Got a puncture today and sealant (Schwable doc blue) pissed out everywhere. It was a tiny hole, but just wouldn’t seal. Put in a tube in the end.

Got home and faffed around reseating the tyre. But a few hours later I noticed the sealant on my bike frame was still fully liquid. Is that normal? Isn’t it supposed to solidify?

Unless it’s pretty thick or has lumps in I find most off the shelf sealant pretty shit really. In the wet It won’t seal as it’s water based. You need a lump to plug the hole hence the sale of anchovies. Sealant is ok but also quite a con.

Depending on size of hole it should have worked. Did you spin the wheel or just watch it? Spinning the wheel of fortune (or carrying on riding) should usually sort it. Never tried Blu Doc, but if it works at all as a sealant it should cope with an average puncture.

Ive had old sealant separate leaving a runny solvent which wont do anything, but normally sealant will squirt for a moment and then seal, you should only need anchovies for a bigger hole, i’ve never used one.

My experience is very different to Van Halen’s. Ive mainly used Stans btw

I’d agree. If sealant never seals simple punctures for you, you’re doing something wrong. If it can’t seal a puncture, it would be no use for setting the tyre up in the first place. Large holes and tears are fair enough and should be when you’re getting the anchovies out or glueing a boot in and putting a tube in or stitching and booting or whatever your preferred fix. Maybe it’s too old or you didn’t use enough so it’s all coated on the inside of your tyre already (not the case if you can see it coming out). Infamous tip by now, but almost any sealant can have its gap sealing improved dramatically with a dose of glitter. Too cold can be a problem with some, but if you were in the U.K. That shouldn’t be a problem yet, either.

The wheel turning genuinely helps though, otherwise you’ve only got a little bit making a big mess rather than letting the stuff elsewhere in the tyre get to the hole.

Thanks all! I had a lightbulb moment. I never shook the bottle before pouring it in. There was loads of goo in there when I took the tyre off as I’d only recently topped it up.

So I’ve just spent hours in the garage emptying both wheels. Then having a pig of a time reseating them (like 10 attempts). Then shaking the bottle rigorously before refilling. The difference in texture of the sealant I took out versus the new sealant was considerable.

Ah good sounds like progress.

Thanks all! I had a lightbulb moment

💡

What’s annoying is that my other bike will be exactly the same.

Unless it’s pretty thick or has lumps in I find most off the shelf sealant pretty shit really. In the wet It won’t seal as it’s water based.

Nononono

Sealant (well, Stan’s at least – can’t speak for Schwalbe) is latex based. Latex is a suspension of long protein chains in water. If you agitate it (ie by forcing it through a tiny hole with air) the chains tangle up and turn into a soild. It does not need to ‘dry out’, it is not paint. In the same way that concrete doesn’t ‘dry’ and will set in the rain.

Get some Stan’s on your fingers then rub it – it magically turns to rubber without getting dry.

I’ve run over chunks of glass and had sealant spray everywhere, only to find it had sealed by the time I’d pulled over.

The only times I’ve needed to tube are either a massive cut or in the rain. It’s a definite pattern in my experience. Glitter or other crap in the goo helps heaps.

I do get punctures fixed by the way. But it’s not perfect.

I hate stans despite using it alot. It’s thin and I have most problems with this product. I prefer Caffè latex with added lumps. I use stans as it’s readily available. The number of stanilmals I get has reduced loads so I guess they have changed it.

I’m not a serial tyre changer and generally go for the top up approach. I use a load of sealant. I do ride fairly hard and quite alot in all weather. I’e seen a reduction in punctures over tubes but the one you get are massively more faff to sort out.

If a sealant dried in air then it would solidify in the tyre because that is for of air, non? As above it’s the shearing forces as it is forced thru a small hole that makes it solidify..

The tricky part with Stans (normal or Race) is getting the bottle shake, upside down pause, let-go pour timing right to get the thicker bits in the mix just right.

I’ve found with a quart bottle you can accidentally use up all the thicker bits on the first couple of uses or you leave loads of the thicker stuff behind until the last uses.

If you pause too long with your finger over the Race bottle hole ready to pour it will literally block the bottle opening and nothing comes out. That’s a big puncture it can seal 🙂

I tend to do two goes at it. One with a pause to get the thick stuff. Then a no pause pour to get some thinner sealant.

Not had a single issue with the Stans Race stuff. Lasts ages (7+ months at least) too. Makes tyres hairy on the inside and can go from tyre to tyre for multiple uses + add a bit of new. A baby feeding tot can be handy too for mixing new with it after scooping it out of old tyres.

The only issue with the Race stuff is you can’t inject it – you have to unseat a bit of the tyre. You can top it up with Normal Stans via injection though.

DocBlue is rebranded Stans Normal I think.

Interested in this – as I recently bought a 29er which came with tubeless and there’s a very, very small hole in the rear tyre which just won’t seal and it keeps going flat.

There’s sealant in the tyre – it’s leaking from the hole, but spinning, riding, etc just doesn’t seal it.

I’m assuming either it’s inner tube time, or a new tyre?

You can get plugs to fix that kind of thing & I’ve had success with putting normal inner tube patches on the inside of tyres but they need to be very clean / dry.

Latex is a suspension of long protein chains in water. If you agitate it (ie by forcing it through a tiny hole with air) the chains tangle up and turn into a soild

I probably shouldn’t be shaking my big bottle of Stans to mix it up before filling the tyre then should I?

No, you can, because the shear forces are not enough in a big bottle.

Try rubbing it between your fingers.

Interested in this – as I recently bought a 29er which came with tubeless and there’s a very, very small hole in the rear tyre which just won’t seal and it keeps going flat.

There’s sealant in the tyre – it’s leaking from the hole, but spinning, riding, etc just doesn’t seal it.

I’m assuming either it’s inner tube time, or a new tyre?

Perhaps the sealant just needs a top up?
Of course if you can locate the hole, why not plug it? it would be cheaper than a new tyre and lets you save the tyre for an emergency…

Tonight I pinch flatted a new Maxxis Aggressor. Poked a bit of rubber band through the holes, centre of tread & bead, & the stans did the job. They’ll be staying in there for the duration.

What’s annoying is that my other bike will be exactly the same.

UPDATE: To avoid the hassle on my other bike, rather than emptying the sealant and replacing with some new stuff I just added some pink glitter. Wouldn’t have been much bother to empty the tyre and fill it again to be honest, but I was feeling experimental and had some glitter to hand.