Latex "no-tubes" Tyres. So how's it going then (2004)
Here's how life with latex can be a series of ups and downs.
OK the facts about living with Latex no-tubes in normal tyres.
I would not consider using this system without a home compressor.
Yea, Yea...OK so you can do it with a floor pump or Co2 canister, when all goes well. Well just try it, your on your own, because without one you'll end up throwing it at the wall at some point when you try that one make of tyre that just don't work. Been there and its a pain in the Butt.You'll pay for the kit, take it home, mess it up on the first inflation and feel ripped off and thoroughly pissed without one.
Tyre blow offs, yep they happen, not caused by punctures but the effect of a freshly mounted or soft tyre to break off the bead., it can happen when the sealant dries up over time too.
Generally you can use CO2 to pop them back on, latex will coat your forks and brakes though.
I've had them blow on a severve landing with some side load, and even on an innocent root sticking out from a bermed bank. That one happened in an important race at Sherwood pines, what a mess. The tyre popped and blew a few racers ear drums, the rim filled with soft sand mixed with the latex, what a mess. I had to clean it all out with foilage before putting in an inner tube, lost about 8 minutes and all the so called advantages of tubeless.
Having said that, nothing works better on slippery ice like summer mud, great trye feel and control from 30psi in the tyres is super fun. In one race this year in monsoon conditions in a quarry I pulled away with amazing grip, well untill I blew physically from the effort, perhaps I should have snorted some Latex too.
The best way to get the true benefits from sealant is by picking a favorite all condition tyre and leaving then on the rims till they are fit for the bin. I still end up carrying a Co2 cannister and tube on rides, but most of the time other riders use them, especially in those Autumn "just cut hedge rides"
The best racing set up I think is to have a general goo filled set of wheels, I use Panracer XC's. Add to that a spare set for slicks or other tyres without sealant and you are covered. Extravegent maybe, but its one sure fire speed upgrade over race punctures, how many times has that flash light piece of Titanium saved you 3 minutes or from a DNF.
For an Idea of living with sealant here's a log of the life of my Superlights wheels this year so far. There's some good and some bad in there;
7-Mar-04
New Panracer Fire XC 2.1 and full Eclipse kit, inflates in seconds and never leaked one bit, thats the front sorted. For the rear, well I totally messed up trying to reuse a rimstrip off another rim, with crap sticky tape lining. Fluid filled the rim chamber and came out the spoke holes, I then stupidly tried to seal it by riding. It sealed but decided to stip it off and start again properly with the re-inforced tape Eclipse provide. remember my own advice of always inflating dry this time, never skip this bit out, never pass this stage before adding the Goo. 2nd time and its perfect, lesson learned.
Follow the Stans tip (changed from his original ideas) of rolling the wheel on instalation, from side to side and not going for a ride to seal and you shouldn't have the same problems.
8-Mar-04
Never ride immediately on installation, thats always recommend but I skipped it. Jumped and landed off camber on a softish tyre and bang goes the rear in a mess, no CO2 on me either (Dohh) so its tube time and a waste of one portion of goo. Lesson2 always carry CO2 at least. Cleaned up and re-sealed with some left over Stans sealant,no worries and seals fast at home, they always do after first installation.
Now just think if you had bought one kit and that was you, would you handle it.
9-May-04
Funny this wheel must be jinxed, sealants OK, but the wheels trashed by another riders pedal (you know who you are) and 5 spokes are busted. so off it comes for a re-build. This happened in Scotland and I changed tyres and sealant over to the spare wheel in the campsite, Infated first time and I went on to have my best result of the year in terrible conditions. The sealant filled tyres were ace on low pressures.
20-July-04
lots of racing and no worries.
Wow the fronts been going 5 months without a hitch, and several thorns in there too, better re-fill it before a big race in Austria and risk the dumb staff on the plane journey.
An Eclipse measure of JRA's ready mixed latex substitute used this time, no worries.
Austria went well in shit conditions low pressures were great and no worries flying soft for the idiot airlines who still don't understand how tyres can't explode at altitude.
03-Aug-04
Riding locally and we have a front wheel gusher on track, its a big front tyre cut centre tread. Left it for a few revolutions but it wasn't sealing un-aided. The trick here is to drop the cut down low and hold your finger over it, it seals, still quicker than a tube swap and we are off again.
Adding pressure opens it up a bit again, but it holds great for the one hour home as the ride continues.
Now I should have taken the tyre off, it is knackered, but I didn't and you know what it hasnt been off to this day yet.
Sept 08
Overnight softness in the front, that damage opening up? nope its a bloody great killer thorn, still got me home from the epic ride last night though. Probably why two other riders had a bitch with punctures then. Pulled out the beast and its going down , no sealant left in there to do its job, its refill time. Another measure of JRA latex and I'm off to work quicker than a tube change again.
This set of tyres have been riden hard all year, I'll bin them for a fesh set next soon, check back on just what the insides look like when I do.
Another set of wheels have been facing the thorns of a 30 mile a day commute and local lanes hack, and most of our trails have thorns a plenty. Here's their Diary.
Its on with the old Kevlar Conti Double fighter slicks before they go in the bin,. an Eclipse strip thrown over 2 layers of normal PVC tape, a quick measure of stans fluid and we are up in a flash. Brilliant these tyres are made for sealant. There can be some porous sidewall acton but it dosent last long.
Mar -26
Noticed on a dusty ride just how many cuts were showing on the old rear, it was totally shagged and latex was weeping out of a lot of them. Doing its job so just left it.
Apr 20
Rear needs to come off its bald; no suprise to find its toatally empty on removal, tyre goes in the bin, latex has passed a great test. Twiter Pro fitted on the rear.
Apr-28
The Superlights in trouble so the Surge is called into race duty. Off with the front slick and on with another Conti Twister (wire) for some more traction in a wet race, scooped out the original goo to reuse and again its an instant seal and no top ups required.
Apr-29
Could not get the rear to seal as well as the front, wierd two identical tryes and one just would not seal properly, always lost 10 psi overnight then stopped at pressure. When taken off it was noted that the fluid had almost crystalized, bad batch or some constant leak effect?
Two Brand new Conti Double fighter fitted and as usual no worries inflation, and never needs another breath of air once inflated, I love these tyres.
Jun 01
Shit the superlight swinger has snapped and its in the garage again, This time its a Tioga 1.95 XC another trouble free swap and scoop out, some topping up required though.
Jun 10
Back on with the Doubles and its another trouble free swap, the Tioga comes off looking like its never had sealant in it too.
The tyre was making a noise like some sealnt had blaaed up inside, but on removal I found this.
Appears this liitle beauty slipped through the tread, the tyre sealed and I never even knew I had a problem, Impressive hey. I never did find the cut either.
Monster blow out, never rolled so it looks like a root sticking out from a bank pushed the tyre off the rim. Ferk this was messy and to boot it took ages to get the valve out of the rim , Bad mark day for sealant as a performance aid. Re-sealed at home but took alot of cleaning, snd and grass and latex yeuchh.
Sept 06
3 months use and not a murmour, then went soft at the final Midlands race when the slicks got swapped to the Superlight for some sandy racing speed. Held on to the finish, though for a result, where others punctured and burned.
Tyre was dry inside, I'd pushed the edge on the sealant life. Its a good idea to look out for the tell tale wet patchs on the tyre regularly, seems as the sealant drys out it lets some moisture out as a tell tale sign of near failure. Re-filled again next morning and off to work in a flash. Still going strong.
Finished and lost little time, but look at that for a bullet proof sealant mass.