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I’m runnin tubeless Pro One’s on my winter / commuter. I’ve dropped to 1x 40ml commute but seems every ride on this bike I get a puncture in the rear.
i’m running tubeless for the simplicity of plug n go when I do get one but the tyres like a patchwork quilt on the inside with the number of repairs I’ve done.
Tyres have 2.5k miles on them and well within the wear limit and are just shy of 2 years old. I know the stretch of road gets alsorts of crud washed up onto the cycle track but time to replace or just very unlucky? I’m wondering if the rubbers had its day?
Er. 2500 miles on Pro Ones seems like a lot to me.
Add more sealant and see if that sorts it.
Oohh really? Time to replace then. Bugger. Replaced a tyre on the runaround corsa yesterday. Cheaper than a tubeless road tyres! And a million time more rubber purchased too!
my conti’s lasted way longer before getting to the seriously annoying puncture every ride status and were way closer to tread wear indicator being worn out!
Tyre’s knackered.
Add more sealant and see if that sorts it
I’m convinced sealant is a marketing gimmick. Only thing sealant does is sort the initial set up. Tried 10 different brands and not one has sealed anything out on the road. Mags claim testing seals up to 5-6mm cuts. Not in my world or the glorious Lancashire pot holed tracks we call roads!! Even left overnight then reinflated.
I’ve had at least 4 punctures seal with sealant on Schwalbe Rocket Rons and also on some Specialized Pathfinders, however I did have one on a Specialized Mondo that would not seal at all, initially it was a bit of thin wire that caused it and I even widened the hole in the event that is was too small for the Stans to seal but no joy. I took the tyres off in the end as they wouldn’t hold air very well either, even without a puncture. I did wonder if they had some greasy release agent residue from the factory which prevented the sealant working properly but I’m not positive. I do now wipe the inside of my tyres with isopropyl before mounting though. I’ve currently got some GP5000S TRs setup tubeless which are one ride old but no cuts or nicks yet.🤞Whereas I put some TPU RideNow tubes in a set of Challenge Stradas which punctured after 10 miles. I replaced with Vittoria TPU tubes and added sealant and they have managed 50 miles so far without incident…. I do think that road tyres are going to be a lot harder to seal and you definitely have to have the wheel spinning while it seals. If you stop just air comes out.
I'd say tyres worn, so time for new ones.
I’m convinced sealant is a marketing gimmick. Only thing sealant does is sort the initial set up.
what? It’s the other way round! A proper set up (done correctly) shouldn’t need any sealant as part of the set up and should hold its pressure just fine. Sealant is purely for on the trail punctures. In reality this doesn’t always pan out and the occasional leaky sidewalls or (god forbid) less than perfect taping sometimes needs a bit of sealant to keep it up overnight first time. IMO Schwab’s MTB tyres on generally most rims go up and stay up without sealant (and usually a track pump!)
need
A proper set up (done correctly) shouldn’t need any sealant as part of the set up and should hold its pressure just fine<br /><br />
Not so on thin walled tyres from the likes of Rene Herse and Challenge. They require a specific sealant to get them to hold air at all for more than a matter of minutes. Even Schwalbe Pro Ones say you need to add sealant and then immediately go for a ride of at least 20km if you want them to work properly.
Good quality MTB tyres from Schwalbe etc do hold air without sealant though like you say.
Er. 2500 miles on Pro Ones seems like a lot to me.
Yeah. I'd only expect to get about that out of a rear Pro One under good conditions. Running through winter crap probably a bit less. I often run a non-Pro One on the rear, which I find a bit more hard wearing.
If you want a less good ride and a heavier tyre you could try Hutchinson Challenger TR. It is their new tyre that is very tough and also has softer bead to help it go onto to rim without needing sealant. Have to say it works, both tyres went straight up with track pump and have not needing inflating since I fitted them over a month ago.
Also ride on a lot of flinty gravel with them which for 'normal' road tyres is a puncture fest.
Not sure what is keeping this inflated, sheer willpower from the rider I think
How many more punctures do you need to tell you the tyre is goosed, on a commuter I reckon the 2nd would do it for me.
Replaced a tyre on the runaround corsa yesterday. Cheaper than a tubeless road tyres!
It's only attribute will be that it's enough tread to pass an MOT...
Maybe you’re using the wrong tyre to commute on? Is the Pro-One not a high end road/race tyre? Plus it’s worn out after 2500 miles on the rear.
Tubeless is excellent but in my experience the narrower the tyre & the higher the pressure, the more problematic it becomes.
Tyres have 2.5k miles on them and well within the wear limit and are just shy of 2 years old. I know the stretch of road gets alsorts of crud washed up
Replace the tyre with something a bit more commuter friendly?
I found Pro 1s fairly flimsy and gave up on them before they reached their apparent wear limit.
Puncture resistant, wider tyres with a touch of tread FTW
Yep, G-Ones for me, all year round. Probably 2 punctures a year and usually held by that gimmicky sealant stuff to get me home 🙂
Pirelli cinturatos tubeless 28mm on my road bike, I get about 2 or 3 punctures over a winter, that’s about 150miles a week. I’ve pulled some bits of glass flint out and they’ve been fine, grip well too.
Ive given up with road tubeless on the commuter
I commute 100 miles a week, 45 weeks a year
No matter what tubeless tyres ive tried they all puncture due to the type and amount of debris i get on my commute
Worst part is when it happens in winter, its raining, its dark, the sealant just cant fill the hole so ive then got to fit a tube and some card to fix the hole whilst getting my hands covered in sealant
Even worse all my clothes are also covered in sealant from it spraying everywhere when it couldnt plug the hole
I now run Schwalbe Durano Plus tyres with tubes on the commuter, they are one level below the Marathon Plus for protection and even then ill still get 1-2 punctures a year
"I even widened the hole in the event that is was too small for the Stans to seal but no joy."
How's that work then?
"you definitely have to have the wheel spinning while it seals."
I just put my finger over the the puncture to stop the air escaping, turn the wheel so it's at the lowest point, wait a few seconds for the sealant to pool above the leak, remove finger & the sealant plugs the hole instantly.
2500 miles and it's a patchwork of repairs? New tyre time
Plus when I used to sell bikes and work in the workshop I'd not recommend tubeless on anything under 30mm. The air just comes out too quickly for the sealant to have time to work. Gravel and MTB tyres work much better as the initial air pressure is lower so air doesn't rush out in one blast.
Yep, G-Ones for me, all year round. Probably 2 punctures a year and usually held by that gimmicky sealant stuff to get me home
Continental Top Contact 35mm - no punctures in three years 🙂
“I even widened the hole in the event that is was too small for the Stans to seal but no joy.”
How’s that work then?<br /><br />
I stuck a pick in it to make a bigger hole. <br /><br /><br />
just put my finger over the the puncture to stop the air escaping, turn the wheel so it’s at the lowest point, wait a few seconds for the sealant to pool above the leak, remove finger & the sealant plugs the hole instantly.
yeah, that would work too I guess - it might even be a better way. What I meant was just stopping the bike doesn’t actually help it seal IME.
Plus when I used to sell bikes and work in the workshop I’d not recommend tubeless on anything under 30mm. The air just comes out too quickly for the sealant to have time to work. Gravel and MTB tyres work much better as the initial air pressure is lower so air doesn’t rush out in one blast.<br /><br />
Does anything like Stans Race work better on tyres with higher pressures do you know?
Schwalbe marathon supreme ride nicely and have great puncture resistance. Come up at 20W rolling resistance, which to put into context is about 10W for top end race tyres.
I stuck a pick in it to make a bigger hole
I don’t think the question was ‘how’ do you make a bigger hole, but ‘why’? Why does sealant need a bigger a hole before it will seal? How can a hole be too small to seal? That makes no sense.
How can a hole be too small to seal? That makes no sense.<br /><br />
As I understand it some sealants use suspended particles which are what actually plug the hole and the liquid is just the carrier. If the hole is too small for the particles to get into then it won’t seal. I think this is typical of sealants that promise to seal big cuts, they have bigger particles.
I definitely had a tiny hole that just kept oozing liquid and wouldn’t actually seal with Stan’s. I do wonder if Orange or another sealant that deals with porous sidewall tyres would be better for small holes.
What width tyre and pressure are you using, 40 ml of sealant doesn’t sound like very much. But as others have said, 2500 on a rear race tyre is about right
I think the 40ml was 40 miles for the commute rather than 40ml of sealant?
But anyway, 40ml of sealant is loads for a road tyre.
Does anything like Stans Race work better on tyres with higher pressures do you know?
I was told by a shop that it wasn't worth it, bigger fibres but the carrying fluid is the same and would still just rush through a hole at higher pressure. Certainly didn't seal any of the punctures I had on the gravel bike but they were usually near the bead where any sealant struggles.
Plus when I was running it I had a suspicion the fibres balled together quite quickly, but my bike didn't get used daily.
Does anything like Stans Race work better on tyres with higher pressures do you know?
Not tried it. The best Ive used is orange seal with the bits of glitter in it. It still isn't ideal for high pressure road tyres though.