This is a shameless attempt to save the the most advanced civilization in
history from imminent self destruction by eliminating carbon emission,
dependence on foreign sources of fuel,obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
Cycling accomplishes all those things at once and helps us develop a better
understanding of ourselves, each other and our relationship to the cosmos.

Oh, horse puckey!
I like to ride bikes, have been doing it all my life.
The rest of that crap is just a fringe benefit,
and the blogosphere gives me a chance to share my interior
monologue with virtual rather than imaginary friends.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Preventing a cycling specific allergy

     My predictably disappointing experiment with converting to tubeless tires left me with little confidence in bicycle marketing, but also a bottle of Stan's sealant.  The reviews and videos I have seen have been extremely positive when it comes to flat prevention.  It's an important part of cycling because as you grow ahh..."more mature" in the sport you will  develop sport specific allergies.  Flat tires make me break out in embarrassing obscenities.  If a couple ounces of this obnoxious looking chemical can prevent these outbreaks then it's worth the experiment.
       The procedure is rather straight forward.  Using an inner tube mounted in the tire, remove the valve stem.  That is the little threaded knob sticking out of the big threaded thing.  Usually unscrewing it with  needle nose pliers is easy.  Stan's does sell a special tool, nice of them, but I've never needed anything more than pliers.  The only risk is ruining the threads on the little knobby top which means I might not be able to use the plastic cap I normally forget.  So there's really no risk.
       Next a special proprietary syringe is threaded onto the remaining threaded post.  The plastic line from the syringe needs to be clamped shut (use vise grips) in order to fill the syringe with the right amount of sealant.  If it's not clamped, fluid will immediately drain into the tube and the measurement won't be accurate.                        
                                             
         After filling the syringe with the prescribed amount of milky stuff, release the clamp and use the plunger to force all the stuff into the tube.   Once that's done rotate the tire so the valve is not at the bottom of rotation, wipe off any excess stuff and screw the valve stem back in place.  I usually need to give the valve stem a little tweak with some pliers to make sure it's seated.  I did 5 bikes in a little over 30 minutes.  Now if this stuff works I will probably not know until I wear out a tire.  I suppose any small puncture will be sealed at the tube and I won't see the stuff come out as shown in those dramatic You Tube videos.  When I replace a tire I expect to see little white smears on the tube and inner casing, but we'll just have to wait and see...I'm so excited.

Posted by Marc at 7:14 AM
Labels:

3 comments:

  1. AndyMarch 30, 2017 at 5:47 AM

    I hope it works out for you. I'm tempted, and I have a bottle of Stan's from a failed attempt to convert my Pugsley to tubeless...

    I wonder if there's any advantage over just buying the Slime tubes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MarcMarch 31, 2017 at 2:34 AM

      I've never seen any reviews of the Slime Tubes. The only thing I can say is that Stan's has been developed specifically for bike tires and might be more effective at higher pressure, but that is just a positive guess. I don't know the science involved.

      Delete
    2. KendraApril 2, 2017 at 3:55 PM

      I hate those slime tubes. In my experience, they make a mess when you're just trying to pump up the tires. Hope the Stan's works out.

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)