Slow Leak in Tubeless Tyre

cjw

My rear tyre (Scott OXYD UST 26 x 2.0 ) has recently developed a slow leak. Goes flat in 4 or 5 days. This is a tubeless tyre on tubeless rims with no sealant. I can't find any holes / cuts in the tyre or damage on the rim. Tyre etc is only 3 months old.

Question.... should I just replace the tyre (I've got a new one already) or try some sealant first (again I've got an unoppened bottle of Stan's)?

Cheers

Big Red S

Try some sealant.

Going noticeably softer after four or five days isn't unusual for a tubeless tyre with no sealant.

cjw

Thanks, sounds like a plan. Odd that it's been OK for the first few months though :?

Splasher

The first thing I'd do is blow the tyre up nice and hard and put the rim in a basin of water. Rotate it slowly and look for bubbles. I was in a similar situation to you and it was the valve/rim seal that was passing which the sealant won't fix (mine already had Stan's in it).

Once you're satisfied the air is coming from the tyre, put the Stan's in (do both wheels while you're at it, the hedge cutting season is nigh).

cjw

Splasher wrote:

The first thing I'd do is blow the tyre up nice and hard and put the rim in a basin of water. Rotate it slowly and look for bubbles. I was in a similar situation to you and it was the valve/rim seal that was passing which the sealant won't fix (mine already had Stan's in it).

Once you're satisfied the air is coming from the tyre, put the Stan's in (do both wheels while you're at it, the hedge cutting season is nigh).

I'll try that.

cjw

Stans worked fine on the rear. No leaks. But I didn't get round to doing the front at the same time.... big mistake :roll:

Was out riding yesterday and 5 miles from home the front went flat (probably a thorn) :evil: Pumped up, did about a mile... pumped up again.... well you get the idea (I didn't have a spare tube and no way to reseal a tubless on the trail).

Anyway, got home and then put Stans in the front. All sealed straight away

Moral.... Stans in tubless tyres - they do puncture at this time of year! And carry an inner tube!

Splasher

As you say, always carry a tube - Stan's won't seal everything.

cjw

The annoying thing is that untill recently I always carried a spare tube but got overconfident in the ability of tubeless tyre to resist punctures :roll: I had a puncture repair kit / tyre levers etc but when I looked at the tyre and found the small hole I thought about taking the tyre off and sticking a patch on. Then thought... how the hell will I reinflate with no water/soap. I've never been able to re-inflate from dry at home with a full size pump, let alone a mini trail pump, have always needed soap solution.

Splasher

It's a difficult one. On one hand Stans will seal some puctures, but as I found out not all. On the other hand a simple self adhesive patch will fix every puncture but you need to be able to get the tyre re-seated. The problem is, once you fill your tyre with Stans, you cannot stick anything to the inside without thorough cleaning - not something you can do on the trail.

Assuming you have removable valves, the safest repair is a tube, and a tube can be used with stans albeit you get a bit messy fitting it.

However, if you do want to re-seat your tyre on the trail, a CO2 cartridge will do it without soap and water. They are expensive from bike shops but cheap as chips bought on-line http://www.tyreinflators.co.uk/index.ph ... roductId=8