelKing Slicks 700x38 (TLR)

[dddd]

Hey, be careful that the seeping sealant doesn't lubricate your tread while riding!

[dem]

ha ha, yeah, that was on my mind... then the forecast of "sunny the rest of the day" turned into "POURING RAIN" 30 minutes into my ride - so the rain conveniently washed it away.

The "oiling down the tire" effect was why I bailed on my first high pressure road tubeless attempt - front puncture turned into an aerosol sprayer, and hosed down both the front AND rear tire. That was when I decided the latex sealants were probably not for me at high pressure.

Latest update: Resting they dropped about 10 psi per hour, which was an improvement.. so I went out and rode 'em for ~1:15 elapsed. If they lost any pressure, it was within a couple PSI. So maybe riding them does help?

I'll give it another day or two I guess (admittedly that is ridiculous to have a multi-day tire install process

Originally Posted by dddd

Hey, be careful that the seeping sealant doesn't lubricate your tread while riding!

[dem]

72 hour update:

Rear lost 0 psi over night (or so little breaking the valve seal brought it up to 100) and has barely any spots of sealant (2 or 3, maybe the size of the head of a pin. I find this acceptable if there's no leak down.)

Front lost 5 PSI and is a leaking dripping mess - there was a quarter plus size puddle under it.

Tentative conclusions:
1) My front tire is defective (no shock, vittoria reviews are terrible for quality consistency)
2) Finish Line sealant takes longer to set up and you need to ride the tires to get everything sealed up (mechanical, chemical or other.. no idea)

As far as actually sealing up flats, "to be determined"!

[dem]

Update!

The front continued to leak forever while I was dealing with warranty/return/seller stuff.. eventually it stopped. Because it was dry. Added another 2 ounces, and it renewed spewing just as vigorously.

The rear has been rock solid, leaking down about the same as a butyl tube if not better.

Got a replacement today, and the quality control seems better - seated right up, no sidewall or tread bubbles at all on initial install.

Only 80 miles on them so far, so no report on puncture sealing yet.

Here's some pics of the defective front tire when I pulled it off - the sealant was definitely doing its best effort, tons of accumulation along the chaffing strip/bead area. It was also coagulating over time - a vigorous wipe down didn't peel it all off (2nd pic)