[bdamschen]

Let me preface this by saying I was doing something absolutely retarded.

Decided to take my little bike to our local lift assisted bike park over labor day weekend. Unfortunately our bike park doesn't have many buff trails, and lots of sharp rocks... so I figured it was inevitable for some sort of puncture to happen.

I was rocking LUST 2.35 high rollers on crossmax sx wheels. Our local shops carry caffelatex sealant instead of stans, so I had a little more than the recommended amount in each tire. Everything was awesome until half way through the day when I apparently was a little too rough through a pointy rock section and put a small puncture (maybe a 3-4 mm slit) right in the middle of the tread.

I waited a second to see if it would seal up on its own, and when it didn't had to pull over. Because this was at the sweet spot on the mountain where it would suck to walk back to the lift and suck more to walk down I bummed a pump from my buddy and tried to pump the tire up thinking I could get the hole to seal no dice. After about 10 mins of pumping and spinning the tire, I gave up and walked back up. Tubless fail. Tube installed.

Fast forward to the next day, I do pretty much the exact same thing to the front tire when I found the ONLY pointy rock on the landing of a jump. Tubless fail again. Tube installed.

I had always rocked tubless with the belief that sealant would seal small holes(these really were not what I could consider big). Instead all I end up with is a disgusting dried latex mess all over my wheel and frame and have to stick a tube in there anyway.

Am I doing it wrong? Was I expecting too much? Was it this new sealant that sucks? I've always used stans before and never had a flat, but I would have no idea if it was because I never punctured my tire or if the stans had done its job.

 

[slimshady]

I guess 3-4 mm punctures are too big for the regular sealant to work on them... I wouldn't know, I'm always about to start my own ghetto tubeless project, but I keep postponing it...

I'll give you my two beans... Even when I think you are supposed to fix that kind of cuts with a tire patch, I can point you to another solution: A friend who rides some trails with very nasty rocks added about a quarter of a pint of rubber zests to his Stan's to make his very own mix. He took the idea from the Slime recipe, which has some rubber/latex pulps blended in. He made the rubber zests out of an old tire, and he's been running this setup since January, with no complains at all.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Tubeless is good for 2 things:

(1) Small punctures like a thorn or maybe a nail.
(2) The ability to run lower tire pressure.

Sidewall tears or good size punctures are something that the sealant just won't seal up.

 

[bdamschen]

Shady- I'm rocking ghetto tubeless on my DH bike and love it. I actually put a huge dent in my rim a few weeks ago that burped the tire a little bit but got re-sealed after 1 or 2 pedal strokes.

Golgi- I read this on caffelatex's website, guess it's BS?

Puncture-repairing action: its fast sealing action makes Caffélatex ideal for MTB and road tubeless, tubular and standard tyres. Caffélatex repairs punctures up to 6mm (mtb) and 3mm (road).

 

[golgiaparatus]

Shady- I'm rocking ghetto tubeless on my DH bike and love it. I actually put a huge dent in my rim a few weeks ago that burped the tire a little bit but got re-sealed after 1 or 2 pedal strokes.

Golgi- I read this on caffelatex's website, guess it's BS?

I cant speak for Caffe Latex. I use stans... guess I should have stated that.

 

[oldfart]

From what I have read in tests, Caffe Latex sucks. Stan's is the real deal. I tried Bontrager Super Juice and had no flats but it evaporated faster than Stan's does.

Would a tube have prevented either of your flats? 3-4 mm is getting near the limit of what any sealant can seal up. If you cut the cords of the tire that much, sealant just does not have the structural integrity to hold the hole closed and it will flex open immediately.

I did a really nifty pinch flat last winter. I had Stan's Crest rims, yellow tape and 2.25 Nobby Nic tubeless ready tire. I hit something so hard that the rock compressed the tire and the force split the rim bed right through the tape. I pinch flatted the rim. Still perfectly round and true though. I simply re-taped it and my wife is riding the wheel now and it is holding up well.

 

[golgiaparatus]

From what I have read in tests, Caffe Latex sucks. Stan's is the real deal. I tried Bontrager Super Juice and had no flats but it evaporated faster than Stan's does.

Would a tube have prevented either of your flats? 3-4 mm is getting near the limit of what any sealant can seal up. If you cut the cords of the tire that much, sealant just does not have the structural integrity to hold the hole closed and it will flex open immediately.

I did a really nifty pinch flat last winter. I had Stan's Crest rims, yellow tape and 2.25 Nobby Nic tubeless ready tire. I hit something so hard that the rock compressed the tire and the force split the rim bed right through the tape. I pinch flatted the rim. Still perfectly round and true though. I simply re-taped it and my wife is riding the wheel now and it is holding up well.

Yikes... must have hit it just right. I hope the wife isn't doing anything serious on that rim.

 

[bdamschen]

Stans it is from now on.


On another note- anyone know how to clean dried latex off of a frame/fork? Picking at it seems to be.... time comsuming.

 

[golgiaparatus]

Stans it is from now on.


On another note- anyone know how to clean dried latex off of a frame/fork? Picking at it seems to be.... time comsuming.

Little alcohol on the rough side of a sponge usually takes it off the inside of a rim when it needs to be retaped... does the job quickly.

 

[JRogers]

In my experience, it doesn't take much to make a hole that sealant won't fix. Had two small holes in my tire a few weeks ago and just couldn't get the sealant to fill them for good. They were probably in the 3mm range, maybe less. Easily fixed with standard tire patches on the inside of the tire, though.

 

[slimshady]

Shady- I'm rocking ghetto tubeless on my DH bike and love it. I actually put a huge dent in my rim a few weeks ago that burped the tire a little bit but got re-sealed after 1 or 2 pedal strokes.

Did you go the tape and valve way? I was thinking of going REALLY ghetto (stick in and cut a 20" tube), since here in Argentina tubeless rim tape is hard to find and expensive, and I hate Presta valves...

 

[golgiaparatus]

Did you go the tape and valve way? I was thinking of going REALLY ghetto (stick in and cut a 20" tube), since here in Argentina tubeless rim tape is hard to find and expensive, and I hate Presta valves...

It'd have to be SUPER tight (the tube). The tape works because it doesn't stretch and it holds on to the rim really tightly to create a seal.

I'd love to see someone develop some spoke hole plugs that are air tight. I hate having to change tape when it gets crinkled up from removing a tire. Would love to see a more permanent solution.

 

[armada]

mavic 823?

 

[bdamschen]

Did you go the tape and valve way? I was thinking of going REALLY ghetto (stick in and cut a 20" tube), since here in Argentina tubeless rim tape is hard to find and expensive, and I hate Presta valves...

Yep- split open 20" tube stretched around the rim, add sealant, seat bead, inflate, trim excess tube and done. Been using it on my DH bike for about 2 years now with a few different wheels: Azonic outlaws, sunline, wtb laser disc, etc and mostly maxxis 2.5 high roller/minion combo (non ust versions). My wife is also currently rocking it on her trail bike too- mavic 719 rims with 2.35 highroller lust tires. Sometimes seating the bead can be a pain in the ass and sometimes it's better to do with an air compressor. It fixed a lot of pinch flat issues I was having on rocky DH courses.

Golgi- in my experience the 20" tube is super tight to the point that it can be a little frustrating to get on the rim. Combine that with the bead seated and pinching the tube in place I can't really see it moving around much.

Gonna try the rubbing alcohol maneuver tonight.

 

[SkaredShtles]

http://petefagerlin.com/yes_tubes/index.htm

 

[insanitylevel9]

i pinch flatted a 2.7 four ply tire yesterday, and put a little crack in the rim. tubeless isn't fool proof but it is alot better then tubes in my opinion. i dont like having to run high pressure