This season I made the leap to tubeless with Silcas new sealant with Schwalbe G One RS Pro tires (40 mm, running 35-40 psi). It was extremely easy to setup as a tubeless first timer, I just injected it through the valve stem and seated the tires with a floor pump, very smooth. There was some air loss during the initial few weeks of riding, but after that, not much more than with tubes.
Punctures: First I must say that I completed two 24h gravel races with absolutely zero issues, all my punctures happened on short rides close to home. There have been 3 times I have been properly sprayed with sealant. One of these punctures sealed after a few minutes, while two required a Dynaplug. Now these were not some huge holes, rather small punctures by glass or flint. They appeared to seal, but then after a few minutes of riding all hell broke loose again. Dynaplug fixed that, but my trust in the sealant was weakened a bit. Pressure loss was minimal with all punctures and I was able to keep riding. I added a bit more sealant through the valve stem at home after each spray incident.
No valves plugged: I did not experience valves or valve cores getting plugged, but I did make sure to keep my valves at the 5-7 clock location when storing the bike. Also I coated the inside of my valves and my valve cores with a few drops of Silca Synergetic chain oil, like recommended by Silca themselves.
Carbon fibers: This sealant has tiny strands of carbon that are supposed to help seal punctures. When changing tires after 3000km I discovered that the fibers had just clumped into tiny balls that were loose inside the tire (there was still plenty of sealant sloshing around). I don't know if I got a bad batch, but I feel this shouldn't happen, at least so quickly.
Cleaning: This sealant is proper hard to clean after it dries, so I recommend carrying some tissues in your tool pack to wipe the worst off when it's fresh. After it dries, it becomes very hard to scrub off the little nooks of the bike frame. Even worse with clothes, the backside of my bibs is permanently lightly stained from it.
In conclusion it's been quite a ride, at the moment I think I will keep using it, at least until my two bottles run empty. I have never had to use a tube this season, so there's that 😀
I would like to hear others experiences with it as well.
by ForceDefect24
20 Comments
That doesn’t sound mixed – that sounds quite terrible. I already bought Ultimate Sealant 2.0 and will try it next week, but I’m not terribly excited anymore. I am fairly convinced I will go back to tubes after few months of experiments, I’ll just use TPU for light weight.
Silca products are insanely overpriced and overrated.
My LBS told me if I want Silca to be prepared for forever stains, most difficult to install, tough to remove the tyre from the rim and possible valve blocking. He only recommends it for MTB and absolutely not for road.
I’m quite happy with orange seal, fingers crossed .
The worst thing about tubeless is that if it doesn’t seal, you have to put a tube in but you also have sealant over the frame, your hands, your bibs, your pump, maybe your friend’s pump if yours didn’t work, definitely over the spare tube, and you are maybe down one or two Dynaplugs as well.
Did they update the formulation? I used the previous one in the green bottle with a pair of Pirelli Gravel H tires and had no issues. I found that rolling and flipping the wheel around off the bike for a while just to make sure it was on every surface, helped eliminate any kind of slow leaks. It seemed to clean up fairly easily when I had to refresh it after 5 months. I also try to put enough to the point where I can hear it slosh around briefly when I start rolling.
I used the old formulation and found the coagulated balls after only a couple days. Disappointing they weren’t able to fix that issue, but glad to hear you can at least inject it through the valve stem now.
I have tried it for a few months as well, been pretty happy with it but I still think the orange sealed endurance formula works better, but it definitely makes a giant mess after puncturing
Next time – first you bead the tire with the pump, than you add the sealant.Â
If the sealant is older than three months – than you have to add new sealant.Â
Otherwise the expirence is really good, it saved you from at least three punctures.Â
Now rtfm and top up the sealant accordingly. Â Sealant gets old/evaporated by time, not by mileage. There are also some climate variables in play, but after 4 months, there is not much sealant left in the tyre, although it still works, it is just not gonna to seal bigger punctures.Â
i’ve tried numerous sealants and i always go back to peatys
Silica has a good video on how sealants work, and what they cannot help with. Sealants are really good for punctures but not cuts that damage the fabric network holding the rubber tire in its shape. If you are in an area where cuts will be more likely than punctures, tubeless is probably not the way to go. Sometimes it’s just bad luck how the tire gets damaged. There are many instances where no brand or amount of sealant will help.
So these actually go in fine using a syringe and into the valve?
Watching the reviews online it looks goopy. They didn’t recommend that methodÂ
Ended up with Orange (again) as I re-did my wheelset recently. Was tempted for a bit with Silca
I switched to it from Orange Seal in April and I haven’t had any issues, but I’m just 500 miles in. I set the bead before installing via the valve core, so no mess on installation. I haven’t had a puncture or any issues with it. I also didn’t have any issues with Orange Seal so I can’t say it’s any better, but also can’t say it’s worse. I’m not sure if it’s the switch from Kenda Alluvium to Pathfinder Pro TLR or the sealant but the tire holds air better between rides since making the switch.
What I will say with the Silca 1.0 version is don’t ever let it dry out in your tire. It turns into a solid mass that’s something like an old bouncy ball – solid rubber. I’ve been running the 2.0 version this year and it’s worked very well. At Unbound it sealed a puncture so well that I thought it was a pinch flat. I only notice it a week later on really close inspection of the tire.
I had two cuts from gravel that the new Silca sealant wouldn’t seal. To be fair, Stans failed too.
My shoes and helmet both have permanent beige drop stains from it.
Using tubes the usual flats were from staples. None so far with sealant.
Orange Seal is the answer. Been using it for years with zero issues or flats.
I have used Silca 1.0 and now the 2.0 for the last few years in my road and gravel bikes and can confirm that any holes it didn’t plug were my fault for not refreshing 1.0 every few months letting it dry out or panicking on the side of the road and trying to reinflate before the seal actually happened
I trust Silca (currently) I’ll never use tubes again but all of these sealants are only as good as the time it let’s you down and ruins your ride
I have tried just about everything and I will only recommend Stans race sealant or Orange, preferably Orange.
You should try Orange Seal Endurance. When i get punctures, i’m not waiting “minutes” as you stated in your one case, and i definitely don’t get sealant over everything when it goes into action. On one ride i picked up about a dozen goathead thorns… worked perfectly.
I have the exact same tyres and silca 2.0 in them. I’ve had this slow puncture for ages leaking air over the week even though I’ve filled it with sealant. Other punctures it’s sealed fine, but it’s hit or miss for sure
Anyone have any opinions on Stan’s?