Sealant in tubes . . .

[robgul]

I know that there have been numerous posts about tubeless etc - but I'm wondering if there is an recent experience of sealant in tubes.

Stans/Schwalbe sealant says you can use it in tubes (obviously with a removable valve tube) . . . but does it work? 

My carbon road bike is running Schwalbe Pro One 700 x 25 (biggest tyre I can get in the frame) and, at present tubeless . . . despite cleaning and refitting etc a couple of times I'm getting deflation in around 24 hours (from 100psi) - I've traced the problem, with the wheel in water, to the valve seating and tried to tighten it - no good.  From the tyre it doesn't look as if I've had any visits in the about 2,000 miles I've ridden since fitting the tubeless.

More than a bit pissed off I'm going back to tubes but am wondering about putting sealant in.

Views/experiences welcome.

[Kim]

My not-so-recent experience of slime tubes was that the leaking goo made them extremely difficult to patch.  I consider them a belt-and-braces option for when you're not going to fix punctures (either because you can't, or because the bail-out option is fold your bike and get a taxi or similar).  I expect tubeless sealant would have the same problem.

(Is it worth pointing out that any leak past the rim tape will emerge at the valve?)

[robgul]

My not-so-recent experience of slime tubes was that the leaking goo made them extremely difficult to patch.  I consider them a belt-and-braces option for when you're not going to fix punctures (either because you can't, or because the bail-out option is fold your bike and get a taxi or similar).  I expect tubeless sealant would have the same problem.

(Is it worth pointing out that any leak past the rim tape will emerge at the valve?)

I had added a "patch" of the same Schwalbe rim tape about 10cm long to double up the thickness and then poked the valve through again (I didn't have enough rim tape to redo the whole wheel)

It does seem that tubelesss lies in two very distinct and far-apart separate camps - best thing since sliced bread OR don't touch with a barge-pole!

[neilrj]

I think 100psi is too high for sealant to do initial seal. It'll blow through the weak spot and purge sealant and deflate slowly. My tyres leaked like mad until I dropped to 60psi and rode it for a bit (spinning in stand didn't work) now work fine at 70psi.

[robgul]

I think 100psi is too high for sealant to do initial seal. It'll blow through the weak spot and purge sealant and deflate slowly. My tyres leaked like mad until I dropped to 60psi and rode it for a bit (spinning in stand didn't work) now work fine at 70psi.

The pressure had crossed my mind but the tyre spec (for a tubeless tyre and wheel combo) suggests up to 110psi  (in reality my 100psi on the pump gauge was probably lower given the dubious accuracy of pump gauges) - that said I'm tall and quite heavy and prefer to ride on harder tyres (on both road and touring bikes)

At the moment I'm on the fence having fitted a tube to one wheel without sealant - the other wheel which deflates over a much longer period is still tubeless with sealant until I get round to fitting a tube . . . but delay sealant.   [That bike will be away for the winter anyway in the next couple of weeks - I use a Ti road in the winter]

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Tubeless works better with larger volumes and lower pressures. Tubeless on narrow 406 wheels is not as reliable as I would like because the tyre tends to empty of pressurised air before the sealant clogs the puncture. 700x25C isn't a huge amount of volume either. Low pressure, large volume tyres (MTB tyres) allow enough time for the puncture to seal without much reduction in pressure.

[robgul]

Tubeless works better with larger volumes and lower pressures. Tubeless on 406 wheels is not as reliable as I would like because the tyre tends to empty of pressurised air before the sealant clogs the puncture. 700x25C isn't a huge amount of volume either. Low pressure, large volume tyres (MTB tyres) allow enough time for the puncture to seal without much reduction in pressure.

Yep - when I ran an LBS we had the most success with customers with 29ers with BIG FAT tyres running almost flat (although we did have to clean up the mess when they came in with the bike having ripped a tyre!)

[Frank9755]

Can you not put lots of sealant in as a one-off and get it to plug the hole round the valve stem?

I recall using 100psi in 25mm Schwalbe Ones (different from current tyres) when I first started using tubeless, and it did work OK - although I use lower pressures nowadays (even on the tandem, but with wider tyres).

[robgul]

Have to say I have to some extent lost confidence with tubeless and will ride tubed for the moment (the other 3 machines I use are all tubed)

When I get the carbon out after the winter I may refit new rim tape/valves etc and give it another try.