What do I do with an inner tube that has been used in a tyre with sealant? Bin, or is there a magic way to clean it for re-use?
The back story is that we were out for a ride recently with a few friends. After about 5 or so miles, I noticed that my front tyre (which had seemed OK to that point) was deflating, and noticeably quickly. As it was cold and damp I just wanted to get moving again (and not cause the rest of the group to get cold) so I stuck a spare inner tube in and continued the ride - with no further issues. After getting home, I took the tube out and topped up the sealant and everything seems fine - no significant loss of pressure aver the last week, so I think that issue is resolved.
Lastly is tubeless worth it on a gravel bike (650b x 47 tyres) or should I go back to tubes?
As it was cold and damp I just wanted to get moving again (and not cause the rest of the group to get cold) so I stuck a spare inner tube in and continued the ride – with no further issues.
fixing with a tubeless plug would likely have been faster than putting in a tube.
As for the tube. I’d just let it dry and roll it back up again.
fixing with a tubeless plug would likely have been faster than putting in a tube.
As for the tube. I’d just let it dry and roll it back up again.
Perhaps, but there was no obvious leak, and still isn’t, so there was nowhere to stick a plug. The same tyre is holding up a week after tubeless reinflation.
The tube's been hanging for a week and some of the sealant is still tacky. I suppose if I leave it a while longer it will dry fully.
If it's a normal butyl tube just wipe it clean I guess. I had heard that leaving them soaking in warm water would make it easier to wipe off old sealant, but I haven't tried this myself.
If it's a posh latex tube then getting latex sealant near it will probably ruin it, ask me how I know 😭
Tubeless for gravel is a weird one for me, pinch flatten tubes just got replaced with pinch flatten tyres! The only reason I persevere is so I can run inserts to protect the rim as I have gotten into an unfortunate habit of dinging rims. Otherwise I would have stuck with (latex) tubes.
