Tubeless - how often do you redo/check?

[Akiwi]

If what's left in the bottle is still liquid, surely what's in the tyre is the same? No?seriously, need to check this weekend, but last time I tried,I couldn't make the tyre budge off the rim....

No, Apparently the reason Finish Line removed the "Lasts a lifetime" logo, is because they hadn't accounted for the fact that rubber is pourous, and over time liquid evaporates through the sidewalls. I am surprised it happened to mine, as I am in Germany which isn't particularly hot. Acutally it was winter most of the time, and I have relatively thick walled Schwalbe Nobby Nicks.

 

[steve_sordy]

No, Apparently the reason Finish Line removed the "Lasts a lifetime" logo, is because they hadn't accounted for the fact that rubber is pourous, and over time liquid evaporates through the sidewalls. I am surprised it happened to mine, as I am in Germany which isn't particularly hot. Acutally it was winter most of the time, and I have relatively thick walled Schwalbe Nobby Nicks.

It is probably the air pressure that is pushing the volatiles in the liquid through the tyre walls because that is acting 24/7. I doubt it has anything to do with temperature driven evaporation, although tyres can get quite hot in operation. Its the friction that does it, but it isn't active for long.

 

[J dog]

Probably only check before big riding days or holidays. One thing I and my mates have been caught out on is the valve. It seems that Stans ( don't know about other makes) does limit the life of the valve seal. Several times I have topped the air pressure before a ride and a few hours later, usually when I'm putting the bike in the van tyre is absolutely flat. We now carry valve inserts as important spares and I would probably replace every 6 months.

 

[Ross1137]

Having seen the benefits of tubeless recently (30km ride which my wife had to push 4 km to the bike shop at halfway having run over a thorn on the towpath - and then push 3km at the end omn the way back for the same reason) I've just converted her bike to tubeless too.

But how often do people actually redo the sealant, or check. it? The bottle says every 4 weeks or so, which seems quite frequent to me.....

Until it doesn't seal anymore.. Hopefully not far from home, I do mine every 3 months, add 100ml.

 

[Tim69]

Same here, but since i filled in a whole bottle (500ml) in my two tyres i have plenty of that stuff in there and don't need to worry a whole season ^^

????????
Good to see I'm not the only one that lives by the Moto " anything worth doing, is worth overdoing!"
Tim

 

[steve_sordy]

We expect sealant to block holes as big as 5-6mm, yet we are surprised when they block the valve cores!
I always park the bike with the valves at the bottom, so that before the next ride when I check the tyre pressure, there is no sealant in the valve inlet. But even so, over time, I still get some sealant in the valve. For me that this means that either no air comes out and/or I can't pump up the tyre. I haven't had them blocked open yet. I keep a few spare valve cores just in case.

 

[J dog]

Don't think the sealant actually blocks the valve core Steve, I think it maybe hardens the valve seal and if you haven't added air for a while it seems to stick open. All I know is I've had a tyres that have stayed up for months then suddenly deflate after topping up(with air).

 

[HikerDave]

Never checked the sealant on mine!! Maybe I should, but when ever the tyre has to come out for any reason there is always sealant in there.

I carry a couple co2 canisters , plug's, a good pump in my backpack this is brilliant one.

One thing to mention with co2 canisters, I know is common sense for some, but for others isn't, is always use something to hold the bottle with and don't hold the bottle with your bare skin ( usually they come with foam insert ) I have seeing few folks leave their skin on the bottle after they used one without the protection.

I don’t run tubeless any more because I couldn’t get a good seal on the rim tape because of the rim profile but when I did two or months would dry out the sealant in my hot Arizona garage. I’ll bet climate has a lot to do with sealant longevity; if I collected Stan’s boogers I would probably have a gallon jar full.

 

[steve_sordy]

Don't think the sealant actually blocks the valve core Steve, I think it maybe hardens the valve seal and if you haven't added air for a while it seems to stick open. All I know is I've had a tyres that have stayed up for months then suddenly deflate after topping up(with air).

@J dog It would not surprise me one bit if some sealants damage valve seals. What happened with me was that when I removed the valve core it had congealed latex in there. As a temporary fix, I stripped it off the core and refitted it. It worked for long enough. I continue to be surprised that more people don't have problems with sealants blocking the valve core.