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Tubeless tyre sealant

by Kapelmuur
Mon, Dec 21, 2020 13:47
11

I bought a bike with tubeless tyres 6 months ago, I've not had one before.

It's recommended that the sealant is reapplied every 6 months, so it's due.   My query is, what happens to the old sealant?   I guess it doesn't evaporate so will I eventually have tyres full of old sealant?

I presume recommend resealing is based on deterioration through time and not mileage, for various reasons I've only managed 600 miles since buying the bike.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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11 comments

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996ducati | 4 years ago
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Yes you just need a top up not a complete installation.

The easiest way by far is to deflate the tyre very slowly, the reason being you want the beads to stay popped, this is the important bit! I normally put the bike upside down before this point so there is no pressure on the tyres.

Then remove valve core and inject sealant.

Replace valve core and pump up, easy!

Avatar
emjay49 | 4 years ago
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I think it is reccommended that the sealant is topped up every 6 months rather than reapplied.  At the end of the day you want to make sure you have enough sealant,and a little too much is no bad thing.I have found that in warmer weather it will dry out a little but hardly any over winter. I dont faff about dismounting tyres and cleaning old stuff out and just top up 20ml - 30ml every now and then. I used to have a Milkit kit that allowed you to draw sealant out via the valve which was a dead easy way to see what was left but now I just spin the wheel and hear it slosh about.

Avatar
wtjs | 4 years ago
1 like

I have both tubeless ready rims and a determination to keep using inner tubes. The entertaining thing about the rims is the noise of the beads seating. I have now worn out my first 'tubeless tyre', and replaced it with Marathon Plus 35mm. Another alternative is to cease riding over the hedge cutting season.

Avatar
Alessandro | 4 years ago
1 like

From my experience with tubeless tires, here's my 12 step guide to a stress-free application of sealant: 

 

1. Deflate tubeless tire completely. 

2. Remove valve with valve core removal tool. 

3. Inject sealant into the valve, over most of the wheel and tire, the kitchen floor and anything else within 2 metres. 

4. Replace the valve core. 

5. Pump the tire back up as quickly as you can. 

6. Spin wheel so that the sealant covers all of the inside of the tire (caution: the sealant covering the wheel and outside of the tire from step 3 will likely go on the walls this time). 

7. Watch as the sealant leaks out of any holes in your tire but take comfort that this is normal and that your not insignificant investment in tubeless tires was definitely worthwhile. 

8. Go for a ride and get more and more enraged as the tire you have just filled slowly deflates. 

9. Return home and repeat step 1 (unless your tire has already fully deflated on the ride). 

10. Remove tire from wheel with great difficulty while recoating the recently cleaned kitchen floor with sealant. 

11. Clean rim and install inner tube and non-tubeless tire. 

12. Resolve never to enter the world of tubeless tires again. 

Avatar
Recoveryride replied to Alessandro | 4 years ago
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That made me chuckle. In all seriousness, though, I'm a tubeless convert and won't be going back to inner tubes. Good rim tape is a must - Hunts come well set up, and I'm a fan of the Bontrager system (though it's heavy) - and just top air in the tyres up once a week. I can now happily run 70psi, the ride quality is better, and I've come home on 2 or 3 occasions to find a little white bubble on the outside of the tyre where I've been saved from a puncture.

Avatar
Alessandro replied to Recoveryride | 4 years ago
1 like

It's a pair of Hunts that I've had issues with and they fitted the tires. Perhaps I've just been unlucky but the amount of time I've wasted messing around with them just didn't justify the potential time saving of a puncture repair. 

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Alessandro | 4 years ago
0 likes

Alessandro wrote:

From my experience with tubeless tires, here's my 12 step guide to a stress-free application of sealant: 

1. Deflate tubeless tire completely. 

2. Remove valve with valve core removal tool. 

3. Inject sealant into the valve, over most of the wheel and tire, the kitchen floor and anything else within 2 metres. 

4. Replace the valve core. 

5. Pump the tire back up as quickly as you can. 

6. Spin wheel so that the sealant covers all of the inside of the tire (caution: the sealant covering the wheel and outside of the tire from step 3 will likely go on the walls this time). 

7. Watch as the sealant leaks out of any holes in your tire but take comfort that this is normal and that your not insignificant investment in tubeless tires was definitely worthwhile. 

8. Go for a ride and get more and more enraged as the tire you have just filled slowly deflates. 

9. Return home and repeat step 1 (unless your tire has already fully deflated on the ride). 

10. Remove tire from wheel with great difficulty while recoating the recently cleaned kitchen floor with sealant. 

11. Clean rim and install inner tube and non-tubeless tire. 

12. Resolve never to enter the world of tubeless tires again. 

Haha, noob - fettling with tubeless indoors?

After much trial and error, I've settled on these steps:

  1. Make sure you're using the Milkit valves to make refilling sealant nice and easy
  2. Try to deflate tyre, but realise that the Milkit extended tube on the valve core has gottten detached and you can't deflate it normally
  3. Use proper pliers to remove the valve core as it seems to be glued in place and normal valve core removers aren't man enough for the job
  4. Find a metal pokey stick that fits into the valve (and is long enough to deal with the 75mm valve) and hammer it down until you break the seal and can start deflating the tyre
  5. Remove the tyre
  6. Remove the valve and find that the Milkit extended valve plastic tube is twisted and useless
  7. Find a seller on EBay that does just the Milkit valve inner with tube (or spend more on the complete valve) and await delivery
  8. Clean rim and examine the rim tape - isopropyl alcohol is good for that, but don't breathe it in too much
  9. Fit a new tyre (usually a bit of swearing and losing a few tyre levers as they get pinged over the neighbour's fence).
    Important: Make sure the manufacturer label is by the valve
  10. Try to dry inflate the new tyre - this can be a bit of a race between air seeping out and how quick you can operate a track pump (alternatively use a tubeless inflator, though that's cheating - just for the real problem ones)
  11. When the beads have pinged (banged?) into place, deflate and remove valve core (if you needed to insert it to use the track pump)
  12. Milkit syringe about 40-50mm of sealant into the tyre and swish it round a bit
  13. Re-inflate the tyre and get a bit anxious at seeing sealant leaking out between the rim and the bead - until a loud bang makes you realises that the bead wasn't fully seated before
  14. Quick wash of the tyre and leave overnight to see if there's any loss of pressure
Avatar
ktache replied to hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
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hawkinspeter wrote:

Important: Make sure the manufacturer label is by the valve

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to ktache | 4 years ago
2 likes

ktache wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Important: Make sure the manufacturer label is by the valve

I cannot stress how important that is.

Avatar
ktache | 4 years ago
0 likes

Most of the existing stuff will be some gummi mess, snotsicle.  Scrape it out and I give it a god wash and brush.  Remount and fill again.

You might notice the many sharp things going into the inside of the tyre, I did, and that was regularly checking for thorns and stuff.  Each one found with a wry smile...

On my massive Plus tyres I took to topping up with an extra oz of Orange Endurance every month, with the cleaning whenever I change the tryes for changeing conditions.  Though if there was liquid sealent left I'd suck it up with a big syringe and reuse, don't know if it was a wise move, but that stuff is pricey.

For me tubeless has been a fun learning expreience, the only thing I find a nightmare is getting the first bead off, and the mechanic at my LBS (whose view I highly respect) advises agains the Cush Core Bead Dropper.  It looked great.

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Recoveryride | 4 years ago
2 likes

Most of it will evaporate. Some will seal tiny holes, and some will form a seal around the bead. Every couple of months,  take the tyre off, wipe out any excess/peel off any big dried lumps, and refill. It is very likely the rubber on the tyre tread will wear out before the amount of dried sealant on the inside becomes a problem.

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