Quick Sealant Question

[davetapson]

Ryder stuff works fine - but it is a bit thick to seal new setups.

 

I normally start with Joes or 1/2 Joes 1/2 Ryder, but from then on just bung Ryder in. It's good stuff - thick enough to seal up real nice.

 

And cheap.

[Vetseun]

I just bought a bottle of Stans. On the dot double the price of Ryder.

Ill still pay more for Stans. Its my brand

[MrJacques]

I hate Stans for several reasons – the biggest reason is the mess it creates inside the tyre and most recently the rubber ball inside the tyre 3 days after I fitted the tyres. How well a type of sealant works depends on various factors:

 

Rims:

1) Real UST rims like the Mavic CrossMax SLR type

2) Tubeless rims with a proper bead hook like Stans or American Classic

3) STD rims fitted with a rubber rim strip like Stans or Eclipse kit or ghetto tubeless

4) STD rims sealed with insulation tape – used since 2005 but type 2 above is much more reliable.

 

Tyres:

a) Real UST tyres like Maxxis LUST with very thick sidewall. (UST bead) 600-750g

B) UST compatible like Schwalbe EVO Pacestar or Geax TNT (UST bead) 500-650g

c) STD foldable tyres (some seal very well, others leak through the sidewall) 450-550g

d) STD ultralight tyres (most leak through the sidewall) 380-450g

 

Sealants:

x) Water based

y) Latex based

 

All the above combinations can work, but some seal a lot better than others and is more reliable.

 

The best combo for me for training is: 1/2 – a/b – x/y

The best combo for me for racing is: 2 – c – x

The worst combo generally is: 1 – c/d - x

 

So depending on your tyre choice and tubeless setup, you may require a sealant that reacts quicker or one that’s more sticky.

 

From 2004 I made my own latex based sealant and a 5L latex was R95 and lasted 5 years with many tyre changes. Latex based sealant creates a sticky mess and while it’s ok if you never change tyres and don’t care about weight, it’s just one big mess if you quickly want to fit your race tyres if you’re not fortunate to have 2 wheel-sets. This made me try other sealants incl. Stans, but most of them create some sort of mess and glue to your tyres and the tyre bead. I like tyres clean when I take them off for storage or when I only want to fit a set of tyres for a specific event.

 

Then I discovered the Midas sealant at R35 for 250ml diluted with ready mixed antifreeze. Cheap and clean, no mess, easily washes off with water – tyres stay like new on the inside, seals punctures just like Stans, but it’s not as sticky as Stans and react slower with air so when using a tyre of type c or d above it takes longer before the sidewall seals.

 

So I’ve been using the Midas / antifreeze mix for a long time successfully and recently while travelling saw a bottle of Stans in a shop and thought ‘let’s try this stuff again and see if they’ve maybe improved the formula since I’ve used it in the early days’.

 

I now have 2 wheel-sets and fit the race tyres the day before the event and take them off after the event again. I thought the Stans won’t create a mess as I’ll wash it off before it gets hard inside the tyre. What a mistake. 3 days of Stans in the like new wheels with brand new tyres and already have white stuff glued to it and a rubber crystal ball inside the tyre.

 

Stans work but I hate the mess it creates and at that price, the Midas sealant diluted with antifreeze totally beats it.

 

What ratio do you mix them in? Keen to try this. I have some of the thicker sealant in my tubes and I can feel that the wheel is unbalanced where it heaps up. Keen to go tubeless again with ghetto conversion.

[Wes84]

Using Stans, no mess... I have taken the tires off to re-aline the logos on the tires as well... replaced one valve after riding, replaced the sealant...only a smooth lining of white film with small white particles when it dried after I removed the tire remain...

- Schwalbe Racing Ralph Snakeskin tires

- Giant XC rims converted to tubeless