Sealant in road tubes?

[carbon29er]

I'm new to road biking having been riding on the mountain for a few years - and before that as a beginner using my old entry level mtb on the roads. 

 

I've been advised that having liquid in the tube can unbalance the wheel and create handling difficulties. Interested in opinions and experiences on that?

 

I have on my desk an unopened bottle of a green liquid called slime I got at Sportsman's Warehouse. This claims to seal tread area punctures up to 3mm. Good idea to put the recommended 118ml into my tubes on my new road bike.

Don't put more than 30ml into each tube if you go that way.

 

I opened an old MTB tubeless tyre a while back that had been unused for approximately 4 years. The slime was still liquid, having been applied 8 years previously. Fabulous stuff. However, it had chowed a whole the size 50 cent coin of a through the Mavic 518 aluminium UST rim.

[Zorro5614]

I have sealant in my tubes. Not sure how much puncture protection it provides, but has not influenced the roll or handling one bit.

Edited January 21, 2017 by Zorro5614

[Butterbean]

While the topic seems to have turned to tubeless tyres, which is certainly on the cards for a later date, I did manage to find this video which has answered a lot of questions!

 

 

Now, I'm aware that the sealant will not fix a gash, but to be honest, most of my most frustrating punctures are the small one, and the pinch flats. So it seems it should be adequate for the job.

 

I'm skeptical of the claims that it affects handling, at least while the sealant is in a liquid state. Once you're rolling, centrifugal force will spread that liquid to the outer inside of the tube, and at speed, I'm quite sure will be uniformly spread. So no concern there.

 

I think I still have worries over the life expectancy of sealant inside the tube, and whether it will turn hard and cause issues later. But worst case, replacement tubes are cheap at the price.

[Thomo]

Any other sealants (not mentioned yet) worth looking at specifically for higher pressure road use.?

I think options are a little limited.

Some of the names that come to mind:

Batseal

Joes

Weldtite Dr Sludge

Sludge

[Malpiet]

I am using Stans Race sealant in my road tubes 30ml per wheel - no problems so far - injected through the valve by removing the valve core- it does need to be topped up every couple of months - I was going to built a sealant extractor with a big syringe but I have not done it yet - just to keep the sealant level constant and not continually growing.

 

I have an idea that one could use a simple kitchen scale for this instead and some simple maths

I found a easy way the remove sealant, i fold the tube in half with the valve pointing down and outwards, you then start rolling the tube up tightly from the opposite end until you get to the valve (now on my valve i have fish tank pipe and a small platic container) by the time you get to valve end almost all the sealant is out of the tube this i checked by filling a tube with sealant then extracting it again via this principal.

 

I also find that sealant works better on 25c tyres at 6.5bars than 23c on 7.5bar

[Mamil]

What's in it that it made a hole in the alu?

 

Don't put more than 30ml into each tube if you go that way.

 

I opened an old MTB tubeless tyre a while back that had been unused for approximately 4 years. The slime was still liquid, having been applied 8 years previously. Fabulous stuff. However, it had chowed a whole the size 50 cent coin of a through the Mavic 518 aluminium UST rim.

[V12man]

What's in it that it made a hole in the alu?

 

 

Most likely Ammonia

[V12man]

I found a easy way the remove sealant, i fold the tube in half with the valve pointing down and outwards, you then start rolling the tube up tightly from the opposite end until you get to the valve (now on my valve i have fish tank pipe and a small platic container) by the time you get to valve end almost all the sealant is out of the tube this i checked by filling a tube with sealant then extracting it again via this principal.

 

I also find that sealant works better on 25c tyres at 6.5bars than 23c on 7.5bar

I am too lazy for this... don't want to take the tire or tube off at all

[Arrie]

Bump. I am planning to go tubeless with my road bike. From past experiences, which sealant works best and does not lose much pressure?

 

Edit: sorry i see this is sealant in tubes, my apologies.

Edited September 28, 2020 by #Arrie