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I needed a new batch of sealant so thought I would give Stans Race a go, having used regular Stans for years without complaint (apart from when it doesn't seal!). Bought from a reputable supplier (R2 - RIP), gave the bottle a very good shake, installed it without any traumas (through the sidewall, not the valve as instructed) and inflated as normal, with tyres that seal ok without fluid to be fair.
The problem is that within a few minutes of bouncing and spinning the wheel to settle the fluid in, a sound very much like gravel rolling around inside the tyre was heard. This didn't go away after a few hours, so I took it apart and found...gravel inside the tyre. Small, very hard white chippings more like stones than congealed fluid that you'd normally find. I cleared them out and started again, and it did exactly the same again, which is when I stuck regular Stans back in.
Following this, my son had a nasty snakebite on the first ride out, and neither the hole in the tread, nor the one on the sidewall sealed and we had to fit a tube to get home. I had to scrape out the gravel before fitting the tube as it would have been sharp enough to puncture the tube!
Is this normal for this fluid, or am I doing something horridly, horridly wrong here?
Doesn't sound right. It's got more particulate than regular stans, but not massive bits of anything gravel sized.
And it should seal holes far better than regular stans too. I think something is off with your batch.
Yeah, it's more than just particulate. It's hard to see from this picture, but those are like very hard stones that literally rattle around inside the tyre making it sound like some tragically bike-themed maracas:
I had also thought "bad batch", but was looking for other's opinions before I chucked it in.
Yea, mines done that in the bottle recently, it's probably been open for about a year.
The 'extra' in the race sealent is the stuff that looks like shredded wool insulation which is why it won't go through the valve even with the core taken out.
I've had this once straight out of a new bottle. Stan's race seems great usually but this put me off buying it again.
I'm currently experimenting with Caffelatex. It's supposed to seal almost as well as Stan's race.
Thanks, I'll have a look at that. Any feedback so far?
Not much.I've only been using it for a week. 2 rides so far and it's holding air.
Yes it's normal, but it never occurred to me that it would be a problem. I'm pretty sure it goes away after a while because I'm sure I don't hear it any more.
I was told my someone else who uses it that it's the only stuff that reliably works with road tubeless, so that's what I bought it for. Too expensive to use on MTBs where it's not needed.
<p style="text-align: left;">I was told my someone else who uses it that it’s the only stuff that reliably works with road tubeless</p>
You were had
So what is the best sealant for road tubeless? Can of worms opened I know but generally is it still Stan’s normal, or the MucOff stuff, which some people say is good others not so…
I was thinking of trying the Stan’s Race stuff…..
<p style="text-align: left;">Giant own brand tubeless sealant works well. Sealed up some quite big holes.</p>
Uberbike sealant also works well.
Stan's race works well.
But it's not the only one.
It’s not recommended to inject it through the valve. It simply won’t go through the valve. You can only pour it in before you seat the bead
I had some glass in a Specialized Pathfinder last week and first I knew about it was the friend behind said it spraying out sealant. I stopped and it did stop for a bit then opened up again so I stopped and it did then seal enough to get me home but not until after it had covered everything including my back with sticky sealant… - that was Stan’s normal.