Stan's tire and rim sealant?

[madisongrrl]

My DH works with a gal who does triathlons, and she told him that the LBS put this Stan's sealant into her tubes on her Litespeed,

They must have a special tool or have to take off the valve stem to get the stans inside her tube. I wonder what happens when the stans dries out in 1-4 months (depending on how much they added). She will probably have to throw the tube away and buy a new one. I guess it doesn't seem worth using on a tubed tire, but maybe someone who uses this system can explain?

[WrensMom]

Yeah, she uses these Continental tubes of some sort that have a removeable valve core, even though they are presta. I don't know about the drying out time frame and all. These kind of details are kind of what I was hoping someone here might be able to fill in for me.

[WrensMom]

So, Madisongrrl, just curious (and hijacking my own thread), but do you use the tubeless setup all the time, or only on your racing bike? I am just wondering if you see it as an advantage overall, or just for racing or what. Are tubeless tires the wave of the future, or are there practical limitations to them that will result in most folks still having tubes for the forseeable future? Obviously, tubeless tires are what cars and motorcycles use now, and that's great, so maybe it is the same deal with bikes?

[madisongrrl]

So, Madisongrrl, just curious (and hijacking my own thread), but do you use the tubeless setup all the time, or only on your racing bike? I am just wondering if you see it as an advantage overall, or just for racing or what. Are tubeless tires the wave of the future, or are there practical limitations to them that will result in most folks still having tubes for the forseeable future? Obviously, tubeless tires are what cars and motorcycles use now, and that's great, so maybe it is the same deal with bikes?

I have a tubeless set up on my full suspension mountain bike. My other bikes are older so they have a tubed set up (I think they also have conversion kits that you can turn your tubed wheelset into a tubeless one with stans rim strips). I think there is a huge advantage for not only racing, but mountain biking in general. You can run you tire pressure way lower with tubeless than tubed. And all you need to carry with you is C02. It is possible to tear a sidewall of your tubeless tire (I haven't done it)...which is why some people still carry tubes. But you could also tear the sidewall of a tubed tire so you might be "screwed" either way.

Many people say that tubeless set up performs better than tubed (they roll faster, accelerate quicker are more comfortable etc). But it is hard for me to compare because the bike I have them on is so much nicer than my old hardtail that it is not an "apples to apples" comparison.


Here is an article that explains the pros and cons of each.
http://mountainbike.about.com/od/buy...less_ornot.htm

[madisongrrl]

Yeah, she uses these Continental tubes of some sort that have a removeable valve core, even though they are presta. I don't know about the drying out time frame and all. These kind of details are kind of what I was hoping someone here might be able to fill in for me.

I haven't been using stans very long, but it seems like it needs changing every 3 months with 1.5 scoops of stans. When I've used less stans (less than a scoop) it barely lasted for 2 months. So it is going to vary.

You can check on your sealant by physically shaking your tire, and if there is a sloshing sound then you are good to go. It is very easy to clean out a tubeless tire and/or add more stans. You don't have to take the tire off the wheel....just deflate it and only take the tire partially off the rim (just enough to add a scoop and some H20). It is ideal to have another person help you do this.... Then you need to put the tire in place and used compressed air to "seat" the tire (like I described above).