No Mavic behind you?
This was not going to be the Race of Truth. My wife and I were descending different routes to our vehicle. I was on the route with the tooth jarring pavement and tight corners, she was not. BAM! Oh scheiße, I’ve got flat rear! The tire exhaled air and water vapor in one great blast. This race was going to be either riding back to meet my wife on a completely flat tubular tire or racing to tear off a blown tire, fitting on the spare and pumping it up. The blown tire, a Veloflex Arenberg 25mm tubular, had been reborn three times and it’s center tread was worn off. I had already been thinking about replacing it so it was without too much remorse I rode it, flat as flat can be, to our rendezvous.
The next day I peeled the tire off the rim and performed an autopsy. The casing was quickly incised and the innards were laid out on the workbench. The pathology was interesting; riding a completely flat tubular tire does not shred the latex inner tube. Nowhere was the innertube stuck to itself. Looking at the tire in cross-section, there were still many miles of rubber left. I found seven discolored places on the inner casing and corresponding spots on the inner tube. I assumed these were all punctures that had been sealed. I eviscerated further and found only four actual penetrations of the latex tube. Each seal looked like a tiny stalagmite on the inside of the inner tube, who knew? The pathology report might say the patient died too young. Had the owner bothered to keep fresh sealant in the tube, it might still be glued on the rim.
I prepped for Keepers Tour 2012 by fitting some 28mm clincher tires with removable core butyl inner tubes and sealant. I did not get a flat on the Roubaix secteurs. I was probably running the tires at higher pressure than I should have so I don’t know if the sealant ever had a chance fix a pinch flat, but I was ready for it.
I was an advocate of tubeless tires before I had ever used them (?!). Then I spent too much time cleaning dried Caffé latex spew off my frame and gruppo. A puncture would seal but only after spraying latex down to 50 psi. I was not impressed until I switched to Orange Seal, which has solid bits in it, and never have I been so happy to get a puncture on a wet road and watch it seal itself in a few revolutions. There is something deeply thrilling about seeing a puncture seal while riding. There is no stopping, no sweating on the side of the road, no man handling of tires, tubes and pumps. When it works, it’s brilliant.
I switched back to tubular tires so I could ride bitchin’ carbon wheels but I didn’t use any preemptive sealant. After noticing a slow leak one morning and I added 30 mls of Orange Seal and it was fixed, tire saved. Sealant and tubular tires are a good match. If one decides to go down this road, removable core inner tubes are a must and a nice core remover will be useful. @Mauibike treats his tubulars like tubeless; preventative sealant and ride like crazy. This same argument could be made for clincher tires, especially if a person feels like they are spending too much time on the side of the road, sweating, switching out tubes and inflating. Is it a puncture panacea? No, but these new sealants work, especially when actually in the tires.
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Sorry to be an idiot, but some of you are using sealant in your latex tubes with clinchers? I'm on Vittoria Corsa and Veloflex Master clinchers with Vredestein latex tubes. Not many punctures, but interested in learning more about this.
I use Stan's latex with Vittoria XM tires on Kysrium rims for my cross race bike. Very good luck with that setup, many many park loops and gravel rides and not many punctures.
ChrisO - goddamn, yes. Tubes blasting during inflation can scare the hell out of you. One of the Velopups knocked over my Park Tool stand once. Now whenever I drag it out, she goes running. It's as scary as thunder for her.
@Puffy
From my autopsy I saw no evidence of the latex tube being attacked from the sealant. I think the Orange Seal is water based, maybe with a little something added to slow evaporation. And that's what happens after four months, the liquid evaporates and leaves a thin film of latex throughout the tube, unless it has been sitting all that time, (like @tessar mentioned, storing them with sealant might not work as well).
If one uses the Orange Seal, be sure to shake it up before injecting as all the good bits settle out in the bottom of the bottle.
@ChrisO
Weirdness. I can think of no good reason for that. In my younger days I had a tubular tire blow up in the middle of the night. The old Peugeot was downstairs in the front hall. It sounded like a shotgun blast. My younger brother was not amused when I met him outside his bedroom door.
@wilburrox Guess you have never used sealant in a tubular , no muss no fuss .
@steelhead
You are right! I do not use tubulars. I know that cleaning the messy stuff off my wheels and tire beads of my mtn bike is annoying. Cheers
I've never committed myself to sealant in tubs for all the reasons mentioned above, and I dont get too many punctures anyway. But I foolishly bought a GP4000S a while ago, not realising that it is not possible to repair them because the base tape / casing is permanently sealed. For those (and Tufos, which dont have an inner tube) I can see the point of dropping some sealant in. I punctured the GP4000 so its no loss if it goes gungy - its either dead (like now) or a zombie if I can bring it back with sealant.
For tubs that are reparable, I dont want to use sealant but change them during the ride and then get the very best ride quality I can. Life is too short not to ride 320tpi tubs.
I have been running dura ace tubeless for a year, best thing ever.
love being able to run lower pressure
I have been running Bontrager sealant, not the best but it works
The orange sealant looks good
@Gianni
Wait, so what you are saying, is the sealant (Orange seal) goes off within 4 months? What then, you have to replace the tub? You have to refresh the sealant? Ugh, such newb queries.
I'm asking because in a blaze of glory I blew my bike budget and idiocy quotent in one go by purchasing a steel frame which, sight unseen, happens to have some nice Weinneman tub box sections on it. I never, ever, ever saw myself using tubs, and now here I am!
So I'm hawking the interwebs for recommendations on:
1-reliable tubs for a sunny sunday bike, that may see some gravel
2-which glue to use
3-sealant or no sealant
@Beers
To those questions, answers will be a wide and varied as the number of respondents. Possibly just maybe the only consensus you will find is on glue - vittoria mastic one. #1 depends heavily on your budget, #3 see conversation above.
@Puffy
I use Continental glue, Veloflex Roubaix (gum walls effect for vintage steel), no sealant (I carry a small bottle of sealant to inject or a can of pitstop). I have tried Vittoria Rally but they didn't last 5 mins. My Roubaix have done over 1500 KM including 2 x Eroica Brit with Strade Bianchi equivalent (rubble and chippings bridlepaths and converted railtracks (gravel)) with no problems (that's torn that now).