For longer term testing, you may want to try doing this experiment after the tires have had the sealant for a few weeks, and see if there are any problems with particulate settling which could affect the sealant's effectiveness...
Hi, one observation, Stan's sealant is corrosive to aluminium, so if there are any scratches or paint missing inside your rims Stan's will eat them for breakfast, I have lost two rims (both Mavic Crossmax ST) to Stan's. They coroded around the valve hole creating cracks in the inside wall of the rims, expensive lesson! Cafe Latex does not corrode aluminium as there is no ammonia in it (unlike Stan's). Both work well at sealing punctures but if you use aluminium rims Cafe Latex is the better option. Great video, cheers, Peter.
@@johnwilliamson9453 Hi John, you maybe correct as I haven't used Stan's for over 12 months now, and I believe Stan's is just fine if you use their rim seals as this separates the fluid from the rim, mine are UST rims so no need for the rubber seals and I didn't want the weight of the seals where they aren't necessary. Cheers.
I've been using Finish Line sealant on my brand new 2018 Intense Sniper Trail Expert Build bike for the past two months and have been extremely impressed with the seal it provides on both the beads as well as the goat head thorns that are constantly attacking my tires on my local rides. Just yesterday during one of my rides, I spotted two thorns that I decided to pull out to test the sealant's performance and both of the holes created by the goat heads sealed within seconds, which I was very happy to see.
I started out using Stans original, and quickly learned it was a nightmare to clean out. I swap tires depending on the season or location I'm riding. Also I replace tires after 25-40% wear and sell the used tires. Being able to quickly peel the sealant out makes the used tire more appealing to buyers. Orange Seal original makes my life easy. Plus I hate the smell of ammonia.
I've been using the finish line stuff in my rear tire, and Stan's in my front. I found, as you did, that the finish line sealant doesn't seal larger punctures very quickly or well. A farmer relative of mine suggested that I water down the finish line, as that's what he does with an agricultural sealant that works on similar principals. I put 1/8 cup of water in my rear tire, and haven't had any problems since.
I've found that Caffelatex eats tires (it's ammonia-based and is mildly corrosive.) It works pretty well, but it will destroy some of the more supple road tires. I realize this is a mountain bike centric review and that mountain bike tires are much more robust than road tires, so my comments are specific to my use case. In my case, a Compass Extralight 38mm tire had a sidewall blowout after about 1500km and upon inspection I saw that the casing had failed due to near-uniform corrosion from the inside (normally they last 4500km.) My LBS confirms this is a fairly common occurrence with lightweight road tubeless tires. I've tried all the major brands with road tubeless Compass tires (extra light casings) and find that Orange Seal works best.
My strategy: 1) Use a lightweight pinch flat protector like Huck Norris or cSixx Foamo to minimise rim strikes and tire damage 2) Always carry a Maxalami or similar product that can quickly be applied from outside 3) Always carry a 60ml milk bottle if the tire bleeds out before you're even able to apply the Maxlami 4) Use a milk that is reliable at sealing small holes and that lasts long (won't dry up like Orange) Stans Race sealant may be able to seal bigger holes but has the huge drawback that it cannot be injected through the valve which is very important if the tire bleeds out
I’ve used Orange seal, stans, stans race and the effettoo sealant. The orange seal has been the best by far! Has lasted for ages, in fact it hasn’t ever dried up and seals brilliantly! Stans race is better than the std sealant but didn’t seal as well as orange seal. The effetto sealant drys up very quickly and you can’t get the remains off the inside of the tyre so I’ve had to throw tyres away because of this. Orange seal all the way!!!!
I have had good experience with orange seal. Never loose psi with it, but with stans standard id pump it up every ride because it would loose like 15 psi overnight. On the same rim with the same tape job and valve stem
I use orange seal endurance in my 2 mtb bikes. I have had them last up to a year without drying out! That is through a New England summer and winter. I also have had it seal some pretty big holes. I have also tried caffe latex and didnt have good luck with it. Awesome test!
I've got a set of wheels with Stans and another set with Orange Endurance. The one with Orange lose less pressure over time then I ever experienced, and I mean ever when I say ever... as even with tubes in my tires. The Stans one lose pressure more quickly and dry up more quickly and I of course get "stanimals" in there. Once I run out of Stans, both tires will be Orange I think.
I've had best luck with the original Orange Seal. I tried the endurance and found it didn't work near as well as the original stuff. I can get six months out of one usage so that's not too bad. Here in Arizona there is no way you can realistically run without some sort of tire sealant because you are bound to get numbers upon numbers of thorns in your tires. My second favorite is Stans.
2:35 I think you should remove the spike from the tire when the spike is pointing downwards, not towards the ceiling. That would match the expected tyre orientation in real world much better. Other than that, I agree with your test method.
Orange seal lasted about 2.5 months with constant deflating and inflating for various road conditions before it needed a refill and the other wheel needed no refill in 3.5 months. Also, orange seal tends to clog valve stems. My riding partner used stans and had no clogging, though she refilled hers before all the sealant dried up. STANS is the winner in my opinion especial considering it is more common in more remote areas (for example, Baja California).
Just watched the video. I've been using the Finish Line stuff for years. I had no idea it was so much worse. It does dry out and lasts longer than regular Stan's, which I used before. But it does not clog up and form those 'corals' that end up rolling around in the tyre. And being able to just clean the inside of the tyre with water is a huge benefit, in my eyes. I like changing tyres a fair bit and not having to deal with sticky latex residue every time is nice. You do have to put in a lot more than with other sealants to get the inside evenly coated. And even with the recommended amount there is not enough of it in the tyre to form a puddle, which you can move around to try to seal a hole. I used regular Orange Seal once a few years back and it worked very good. It did however seal the valve stems quite effectively as well. I ended up not using it again because it used to be hard to come by locally. A litre of Finish Line sealant is €25,- nowadays. Perfectly acceptable, imo.
I was regularly getting punctures from the thorns on the local trails and probably other sharp things and hard riding here in the UK, sometimes 2 a day and punctures suck the fun out of riding for me. I watched this vid around this time last year and looked at reviews online then I plumped for the regular Stans No Tubes rather than the Race version and haven't had a puncture since, out riding most days, apart from December and January where I rode about 10 days in total. Absolute game changer for me and I can't speak for the other brands, but i'm sticking with the regular Stans as I can just fill up a tyre and forget. Both sets of wheels have been converted to tubeless using Stans. Far better than sliced bread imo and thanks to the reviewer and BikeRadar for doing this test.
Same feeling for that finish line stuff - it's rubbish. Doesn't effectively seal small holes and in my testing didn't manage to even outlast stan's race sealant. Great test as always Seb!
I've only used stan's, and it works really well. Sealed up a half cm sidewall crack in less than 1 sec and didn't lose any pressure for the past 2 wks. I love these videos, make more! We need good testings like this.
Well, I am riding tubeless since 2014. For these 6 years I was on Stans original sealant, 90ml per 29x2.25 Schwalbe tire front and rear. It worked flawlessly for all that time. And just after 2 seasons I've added 30ml more per wheel and here you go - another 2 years of trouble free riding. But in the beginning of this season I cut my rear tire badly (about 5cm long cut from tread to sidewall) and bought new tire. But bike-shop didn't have Stans in stock, only Hutchison was available. The difference was like night and day! While Stans, original not even race one, had sealed new tires in about 15 to 30 seconds (Schwalbe's Lite Skin has billions of little holes evenly distributed withing the whole surface of the new tire, yeah, yeah, I know, but the tire weight is 515g), 120ml per tire of that Hutchison milk-shit hadn't manage to do it for 4 days. I've experienced complete flats 6 times and only on day 5, after adding another 30ml it eventually sealed all those tiny holes. So now for me - Stans forever!
I'm kind of surprised at how many people bash Stan's these days. I gave OS a go a while back and was not impressed (nice 5 mile hike-a-bike back to the car) and went back to Stan's. 100% true story, I've had the same Stan's in my tires for exactly 12 months. Last weekend my son and I were in Arkansas and I got a GIGANTIC puncture. Not only was the Stan's STILL liquidy (mind you it has now seen an entire Texas summer) but it sealed up the gaping hole in the tire with just a bit of persuasion. Ended up jabbing a bacon strip in it at the end of the day just for good measure and it didn't complain one bit all day at the DH park yesterday. It's high time for new tires anyway but I won't have them until thursday but Stan's definitely proved itself.
For the next review, I can only recommend to try out Monkey Sauce. It just came out before the summer, and it's a whole new world. From what I understand, they found out other sealants are mainly composed of ... water (sealants producers are probably laughing all the way to the bank). Monkey Sauce simply pumped up the active ingredients, such as Latex. I've been testing it since it came out, and I don't get flat anymore. For a little bit of context, I ride in Vallnord, Andorra. We eat rocks and roots for breakfast. Those rocks are sharp, loving to cut your tires.
I am very happy with the Caffelatex, which plugs small holes instantly. Compared to Stan's, it is much easier to clean out. Usually I clean the wheels and renews the sealant at start of season (mid/late April in Norway), and ride the whole summer without changing or topping up. Last year (2023) I tested the Mariposo Vegetalex, which is a latex free sealant. It did not work at all for an old < 1mm hole in my tire which the Caffelatex sealed instantly. So returned to shop and got a new bottle of Caffelatex instead (239 NOK, or 20 pounds for one litre)
Unless I tear a tire, the sealant is going to work. It hasn't failed in so many years that I gave up carrying a spare, I just carry plugs instead. I haven't had a flat due to a puncture in what must be five years of hard riding in all conditions.
its fine but sometimes it isnt. i had so many issues trying to seal cross country tires. dh tired no prob, but it always lost air with the xc tires no matter what i did. someone recommended orange seal and it worked first try. now i been using it for couple years now. 👍
@@JoelTGM I know this is old know but that is an interesting observation. I had the same experience with a cross country set of tires on my hard tail. Always a slow leak with Stan's. I have had a few different DH tires with no issue while also using Stan's.
I switched to FinishLine sealanr and it has been proven to be the best Ive ever used. It doesnt dry inside the tire like other sealants and it seals instantly. I have an wheel hanging in my garage i set up with it to test it out by punching holes in the tire and it still seals 5 months later. I used CO2 cartridges to seat the tire on the bead and had no problems at all. Its expensive but they claim will last the life of the tire. I was able to set up 8 tires with the large bottle so all my bikes are set up with FinishLine. Wont use anything else.
Great product review. I appreciate the effort and data compiled. I'm still a HUGE fan of Stans sealant as it's never let me down. Saved my buttocks on a 30mile ride several years back. I recently replaced a tire that was LONG overdue and upon inspection it had 9 mesquite thorns still imbedded throughout the tire.
One of my tires has slime and one has Stan's. I had side wall leaks and Stan's seemed to plug those way better than Slime did. I've heard nothing but great things about Orange seal but the reason I didn't try that was the cost compared to Slime and Stan's. Happy to see a video showing a comparison.
This is the best presented bike-related test I have ever seen. Very good data and recommendations and I appreciated their methodology. This was very useful to me. Thanks!
Appreciate the time and effort put into this test. Since the Doc Blue is made by Stan's, I wonder if (other than honourable mention for being the same as Stan's regular sealant) having another option in there like the Bontrager sealant would have been a better choice.
I was an early convert to FinishLine sealant and then an early convert back to latex based sealant. Often it just wouldn't seal a hole, or would seal for a short time then leak. The other issue I had was that it would seep under tubeless rim tapes and cause the tape to unstick from the rim. I really wanted to like Finishline, but in the end, I've gone back to Stans.
Thank you for this test! I agree Stans Race Sealant, don't settle for anything else. Been using Stans since I started using Tubeless. No flats for 4 years, except for 3 wheel failures!
I would really love to see a similar but gravel-centric test. Testing different sealants on thinner tyres at higher pressures (35-50PSI), plus how different sealants work with repair knots (which are often necessary to keep going without slow leaks). Also, even though Doc Blue is made by Stan's, Schwalbe's product has more particles in it.
The glycol based stuff is what is used in off-road vehicles, particularly mining and excavation trucks where pressures are much, much higher and temperatures can go to 100c+. The extra viscosity isn't a problem as the high pressure differential can overcome it and plug a leak. I guess MTB pressures are no way near high enough.
Very detailed review. I use Stans Race Sealant. I cycle to work and use my mountain bike also for leisure so I wanted something that would work well. It's probably overkill for my type cycling, but when you get a flat on the way to work it is very annoying. I just wanted to have a hassle free ride. I would never go back to inner tubes, but I will carry one in case I get a large slice in the tyre.
I’ve used Stan’s and orange seal, the Stan’s did dry out on me, but that was really my fault for not being vigilant on adding more sealant. The orange seal actually sealed a quarter inch slice, just above the bead and stayed sealed for a month! Both have worked well, just be sure to add more every few months!
This is all well and good, however, I've worked in a shop for a while and have used a few different sealants and have customers who have used others, and I have to say the Caffelatex stuff is really nasty. Once it dries up, it's SO sticky that it is actually quite annoying to take a tire off a rim/put it back on because the tire sticks to itself so strongly. It's basically almost like glue. While this may be a good thing for sealing tires, I guess just hope you don't need to open up the wheel to add more or fix rim tape or anything else. Thanks for the vid though, loved it!
I wonder if the variable of the wheel contacting the ground helps compress the sealant in the hole to provide better seals. Maybe just spinning it in the air causes the sealant to continue to blow out? But then again the seal could get damaged when riding so maybe the results would be worse.
In my experience Orange Seal regular sealant is the best & I don't care about having to top it up more regularly because they all need topping up regardless. And as a mechanic with 20 years experience I have a lot of real world experience to back me up. Over the years I have tried many different tapes, valves and sealants on many different tyre and rim combinations and have found the best combination is Regular Orange seal with WTB tape and nukeproof valves. 👌
I was using orange and had a puncture that went completely flat trail side. Switched to finish line 🏁 and sealed the puncture. No patch and still riding with no issues for months.
Anyone ever heard of ASB parts? It's a small new brand that is based out of Texas. The local High School MTB team uses their sealant and we find it a million times better than anything else. The brand is spreading fast and is setting up places in Spain and California, etc. Y'all should really check it out because it works so amazingly well. So many people in South Texas are using it because it works so well. I put some in my road bike because the tube had a puncture and it and I didn't have a spare. It sealed the hole very quickly and held 100 psi no problem.
FinishLine has been a pain to seat correctly and took 2 weeks to settle. Even then still found its way through the rim tape applied by the LBS. Hopefully its sorted now . Seems to agree with the review re bead seal.....
C Young I had the same trouble recently. I had to add an extra layer of gorilla tape & cake the valve stem in sealant before inserting it. That did the trick but was more trouble than I wanted from my sealant
C Young - thanks for the feedback, but to be fair no sealant will seal rim tape if there's even a small leak in it. I'd try re-taping the rim with Gorilla tape stretched really tight.
Huh. My LBS said Finish Line was good stuff. I set up a new pair of Maxxis tires with it, no problem at all. Couple hundred miles so far, no issues. But I keep seeing online that it's shit.
Mine dried in the rear for about 2 weeks. I had no signs of punctures, no sealant on the frame, but I also had no sealant in the tire. So, I don`t know what really happened.
The finishline is AWESOME at sealing punctures but absolutely useless if you have leaky sidewalls, it just doesnt get in there. had 3 different wheelsets the the workshop that would seal with stans but not finish line
I have been using Continental's Revo sealant for at least 3 years, purchased in a 1 liter bottle for just over $20 shipped. It works very well, although I have not actually had the misfortune of trying to seal a large hole yet. I always put in an oz or 2 more than recommended, just to be sure, and to allow for it drying up. I ride in Phoenix for 4+ months, Chattanooga for 2 months, and Ontario near Lake Superior for the rest of the year, plus Gallup NM for a couple of rides per year. All 3 places have plenty of sharp rocks and I and my buddies who all use the Revo as well have yet to have a problem it cannot solve. Additionally, when it comes time to replace a tire the old sealant cleans up pretty easily. I should say I think it is very important to be meticulous in cleaning the old sealant off the wheel when mounting the next tire, particularly where the bead seats. And by that I mean remove all traces of the old sealant. If you are re-using the old tire (for whatever reason) clean its bead as meticulously as you can so the tire fits against the wheel's bead properly.
I'm back again with more. I will say that you do need to thoroughly clean the removeable core from time to time (or whenever you mount a new tire as a preventative measure) as the sealant does impede airflow a bit through the Presta valve. I have tried Stan's before the Revo and while it worked fine it was much harder to clean up the wheel when necessary.
Am I the only one who has had a lot of problems with Stan's sealant? It really doesn't seal few millimeter holes well and can't hold much air pressure in the tyre, but I'd say it's still very good, has saved me a few times. Seems to work very good in Schwalbe tyres (Nobby Nics to be exact) never had a problem sealing even larger holes in the tyre with Stan's sealant, but now I got my new bike and it has Maxxis tyres on it and the rear one (Rekon 2.6) has already several holes and the Stan's sealant didn't work at all, always had to use hacked bacon stripes and still some leaks, so I'd say this is very tyre-dependant. Now ordered a Continental Mountain King tyre for the rear hoping it would last better than the Rekon (which I will never buy again). And I also ordered that Finish line sealant to go with the Conti tyre, just 1 day before this video came out, hope it wasn't a mistake, paid 18€ for a 240mm bottle and now I'm terrified that it's very bad 😔 But the time and rock-gardens will show what happens. Wish me luck people ;) Edit: The Finish Line actually sucks shit! It won't seal small leakages at the valve or a spoke hole and it has turned to a blue slimey mess. Going back to Stan's or tubes.
Im thinking about switching to tubeless? I wonder if its worth it because its simply not as reliable as having a spare tube you can switch out in 5 minutes. Plus topping up sounds like something i would forget, And the mess and expense. Is it really worth it and why?
Please dont laugh at me but Ive used Slime in very lightweight tubes for years and NEVER got a puncture that didn't just need a few pumps of air. When i eventually take the tube out (sometimes 18 months later) the tyre has dozens of hawtorns pinned through tyre and tube.
I've had great success with the E13 Tyre Plasma, much better than Stan's Race Sealant in my experience. I think part of a good sealant is coating the inside of the tyre and your test doesn't give time for that to occur. The inner coating helps the still liquid sealant adhere and plug holes. I also find it lasts the life of most of my rear tyres at least.
I've been using orange seal on my mtbs for a few years no problem. Road tubeless I've had three terminal punctures and a friend two terminal punctures with orange seal. Whilst I used endurance my mate used standard and it dried out incredibly quickly. My experience is one possible puncture may be due to being too cold to seal and twice it would seal but couldn't hold a rideable pressure. I think the test would be more interesting with a range of tyre widths, tyre pressures and let's be honest there isn't really a road specific sealant so we try to use the same sealant on all our tubeless systems so it maybe worth throwing road tubeless in the mix.
Just a word of caution for Stan's users: The use of ammonia in the product can cause some serious problems with anodized aluminum spoke nipples. I've seen more than 50 cases of corroded nipples leading to broken spokes in the past year alone. That being said, the stuff works better than just about anything as reflected in this test. If you're in love with it, you might want to consider brass nipples, or sacrificing a bit of performance on the extreme side of things by using Orange Seal. I don't have experience with Effetto Moriposa sealant, but nobody has come to me with corroded nipples because of it.
I use both Stan's reg and Orange Endurance. Thus far the Orange has been running quite well. I like the ease of the Stan's but i have had problems with any slash or moderate puncture, additionally the seals always seem to break around 20psi. The Orange Endurance on the other hand sealed a hole from a rather large tack. Right now I am leaning towards the Orange Seal.
Another question is feel and cleanup. Stans is rather sticky/slimy to deal with and can stain wheels. Orange seal cleans up nicely, evenly coats the tire and leaves an extra layer to tire that you can peal out. Haven't messed with the others but all round performance and mess I choose original Orange seal.
Excellent report Seb!! It is difficult for the consumer to sort out quality product from 'snake oil'. This objective study is very helpful! I may stay with standard Stans, as I use large quantities, and encounter a lot of daily small punctures in goat head territory. For larger emergency holes, some combination of tire bacon, CO2 inflator, or dreaded innertube are easy to carry. I wish Stans sold their standard sealant in a larger quantity, half gallon or gallon would be a nice quantity to last me through a calendar year. Perhaps some market research could reveal moving away from 1L towards pack-able convenience ~88ml trail bottles and 2-4L shop bottles with plus sized tires gaining in popularity? I have run out of sealant in my 29x3 bike twice this year, and feel like a monthly charge is more appropriate than the 2-4 months claimed. As a year round bicycle commuter, I'm thinking I need to top off with ~20 ml per 29 x 3 tire every month to keep my ride reliable with my pin cushion-ed tires in goat head territory. I'd love to know if I am accumulating or running dry with my dosage regime. This information would also be useful for the user, if it's not already available. Maybe some form of x-ray/infared vision could help to see the level of the puddle through the tire casing.
I can attest to FinishLine sealant. On my 27.5x3" the front would equalize to 20-psi. overnight and the rear would equalize to 10-psi. Both were pumped up to 30-psi. Also the BEST PART of FinishLine is how easy it is to clean it out, when you get fed up with having to pump your tires up EVERY DAY!!!! If they ever get the formula to work, I'll try tubeless again. Until then 8 bucks for a tube is fine by me.
When I finally went tubeless I asked my local bike shop what they suggest I use for my new tubeless set up. They gave me the valves and two 4 oz bottles of Finish Line tire sealant I went home set it all up and was excited to get out on my local trails. However, luckily I didn’t get to go to the trails and decided to test them around town. About a half an hour latter I realized my tires started to feel low on air so I headed home. When I got home my tires we close to flat I pumped them up again took the tires of and really took my time shaking the tires to make sure the inside of the tire was coated. When I woke up in the morning the tires were flat and it looked like the sidewalks were wet. I pumped them up again and noticed that sealant was bubbling all around the sidewalls on both sides of both tires. I tried to get it to work for three days and then decided to go to a different bike shop and bought a bottle of Stan’s sealant got home cleaned out the tires real good and put in the Stans sealant and it was done. No weeping on the sidewalls no lose of air pressure and it been three and a half weeks so far no issues. I burped the tire once but that seated right back up and I’m good to go. So I will never use Finish Line sealant ever again and I don’t suggest anyone try it either.
I just filled my tire with Finish Line with similar results. The tire sidewall is now leaking sealant as well as the valve stem. I’ve aired it up to 30 psi 3 days in a row now and the next day the tire is flat each time
Yep same here, bad experience with Finish line. Would not hold pressure at 30 psi and would deflate down to 20 psi in a day or so. Did this for a few weeks and gave up. Always leaked around rim. Used stans rim tape. These are tubeless ready rims with brand new continental xking tires. Just would not seal even after resealing the tires on tye rims several times. Going to try Stans or Orange now to see if i get better results.
I've returned from the Alps recently and on the rear I had the Hans Dampf EVO PaceStar and Doc Blue sealant. I have counted that I accumulated a bit over 20 punctures on the rear tire by the last day of vacation and every one of them sealed without me even noticing any air loss during the ride...It was just full of sealant stains and noticable small punctures all over the thread ... p.s. And in Germany, the Schwalbe sealant is actually quite cheaper. Having said that, on my Continental tires, it simply doesn't make a seal in the first place, those tires work good with the Continental Revo sealant in my experience and one should stick to the recommended method from Continental. Although, the 2018 tires are way easier to seal... So, i think it also depends on the tires...
i've been using caffelatex and i can't say i found it so good (tested with RocketRons EVO and RaceKings) and it lasts only a couple of months in the tire. In case of RoRos i had to pump them quite often on that sealant on RK it didn't hold the puncture - and i don't know whether it was already dry or it was simply too big hole. I am now using some other sealant and i see it performs better.
thanx for all your vids!!! very knowledgeable and ur easy to follow and understand... Keep up the great work brotha.... just side note Latex is water based. U can clean latex paint with just warm water so...Again thanx for the taking time to do these video's!!!!!
What size tire and how much sealant did you use for Finish line. 90% of people aren't using the full amount needed because they aren't following the directions. Plenty of posts on mtbr forums of people admitting to not using the correct amount. I've had this sealant in my tires for over 5 months plugging plenty of small holes. Works great and doesn't clog my valve cores. My buddy has been using it for 2 months without issue as well. GMBN tech video showed them stabbing away at the tire and it sealing just fine. It's sad misinformation continues to be spread by people who literally didn't use the recommended amount. There's a guy on the forums who used half of what he should have and then complained it didn't seal his goathead punctures...then proceeds to give it a 1 star review on Amazon. Ridiculous. I put 5.5oz in. 29er 2.5 tire and 5 oz in a 2.35 tire. The directions call for 4 oz in your standard XC tire. The Finish line product manager said this in an interview as well. Bigger tires need more.
Mix race sealant and normal stans. I performed this operation 5 month ago and with regular revolution of the wheels (2 times per weeks to avoid drying) it is still fresh. I've only lost 40ml due to summer period. Stans for me is the best.
I'm gobsmacked (did I say that right?) by ANY sealant plugging ANY puncture bigger than a thorn. Not sure what I'm doing wrong but if the puncture is larger than what the typical thorn causes the tire is almost entirely flat within seconds. I'm spinning, twisting the wheel off the bike to ensure total coverage after a puncture, too. I'm using at least 100ml of sealant in each tire. Currently I'm running MAXXIS Ardent Race (27 psi) and Minnion (25 psi) tires (R&F). Last puncture, about a week ago, necessitated the installation of an inner tube to get back to the truck and that puncture was certainly smaller than 2mm and just would NOT seal up, no matter how much sealant I watched spray out. I use Orange (not the endurance and have also used regular Stan's) and there was plenty remaining that should have sealed the puncture (it wasn't all dried up). Thankfully, I've had very few punctures but I've had to ALWAYS use a patch to repair every one of them AFTER having to insert an inner tube to finish the ride. IMHO, tubeless tire sealant (any brand) is akin to snake oil for any puncture bigger than a pinhole...
Its not just sealing, its use and longevity...in the uk, when did u last have a screwdriver sized 5mm hole! Thats bigger than any standard nail! All sealants can seal normal rose thorn holes ...normal trail stuff...so its more about longevity...and ease of use...stans seals great, but balls up in weeks....I use slime, its never ever dried up and seals all holes I have ever got
My own personal real world experience confirms the conclusions of this video: Caffelatex for every day riding and training, Stans Race sealant if you're racing and need to avoid a puncture at all costs (but it will likely clog your valve core... eventually).
i just bought the caffelatex without watching this video and im glad i did now that i did watch the video. Thanks for the test. going tubeless very soon
I had 5 flats on my racerking 2.2 and i wanted to make a bullet proof tire so i cutted the side walls of the tire and kept only the knobs surface ..then i glued it (knobs facing up) in the interior of a Kenda Kinetics,i knew that i wouldn t find a tire thick like that so i made it myself,i love it!
Been using Stan's Race Sealant since it came out. The only issue with it is that apparently it cannot be poured through a valve. This can be an issue for topping off. What I would do is use regular Stan's to top off. Regarding flats, can't say the Race Sealant is that much better than the regular. I do a lot of gravel riding so the slightly higher pressures probably mean less of a chance of plugging holes.
It plugs flats really well, but dries up incredibly quickly. So, if you're a racer who can afford to chage sealant every month or less, go for it! Otherwise, meh
@@Fred_the_1996 It never dried up for me, but as time went on I got punctures it would not seal up. I ended up going to stand race sealant. I haven't watched this vid in a while maybe I should because the race sealant is not solving my issue atm.
@@Fred_the_1996 The bottle I had said TPS safe. I looked for the other one but it was always sold out at my local Walmart. I am assuming you used the other one.
Have tried Caffelatex, Stans, and the Winter version of Orange Seal. The last one is still untested (knock on wood, no one wants a flat on a fatbike at -20). The sealant did weep quite a bit on the huge 'Beist 45NRTH tires, but they have held air since March at around 5 psi. For what is worth, Caffelatex has sealed all the holes in CX/Gravel tires I've made, and have sealed hard-to-seat tires on tubeless rims when Stan's was having a hard time (ironically, a Stans tubeless road rim with a Hutchinson tire). Maybe it is because it's supposed to froth when spun around? I would certainly buy that sealant again.
Just had my first flat tire. I will be using the race seal solution seems very best because I been putting it through alot of stuff. This video helped alot thank you.
I would love to see how juice lubes compares in these tests. This is what my LBS currently stocks and I like to support them where possible. I recently made the switch from Stan's to Juice Lubes and am really impressed anecdotally but I would be interested in seeing how it compares in a more subjective test.
I've had the same Stan's in my tires for exactly 12 months, including one full Texas summer and I got proof just last weekend (and 400 miles from home) that it's still very much liquid and doing its job. Granted yes, I was just as surprised as anyone else LOL.
used stans since it first vame out back in wales. but i now live in a hot humid country (roughly 85f) and it just cant cope. it tends to split, tyre is left with a weird thin orangish liquid that wont seal anything. i contacted stans and they say this is normal for the conditions here and to just keep adding more sealant. given that happens over a few weeks they can sod off. went to effetto and havent had a problem since. works brilliantly. if you want large particles you can add some :) plastic glitter is apparently a good filler/blocker.
For longer term testing, you may want to try doing this experiment after the tires have had the sealant for a few weeks, and see if there are any problems with particulate settling which could affect the sealant's effectiveness...
That would require a lot of wheels !
great idea. Also now it's been 5 years, so I would like to see tests of the current contenders. I also wonder about subzero temps.
We'd love a new version of this for 2020
products are the same
Or 2021
2021
Products are the same for 2021 🤙🏻
@@dividendminer ...
Hi, one observation, Stan's sealant is corrosive to aluminium, so if there are any scratches or paint missing inside your rims Stan's will eat them for breakfast, I have lost two rims (both Mavic Crossmax ST) to Stan's. They coroded around the valve hole creating cracks in the inside wall of the rims, expensive lesson! Cafe Latex does not corrode aluminium as there is no ammonia in it (unlike Stan's). Both work well at sealing punctures but if you use aluminium rims Cafe Latex is the better option. Great video, cheers, Peter.
Woah, real life saver! Thank you!
I believe ammonia was in their original formulation but I believe it's no longer in any of their formulations.
@@johnwilliamson9453 Hi John, you maybe correct as I haven't used Stan's for over 12 months now, and I believe Stan's is just fine if you use their rim seals as this separates the fluid from the rim, mine are UST rims so no need for the rubber seals and I didn't want the weight of the seals where they aren't necessary. Cheers.
Moral of the story, don't stab your tyres with screwdrivers
diluteduk 😂
after 300 repairs I'm just now hearing this!!!!!!
Use pick instead 😂
😂
😂
I've been using Finish Line sealant on my brand new 2018 Intense Sniper Trail Expert Build bike for the past two months and have been extremely impressed with the seal it provides on both the beads as well as the goat head thorns that are constantly attacking my tires on my local rides. Just yesterday during one of my rides, I spotted two thorns that I decided to pull out to test the sealant's performance and both of the holes created by the goat heads sealed within seconds, which I was very happy to see.
I started out using Stans original, and quickly learned it was a nightmare to clean out. I swap tires depending on the season or location I'm riding. Also I replace tires after 25-40% wear and sell the used tires. Being able to quickly peel the sealant out makes the used tire more appealing to buyers. Orange Seal original makes my life easy. Plus I hate the smell of ammonia.
I would like to see this test for Muc-Off sealant test like this. And updated test for 2021 products.
It does not work lol
I've only ever used Stands. It's been good to me over the years. Great Video.
I've been using the finish line stuff in my rear tire, and Stan's in my front. I found, as you did, that the finish line sealant doesn't seal larger punctures very quickly or well. A farmer relative of mine suggested that I water down the finish line, as that's what he does with an agricultural sealant that works on similar principals. I put 1/8 cup of water in my rear tire, and haven't had any problems since.
Interesting, and good to know!
I've found that Caffelatex eats tires (it's ammonia-based and is mildly corrosive.) It works pretty well, but it will destroy some of the more supple road tires.
I realize this is a mountain bike centric review and that mountain bike tires are much more robust than road tires, so my comments are specific to my use case. In my case, a Compass Extralight 38mm tire had a sidewall blowout after about 1500km and upon inspection I saw that the casing had failed due to near-uniform corrosion from the inside (normally they last 4500km.) My LBS confirms this is a fairly common occurrence with lightweight road tubeless tires.
I've tried all the major brands with road tubeless Compass tires (extra light casings) and find that Orange Seal works best.
Joe Bond new caffelatex formula is ammonia free
My friends Stan's rim and Continental Tyre got eaten away by Stan's sealant ,Very corrosive
Seb is the best at bike radar period
😔
Thomas Marvin oof
Someone need a hug?
My strategy:
1) Use a lightweight pinch flat protector like Huck Norris or cSixx Foamo to minimise rim strikes and tire damage
2) Always carry a Maxalami or similar product that can quickly be applied from outside
3) Always carry a 60ml milk bottle if the tire bleeds out before you're even able to apply the Maxlami
4) Use a milk that is reliable at sealing small holes and that lasts long (won't dry up like Orange)
Stans Race sealant may be able to seal bigger holes but has the huge drawback that it cannot be injected through the valve which is very important if the tire bleeds out
I’ve used Orange seal, stans, stans race and the effettoo sealant. The orange seal has been the best by far! Has lasted for ages, in fact it hasn’t ever dried up and seals brilliantly!
Stans race is better than the std sealant but didn’t seal as well as orange seal.
The effetto sealant drys up very quickly and you can’t get the remains off the inside of the tyre so I’ve had to throw tyres away because of this.
Orange seal all the way!!!!
Terry Edleston I use orange myself 💪🏼
I have had good experience with orange seal. Never loose psi with it, but with stans standard id pump it up every ride because it would loose like 15 psi overnight. On the same rim with the same tape job and valve stem
I'd say go for the best no matter the cost. Compared to the cost of our bikes and gear, the most expensive sealant is peanuts haha
I agree and had a laugh at your yt name. Thanks! Have fun.
I use orange seal endurance in my 2 mtb bikes. I have had them last up to a year without drying out! That is through a New England summer and winter. I also have had it seal some pretty big holes. I have also tried caffe latex and didnt have good luck with it. Awesome test!
LiveFreeandShred - thanks for the feedback. Good to hear these kind of experiences.
I've got a set of wheels with Stans and another set with Orange Endurance. The one with Orange lose less pressure over time then I ever experienced, and I mean ever when I say ever... as even with tubes in my tires. The Stans one lose pressure more quickly and dry up more quickly and I of course get "stanimals" in there. Once I run out of Stans, both tires will be Orange I think.
Coffeelatex sucks
I'm in VA and I've had Orange Endurance for 6 months in my tires. Not dried up yet
im going to give it a try. I have peatys right now and i hate it.
I've had best luck with the original Orange Seal. I tried the endurance and found it didn't work near as well as the original stuff. I can get six months out of one usage so that's not too bad. Here in Arizona there is no way you can realistically run without some sort of tire sealant because you are bound to get numbers upon numbers of thorns in your tires. My second favorite is Stans.
2:35 I think you should remove the spike from the tire when the spike is pointing downwards, not towards the ceiling. That would match the expected tyre orientation in real world much better. Other than that, I agree with your test method.
es pura charlateneria
Latex para mascara con o sin amoniaco... se diluye uno en 4 litros de agua .. y listo... costo de 5 litros .. 6 EUROSSSS ... SOLO 6 EUROS...
Orange seal lasted about 2.5 months with constant deflating and inflating for various road conditions before it needed a refill and the other wheel needed no refill in 3.5 months. Also, orange seal tends to clog valve stems. My riding partner used stans and had no clogging, though she refilled hers before all the sealant dried up. STANS is the winner in my opinion especial considering it is more common in more remote areas (for example, Baja California).
Seb, you must wear some kind of protective eye wear for something like this bud. Really found it informative though.
Just watched the video. I've been using the Finish Line stuff for years. I had no idea it was so much worse.
It does dry out and lasts longer than regular Stan's, which I used before. But it does not clog up and form those 'corals' that end up rolling around in the tyre.
And being able to just clean the inside of the tyre with water is a huge benefit, in my eyes. I like changing tyres a fair bit and not having to deal with sticky latex residue every time is nice.
You do have to put in a lot more than with other sealants to get the inside evenly coated. And even with the recommended amount there is not enough of it in the tyre to form a puddle, which you can move around to try to seal a hole.
I used regular Orange Seal once a few years back and it worked very good. It did however seal the valve stems quite effectively as well. I ended up not using it again because it used to be hard to come by locally.
A litre of Finish Line sealant is €25,- nowadays. Perfectly acceptable, imo.
I was regularly getting punctures from the thorns on the local trails and probably other sharp things and hard riding here in the UK, sometimes 2 a day and punctures suck the fun out of riding for me. I watched this vid around this time last year and looked at reviews online then I plumped for the regular Stans No Tubes rather than the Race version and haven't had a puncture since, out riding most days, apart from December and January where I rode about 10 days in total.
Absolute game changer for me and I can't speak for the other brands, but i'm sticking with the regular Stans as I can just fill up a tyre and forget. Both sets of wheels have been converted to tubeless using Stans. Far better than sliced bread imo and thanks to the reviewer and BikeRadar for doing this test.
Same feeling for that finish line stuff - it's rubbish. Doesn't effectively seal small holes and in my testing didn't manage to even outlast stan's race sealant. Great test as always Seb!
Thanks for clearing the air, tired of listening to those who say what's the best, you showed me why or why not!
I've only used stan's, and it works really well. Sealed up a half cm sidewall crack in less than 1 sec and didn't lose any pressure for the past 2 wks.
I love these videos, make more! We need good testings like this.
Well, I am riding tubeless since 2014. For these 6 years I was on Stans original sealant, 90ml per 29x2.25 Schwalbe tire front and rear. It worked flawlessly for all that time. And just after 2 seasons I've added 30ml more per wheel and here you go - another 2 years of trouble free riding. But in the beginning of this season I cut my rear tire badly (about 5cm long cut from tread to sidewall) and bought new tire. But bike-shop didn't have Stans in stock, only Hutchison was available. The difference was like night and day! While Stans, original not even race one, had sealed new tires in about 15 to 30 seconds (Schwalbe's Lite Skin has billions of little holes evenly distributed withing the whole surface of the new tire, yeah, yeah, I know, but the tire weight is 515g), 120ml per tire of that Hutchison milk-shit hadn't manage to do it for 4 days. I've experienced complete flats 6 times and only on day 5, after adding another 30ml it eventually sealed all those tiny holes. So now for me - Stans forever!
I'm kind of surprised at how many people bash Stan's these days. I gave OS a go a while back and was not impressed (nice 5 mile hike-a-bike back to the car) and went back to Stan's. 100% true story, I've had the same Stan's in my tires for exactly 12 months. Last weekend my son and I were in Arkansas and I got a GIGANTIC puncture. Not only was the Stan's STILL liquidy (mind you it has now seen an entire Texas summer) but it sealed up the gaping hole in the tire with just a bit of persuasion. Ended up jabbing a bacon strip in it at the end of the day just for good measure and it didn't complain one bit all day at the DH park yesterday. It's high time for new tires anyway but I won't have them until thursday but Stan's definitely proved itself.
The caffelatex additive Vitamina Cl improves it even more, can defo recommend.
For the next review, I can only recommend to try out Monkey Sauce.
It just came out before the summer, and it's a whole new world. From what I understand, they found out other sealants are mainly composed of ... water (sealants producers are probably laughing all the way to the bank).
Monkey Sauce simply pumped up the active ingredients, such as Latex. I've been testing it since it came out, and I don't get flat anymore.
For a little bit of context, I ride in Vallnord, Andorra. We eat rocks and roots for breakfast. Those rocks are sharp, loving to cut your tires.
as long as a sealant works, I am pretty happy it is mainly composed of water.
how does it do over time? does it dry up faster/need topping up more often? hows the heat and humidity where you are?
I am very happy with the Caffelatex, which plugs small holes instantly. Compared to Stan's, it is much easier to clean out.
Usually I clean the wheels and renews the sealant at start of season (mid/late April in Norway), and ride the whole summer without changing or topping up.
Last year (2023) I tested the Mariposo Vegetalex, which is a latex free sealant. It did not work at all for an old < 1mm hole in my tire which the Caffelatex sealed instantly. So returned to shop and got a new bottle of Caffelatex instead (239 NOK, or 20 pounds for one litre)
While I'm a sample size of one, Stan's sealant has not once failed me. I'm sure the second I tried to use something else, I'd be walking for 10km.
always bring spare tube duh
Unless I tear a tire, the sealant is going to work. It hasn't failed in so many years that I gave up carrying a spare, I just carry plugs instead. I haven't had a flat due to a puncture in what must be five years of hard riding in all conditions.
its fine but sometimes it isnt. i had so many issues trying to seal cross country tires. dh tired no prob, but it always lost air with the xc tires no matter what i did. someone recommended orange seal and it worked first try. now i been using it for couple years now. 👍
Ń
@@JoelTGM I know this is old know but that is an interesting observation. I had the same experience with a cross country set of tires on my hard tail. Always a slow leak with Stan's. I have had a few different DH tires with no issue while also using Stan's.
orange seal is really good!! set my bike up for tubeless 1.5 years ago and i put 250ml per tire and it has held up great!
I switched to FinishLine sealanr and it has been proven to be the best Ive ever used. It doesnt dry inside the tire like other sealants and it seals instantly. I have an wheel hanging in my garage i set up with it to test it out by punching holes in the tire and it still seals 5 months later. I used CO2 cartridges to seat the tire on the bead and had no problems at all. Its expensive but they claim will last the life of the tire. I was able to set up 8 tires with the large bottle so all my bikes are set up with FinishLine. Wont use anything else.
Great product review. I appreciate the effort and data compiled. I'm still a HUGE fan of Stans sealant as it's never let me down. Saved my buttocks on a 30mile ride several years back. I recently replaced a tire that was LONG overdue and upon inspection it had 9 mesquite thorns still imbedded throughout the tire.
One of my tires has slime and one has Stan's. I had side wall leaks and Stan's seemed to plug those way better than Slime did.
I've heard nothing but great things about Orange seal but the reason I didn't try that was the cost compared to Slime and Stan's. Happy to see a video showing a comparison.
I wish more video's were this well done. Excellent work, Thanks!
We'd love a new version of this for 2021!
This is the best presented bike-related test I have ever seen. Very good data and recommendations and I appreciated their methodology. This was very useful to me. Thanks!
Appreciate the time and effort put into this test. Since the Doc Blue is made by Stan's, I wonder if (other than honourable mention for being the same as Stan's regular sealant) having another option in there like the Bontrager sealant would have been a better choice.
veloriderkm i
But stans is a sponsor, so This test is disregarded in my mind...
I've been a stans fan for years. Only the bigger holes need a worm. Thanks for running the test
I was an early convert to FinishLine sealant and then an early convert back to latex based sealant. Often it just wouldn't seal a hole, or would seal for a short time then leak. The other issue I had was that it would seep under tubeless rim tapes and cause the tape to unstick from the rim. I really wanted to like Finishline, but in the end, I've gone back to Stans.
Thank you for this test! I agree Stans Race Sealant, don't settle for anything else. Been using Stans since I started using Tubeless. No flats for 4 years, except for 3 wheel failures!
Enduro Shredders have you experienced any problems with the ammonia attacking the aluminum?
Casey Jones sealant can not reach any metal parts if the setup is correct.
Inner rim walls made of aluminium will be contacting the ammonia all the while@@notsponsored103
I would really love to see a similar but gravel-centric test. Testing different sealants on thinner tyres at higher pressures (35-50PSI), plus how different sealants work with repair knots (which are often necessary to keep going without slow leaks).
Also, even though Doc Blue is made by Stan's, Schwalbe's product has more particles in it.
The glycol based stuff is what is used in off-road vehicles, particularly mining and excavation trucks where pressures are much, much higher and temperatures can go to 100c+. The extra viscosity isn't a problem as the high pressure differential can overcome it and plug a leak. I guess MTB pressures are no way near high enough.
Very detailed review.
I use Stans Race Sealant.
I cycle to work and use my mountain bike also for leisure so I wanted something that would work well.
It's probably overkill for my type cycling, but when you get a flat on the way to work it is very annoying.
I just wanted to have a hassle free ride.
I would never go back to inner tubes, but I will carry one in case I get a large slice in the tyre.
I’ve used Stan’s and orange seal, the Stan’s did dry out on me, but that was really my fault for not being vigilant on adding more sealant. The orange seal actually sealed a quarter inch slice, just above the bead and stayed sealed for a month! Both have worked well, just be sure to add more every few months!
Being from Canada, the claim to be effective down to minus 23 celcius is an appreciable feature for the Finish Line.
This is all well and good, however, I've worked in a shop for a while and have used a few different sealants and have customers who have used others, and I have to say the Caffelatex stuff is really nasty. Once it dries up, it's SO sticky that it is actually quite annoying to take a tire off a rim/put it back on because the tire sticks to itself so strongly. It's basically almost like glue. While this may be a good thing for sealing tires, I guess just hope you don't need to open up the wheel to add more or fix rim tape or anything else. Thanks for the vid though, loved it!
never been an issue for me Nd ive left it dry. maybe warm the workshop up a bit as it just peels off fairly easily in this warmer climate.
You guys should test Muc Off No Puncture Hassle Tubeless Sealant. I hear it's one of the best, too.
Wow lol wear glasses.
Some latex sealant in the eye would be horrifying
Breathing it and direct skin contact, I try to always wear PPE but in a hurry or a pinch fuck it.
@@Keyno77 and get wrecked like a truck falling off a cliff..
I wonder if the variable of the wheel contacting the ground helps compress the sealant in the hole to provide better seals. Maybe just spinning it in the air causes the sealant to continue to blow out? But then again the seal could get damaged when riding so maybe the results would be worse.
In my experience Orange Seal regular sealant is the best & I don't care about having to top it up more regularly because they all need topping up regardless. And as a mechanic with 20 years experience I have a lot of real world experience to back me up. Over the years I have tried many different tapes, valves and sealants on many different tyre and rim combinations and have found the best combination is Regular Orange seal with WTB tape and nukeproof valves. 👌
I was using orange and had a puncture that went completely flat trail side. Switched to finish line 🏁 and sealed the puncture. No patch and still riding with no issues for months.
Anyone ever heard of ASB parts? It's a small new brand that is based out of Texas. The local High School MTB team uses their sealant and we find it a million times better than anything else. The brand is spreading fast and is setting up places in Spain and California, etc. Y'all should really check it out because it works so amazingly well. So many people in South Texas are using it because it works so well. I put some in my road bike because the tube had a puncture and it and I didn't have a spare. It sealed the hole very quickly and held 100 psi no problem.
FinishLine has been a pain to seat correctly and took 2 weeks to settle. Even then still found its way through the rim tape applied by the LBS.
Hopefully its sorted now . Seems to agree with the review re bead seal.....
C Young I had the same trouble recently. I had to add an extra layer of gorilla tape & cake the valve stem in sealant before inserting it. That did the trick but was more trouble than I wanted from my sealant
C Young - thanks for the feedback, but to be fair no sealant will seal rim tape if there's even a small leak in it. I'd try re-taping the rim with Gorilla tape stretched really tight.
Huh. My LBS said Finish Line was good stuff. I set up a new pair of Maxxis tires with it, no problem at all. Couple hundred miles so far, no issues. But I keep seeing online that it's shit.
Mine dried in the rear for about 2 weeks. I had no signs of punctures, no sealant on the frame, but I also had no sealant in the tire. So, I don`t know what really happened.
The finishline is AWESOME at sealing punctures but absolutely useless if you have leaky sidewalls, it just doesnt get in there. had 3 different wheelsets the the workshop that would seal with stans but not finish line
Cafe latex working really well for me, no ruined rides and doesn't dry out too quickly
I have been using Continental's Revo sealant for at least 3 years, purchased in a 1 liter bottle for just over $20 shipped. It works very well, although I have not actually had the misfortune of trying to seal a large hole yet. I always put in an oz or 2 more than recommended, just to be sure, and to allow for it drying up. I ride in Phoenix for 4+ months, Chattanooga for 2 months, and Ontario near Lake Superior for the rest of the year, plus Gallup NM for a couple of rides per year. All 3 places have plenty of sharp rocks and I and my buddies who all use the Revo as well have yet to have a problem it cannot solve. Additionally, when it comes time to replace a tire the old sealant cleans up pretty easily. I should say I think it is very important to be meticulous in cleaning the old sealant off the wheel when mounting the next tire, particularly where the bead seats. And by that I mean remove all traces of the old sealant. If you are re-using the old tire (for whatever reason) clean its bead as meticulously as you can so the tire fits against the wheel's bead properly.
I'm back again with more. I will say that you do need to thoroughly clean the removeable core from time to time (or whenever you mount a new tire as a preventative measure) as the sealant does impede airflow a bit through the Presta valve. I have tried Stan's before the Revo and while it worked fine it was much harder to clean up the wheel when necessary.
Am I the only one who has had a lot of problems with Stan's sealant?
It really doesn't seal few millimeter holes well and can't hold much air pressure in the tyre, but I'd say it's still very good, has saved me a few times. Seems to work very good in Schwalbe tyres (Nobby Nics to be exact) never had a problem sealing even larger holes in the tyre with Stan's sealant, but now I got my new bike and it has Maxxis tyres on it and the rear one (Rekon 2.6) has already several holes and the Stan's sealant didn't work at all, always had to use hacked bacon stripes and still some leaks, so I'd say this is very tyre-dependant. Now ordered a Continental Mountain King tyre for the rear hoping it would last better than the Rekon (which I will never buy again). And I also ordered that Finish line sealant to go with the Conti tyre, just 1 day before this video came out, hope it wasn't a mistake, paid 18€ for a 240mm bottle and now I'm terrified that it's very bad 😔 But the time and rock-gardens will show what happens. Wish me luck people ;)
Edit: The Finish Line actually sucks shit! It won't seal small leakages at the valve or a spoke hole and it has turned to a blue slimey mess. Going back to Stan's or tubes.
Even though this video is 3 years old I appreciate it very much, gives me an idea of what sealant 2 use
Normal Stans is the Bomb, I have not tried or seen Muc off in shops here in SA.
Im thinking about switching to tubeless? I wonder if its worth it because its simply not as reliable as having a spare tube you can switch out in 5 minutes. Plus topping up sounds like something i would forget, And the mess and expense. Is it really worth it and why?
Please dont laugh at me but Ive used Slime in very lightweight tubes for years and NEVER got a puncture that didn't just need a few pumps of air. When i eventually take the tube out (sometimes 18 months later) the tyre has dozens of hawtorns pinned through tyre and tube.
I've had great success with the E13 Tyre Plasma, much better than Stan's Race Sealant in my experience. I think part of a good sealant is coating the inside of the tyre and your test doesn't give time for that to occur. The inner coating helps the still liquid sealant adhere and plug holes. I also find it lasts the life of most of my rear tyres at least.
I've been using orange seal on my mtbs for a few years no problem. Road tubeless I've had three terminal punctures and a friend two terminal punctures with orange seal. Whilst I used endurance my mate used standard and it dried out incredibly quickly. My experience is one possible puncture may be due to being too cold to seal and twice it would seal but couldn't hold a rideable pressure. I think the test would be more interesting with a range of tyre widths, tyre pressures and let's be honest there isn't really a road specific sealant so we try to use the same sealant on all our tubeless systems so it maybe worth throwing road tubeless in the mix.
Just a word of caution for Stan's users: The use of ammonia in the product can cause some serious problems with anodized aluminum spoke nipples. I've seen more than 50 cases of corroded nipples leading to broken spokes in the past year alone. That being said, the stuff works better than just about anything as reflected in this test. If you're in love with it, you might want to consider brass nipples, or sacrificing a bit of performance on the extreme side of things by using Orange Seal. I don't have experience with Effetto Moriposa sealant, but nobody has come to me with corroded nipples because of it.
When I used coffeelatex it dried up really quickly and was really hard to clean out of the tire
I use both Stan's reg and Orange Endurance. Thus far the Orange has been running quite well. I like the ease of the Stan's but i have had problems with any slash or moderate puncture, additionally the seals always seem to break around 20psi. The Orange Endurance on the other hand sealed a hole from a rather large tack. Right now I am leaning towards the Orange Seal.
Another question is feel and cleanup. Stans is rather sticky/slimy to deal with and can stain wheels. Orange seal cleans up nicely, evenly coats the tire and leaves an extra layer to tire that you can peal out. Haven't messed with the others but all round performance and mess I choose original Orange seal.
Excellent report Seb!! It is difficult for the consumer to sort out quality product from 'snake oil'. This objective study is very helpful! I may stay with standard Stans, as I use large quantities, and encounter a lot of daily small punctures in goat head territory. For larger emergency holes, some combination of tire bacon, CO2 inflator, or dreaded innertube are easy to carry. I wish Stans sold their standard sealant in a larger quantity, half gallon or gallon would be a nice quantity to last me through a calendar year. Perhaps some market research could reveal moving away from 1L towards pack-able convenience ~88ml trail bottles and 2-4L shop bottles with plus sized tires gaining in popularity? I have run out of sealant in my 29x3 bike twice this year, and feel like a monthly charge is more appropriate than the 2-4 months claimed. As a year round bicycle commuter, I'm thinking I need to top off with ~20 ml per 29 x 3 tire every month to keep my ride reliable with my pin cushion-ed tires in goat head territory. I'd love to know if I am accumulating or running dry with my dosage regime. This information would also be useful for the user, if it's not already available. Maybe some form of x-ray/infared vision could help to see the level of the puddle through the tire casing.
Been using the normal Stan’s for over 3 years now, never added any sealant just air
My tires are dry in 3 months using stans? Maybe you just don’t have any punctures and they are dry? I ride twice a week mountain biking.
We'd love a new version of this for 2021
I can attest to FinishLine sealant. On my 27.5x3" the front would equalize to 20-psi. overnight and the rear would equalize to 10-psi. Both were pumped up to 30-psi. Also the BEST PART of FinishLine is how easy it is to clean it out, when you get fed up with having to pump your tires up EVERY DAY!!!! If they ever get the formula to work, I'll try tubeless again. Until then 8 bucks for a tube is fine by me.
When I finally went tubeless I asked my local bike shop what they suggest I use for my new tubeless set up. They gave me the valves and two 4 oz bottles of Finish Line tire sealant I went home set it all up and was excited to get out on my local trails. However, luckily I didn’t get to go to the trails and decided to test them around town. About a half an hour latter I realized my tires started to feel low on air so I headed home. When I got home my tires we close to flat I pumped them up again took the tires of and really took my time shaking the tires to make sure the inside of the tire was coated. When I woke up in the morning the tires were flat and it looked like the sidewalks were wet. I pumped them up again and noticed that sealant was bubbling all around the sidewalls on both sides of both tires. I tried to get it to work for three days and then decided to go to a different bike shop and bought a bottle of Stan’s sealant got home cleaned out the tires real good and put in the Stans sealant and it was done. No weeping on the sidewalls no lose of air pressure and it been three and a half weeks so far no issues. I burped the tire once but that seated right back up and I’m good to go. So I will never use Finish Line sealant ever again and I don’t suggest anyone try it either.
perhaps your tyres are not really tubeless compatible? I think a latex sealant is probably essential in this case.
I just filled my tire with Finish Line with similar results. The tire sidewall is now leaking sealant as well as the valve stem. I’ve aired it up to 30 psi 3 days in a row now and the next day the tire is flat each time
Yep same here, bad experience with Finish line. Would not hold pressure at 30 psi and would deflate down to 20 psi in a day or so. Did this for a few weeks and gave up. Always leaked around rim. Used stans rim tape. These are tubeless ready rims with brand new continental xking tires. Just would not seal even after resealing the tires on tye rims several times. Going to try Stans or Orange now to see if i get better results.
I've returned from the Alps recently and on the rear I had the Hans Dampf EVO PaceStar and Doc Blue sealant. I have counted that I accumulated a bit over 20 punctures on the rear tire by the last day of vacation and every one of them sealed without me even noticing any air loss during the ride...It was just full of sealant stains and noticable small punctures all over the thread ... p.s. And in Germany, the Schwalbe sealant is actually quite cheaper.
Having said that, on my Continental tires, it simply doesn't make a seal in the first place, those tires work good with the Continental Revo sealant in my experience and one should stick to the recommended method from Continental. Although, the 2018 tires are way easier to seal...
So, i think it also depends on the tires...
Dang, I had high hopes for the finish line product
i've been using caffelatex and i can't say i found it so good (tested with RocketRons EVO and RaceKings) and it lasts only a couple of months in the tire. In case of RoRos i had to pump them quite often on that sealant on RK it didn't hold the puncture - and i don't know whether it was already dry or it was simply too big hole. I am now using some other sealant and i see it performs better.
another question would be how do they perform at extreme temperatures
colin p I can vouch for E13 performing well in hot Australian summer. Lasts a long time too.
are you planning on riding your bike through a volcano?
thanx for all your vids!!! very knowledgeable and ur easy to follow and understand... Keep up the great work brotha.... just side note Latex is water based. U can clean latex paint with just warm water so...Again thanx for the taking time to do these video's!!!!!
What size tire and how much sealant did you use for Finish line.
90% of people aren't using the full amount needed because they aren't following the directions. Plenty of posts on mtbr forums of people admitting to not using the correct amount. I've had this sealant in my tires for over 5 months plugging plenty of small holes. Works great and doesn't clog my valve cores. My buddy has been using it for 2 months without issue as well.
GMBN tech video showed them stabbing away at the tire and it sealing just fine.
It's sad misinformation continues to be spread by people who literally didn't use the recommended amount. There's a guy on the forums who used half of what he should have and then complained it didn't seal his goathead punctures...then proceeds to give it a 1 star review on Amazon. Ridiculous.
I put 5.5oz in. 29er 2.5 tire and 5 oz in a 2.35 tire. The directions call for 4 oz in your standard XC tire. The Finish line product manager said this in an interview as well. Bigger tires need more.
Mix race sealant and normal stans. I performed this operation 5 month ago and with regular revolution of the wheels (2 times per weeks to avoid drying) it is still fresh. I've only lost 40ml due to summer period. Stans for me is the best.
I'm gobsmacked (did I say that right?) by ANY sealant plugging ANY puncture bigger than a thorn. Not sure what I'm doing wrong but if the puncture is larger than what the typical thorn causes the tire is almost entirely flat within seconds. I'm spinning, twisting the wheel off the bike to ensure total coverage after a puncture, too. I'm using at least 100ml of sealant in each tire. Currently I'm running MAXXIS Ardent Race (27 psi) and Minnion (25 psi) tires (R&F). Last puncture, about a week ago, necessitated the installation of an inner tube to get back to the truck and that puncture was certainly smaller than 2mm and just would NOT seal up, no matter how much sealant I watched spray out. I use Orange (not the endurance and have also used regular Stan's) and there was plenty remaining that should have sealed the puncture (it wasn't all dried up). Thankfully, I've had very few punctures but I've had to ALWAYS use a patch to repair every one of them AFTER having to insert an inner tube to finish the ride. IMHO, tubeless tire sealant (any brand) is akin to snake oil for any puncture bigger than a pinhole...
Its not just sealing, its use and longevity...in the uk, when did u last have a screwdriver sized 5mm hole! Thats bigger than any standard nail! All sealants can seal normal rose thorn holes ...normal trail stuff...so its more about longevity...and ease of use...stans seals great, but balls up in weeks....I use slime, its never ever dried up and seals all holes I have ever got
Now this IS a test. Great explanation, very informative. Thank you.
A "humble" brand without any flashing marketing and Big name endorsement wins the race. What a surprise.
My own personal real world experience confirms the conclusions of this video: Caffelatex for every day riding and training, Stans Race sealant if you're racing and need to avoid a puncture at all costs (but it will likely clog your valve core... eventually).
At recommendation of Shimano, i used caffelatex on my Shimano tubeless wheels. It severely pitted the rims rendering them useless for sealing.
You mean your two rims were pitted against each other in a fight that destroyed them?
Or the sealant was highly corrosive and dug pits in the rim?
i just bought the caffelatex without watching this video and im glad i did now that i did watch the video. Thanks for the test. going tubeless very soon
I had 5 flats on my racerking 2.2 and i wanted to make a bullet proof tire so i cutted the side walls of the tire and kept only the knobs surface ..then i glued it (knobs facing up) in the interior of a Kenda Kinetics,i knew that i wouldn t find a tire thick like that so i made it myself,i love it!
Been using Stan's Race Sealant since it came out. The only issue with it is that apparently it cannot be poured through a valve. This can be an issue for topping off. What I would do is use regular Stan's to top off. Regarding flats, can't say the Race Sealant is that much better than the regular. I do a lot of gravel riding so the slightly higher pressures probably mean less of a chance of plugging holes.
Have you guys tested Slime?
I was wondering how it compares to the best.
It plugs flats really well, but dries up incredibly quickly. So, if you're a racer who can afford to chage sealant every month or less, go for it! Otherwise, meh
@@Fred_the_1996 It never dried up for me, but as time went on I got punctures it would not seal up. I ended up going to stand race sealant. I haven't watched this vid in a while maybe I should because the race sealant is not solving my issue atm.
@@ChannelZeroOne huh, slime used to dry up super quickly with me
@@Fred_the_1996 The bottle I had said TPS safe. I looked for the other one but it was always sold out at my local Walmart. I am assuming you used the other one.
@@ChannelZeroOne Could be
Have tried Caffelatex, Stans, and the Winter version of Orange Seal. The last one is still untested (knock on wood, no one wants a flat on a fatbike at -20). The sealant did weep quite a bit on the huge 'Beist 45NRTH tires, but they have held air since March at around 5 psi.
For what is worth, Caffelatex has sealed all the holes in CX/Gravel tires I've made, and have sealed hard-to-seat tires on tubeless rims when Stan's was having a hard time (ironically, a Stans tubeless road rim with a Hutchinson tire). Maybe it is because it's supposed to froth when spun around? I would certainly buy that sealant again.
Spot on! My experience is exactly as described in the tests. Stans Race for the win but I have a sealant that performs as well at half the cost.
Stanas dry out after less than 40 days, using orange seal now last easy for 90 days.
Just had my first flat tire. I will be using the race seal solution seems very best because I been putting it through alot of stuff. This video helped alot thank you.
Caffélatex worked perfect for my Continental X-King Performance Tires (the chinese ones), no leaks, and no floating liquid sound.
I would love to see how juice lubes compares in these tests. This is what my LBS currently stocks and I like to support them where possible. I recently made the switch from Stan's to Juice Lubes and am really impressed anecdotally but I would be interested in seeing how it compares in a more subjective test.
Using muc off since over a year. Works very good, doesn't dry out, easy to clean, no latex, smells good
Stan's race sealant is nasty stuff when you want to clean tire out. They use glass fiber and it flies everywhere. Dries out quickly as well...
Why would you want to clean the tire out?
I've had the same Stan's in my tires for exactly 12 months, including one full Texas summer and I got proof just last weekend (and 400 miles from home) that it's still very much liquid and doing its job. Granted yes, I was just as surprised as anyone else LOL.
tanks for your time, i used Stans race and Standar.
Great video, guys. I found it very helpful. Thanks for sharing!
used stans since it first vame out back in wales. but i now live in a hot humid country (roughly 85f) and it just cant cope. it tends to split, tyre is left with a weird thin orangish liquid that wont seal anything. i contacted stans and they say this is normal for the conditions here and to just keep adding more sealant. given that happens over a few weeks they can sod off. went to effetto and havent had a problem since. works brilliantly. if you want large particles you can add some :) plastic glitter is apparently a good filler/blocker.