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Home | Product Reviews | Tubeless Tire | NoTubes.com Stans Tire and Rim Sealant | ||||
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Submitted by
Anand Mehta
a Cross Country Rider
from Lansdale, PA USA
Date Reviewed: 4/11/2008 8:31:02 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Dirt |
| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $15 |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Strengths: | Works |
| Weaknesses: | Messy |
| Bike Setup: | Kenda Nevegal 2.35 Stick-E on a Mavic 819 UST rim |
| Bottom Line: | Used Stans to convert a Kenda Nevegal 2.35 Stick-E to tubeless. Granted the rims are UST but the installation was not bad and the tires are holding up well. Needed a trip to the gas station (for the air pump) and it took a couple of rides to get the tire really sealed but now it seems perfect. Hold air perfectly now, no leeks at all. Quite nice if you ask me and much easier than I thought. |
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Submitted by
Randy
a Weekend Warrior
from Calgary, AB, Canada
Date Reviewed: 4/10/2008 12:58:13 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $65 |
| Strengths: | Supposedly lightens up wheels |
| Weaknesses: | A helluva lot of work to get it to work |
| Similar Products Tried: | Uhh..tubes |
| Bike Setup: | Banshee Rune with hadleys on Mavic 729 and Nevegals |
| Bottom Line: | It was waaaaaay more work than inferred by the instructional video and sheet. It was two weeks of nightly checking and re-shaking the wheels to stop the leaks. It would seem to seal and then checking the next night would show the tire low again. Try to pump it up and then a new leak would spout out white liquid. It was damn frustrating. It has been working though after that, mind you. If I have issues once the riding season hits full on, I will consider puttin tubes back in. Time will tell. |
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Submitted by
Jason
a Cross Country Rider
from Denver, CO
Date Reviewed: 3/28/2008 7:38:05 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $65 |
| Purchased At: | Stan's |
| Strengths: | Works well when it works. |
| Weaknesses: | Scary when the tire blows off the rim. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Normal Tubes |
| Bike Setup: | Blur XC |
| Bottom Line: | I've used stan's system for approx. 3 years. I only had one puncture flat and it was a pretty big hole that was too big for the latex to seal. Sounds good huh? I also had the tire blow off the rim about 3 different times (about once per year). I was using Continental Vertical Pro's each time. Initially this happened with standard mavic's but after the first time I purchased some of Stan's olympic rims thinking these would work better. Since then the tires have blown off 2 more times. All three times I was either pedaling on flat pavement or standing still when that happened. It also sounded like a shotgun blast, really loud. So, I really loved stan's system most of the time. No pinch flats was great. But after the tire blew off for the third time I started to worry it would blow off when I was flying down a hill. It could be catastrophic. For me it's not worth the risk but still good for racer's I expect. I have thought about trying some Kenda's, maybe they will stay on better. I do recommend putting new tires on occasionally as the tires never seemed to blow off until they had been on the rim for a while (six months or more). The tire bead must stretch over time. |
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Submitted by
Eric Smith
a Cross Country Rider
from Hastings, MI
Date Reviewed: 3/18/2008 10:35:02 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 3 months |
| Price Paid: | $100 |
| Purchased At: | online store |
| Strengths: | sounds like a good idea |
| Weaknesses: | doesn't work - huge ripoff |
| Similar Products Tried: | none |
| Bike Setup: | cannondale caffiene 29er |
| Bottom Line: | i tried this stuff and couldnt get it to work, and it makes a big mess and takes lots of time. I called the support and they had me put insulation strips in my rim. that helped, and it worked for about a week. the tires would not hold air for more than a couple days and re sealing them is a huge pain in the ass. they stop pinch flats, but the tire just comes off the rim wich is worse. I hate these things, a huge hassle for no real weight savings. Also, the support guy was rude and did not offer any refund. also, if you air them up over 50psi they blow off the rim, so dont plan on riding the road. |
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Submitted by
Esteban
a Weekend Warrior
from San Diego
Date Reviewed: 1/28/2008 12:36:22 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Elfin Forest |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $16 |
| Purchased At: | Black Mountain Bikes |
| Strengths: | Seals tires, prevents leaks. Even if you land so hard that the bead pops out momentarily, it seals right back up when the bead pops back in. |
| Weaknesses: | When it's really old, it leaves a gooey residue on the tire bead. Not a big deal. |
| Similar Products Tried: | nothing |
| Bike Setup: | 2001 K2 Razorback. UST rims and tires. |
| Bottom Line: | I bought this stuff because I was tired of the air slowly leaking out of my tubeless tires. I didn't like having to pump up my tires before every ride. This stuff has always worked perfectly. Better than I expected. Now I can go about 3 months before I have to put some more air in. After two years of riding about once a week, it started to be less effective, only holding enough air for about two weeks. I put more in, and it's working just like it used to. So it's pretty much the best thing ever. |
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Submitted by
mike hunt
a Cross Country Rider
from ecumsecum
Date Reviewed: 11/5/2007 6:15:32 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | all of them |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Price Paid: | $40 |
| Purchased At: | bike shop |
| Strengths: | If you pour the full jug into your tire, you probably won't get a flat. |
| Weaknesses: | Its garbage. Just run tubes, or UST tires and rims. |
| Bike Setup: | Downhill bike. Initially Mavic UST EX823(UST) rims with maxxis highrollers, when those burped off during a dh race run I switched to Maxxis Minions F+R(UST), didn't actually need the crap after that. XC Race bike. Shimano XTR(UST) rims with bontrager "tubeless ready" tires. Good initial results, then farted the air out in a corner costing a podium position. Ended up using them on Mavic Crossmax XL's after that for trail riding. Blew a hole in the sidewall, didn't stop the leak, been running tubes in all applications ever since. |
| Bottom Line: | This stuff is garbage. If you change tires for conditions, this is garbage and a pain in the rear. Save your money. |
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Submitted by
Psychodad
a Cross Country Rider
from Mission, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: 10/16/2007 2:38:52 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $25 |
| Purchased At: | from friend |
| Strengths: | Fills bigger holes than slime. Can run tires at lower pressure than Slime. Save rotational weight by losing tubes and tire liners. |
| Weaknesses: | Takes a high volume air compressor to do the initial inflate. I took mine to a flat repair shop which did the trick. Once you get the initial seal done, you are set and can add Stan's and inflate yourself using a small air compressor. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Slime |
| Bike Setup: | '06 Trek Fuel 70 stock. |
| Bottom Line: | Stan's sealant kicks Slime's butt. Ride on trails in South Texas where we have mega thorns and cactus. Used Slime and tire liners and would still have to change out tubes at least once a month. After I switched to Stan's I went a year without getting a flat. As long as you check and refill your tires every couple of months, you'll be good to go. Love this product. "Stan's the man!" |
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Submitted by
tim c
a Cross Country Rider
from santa monica, ca usa
Date Reviewed: 6/14/2007 2:56:43 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | lower rock creek, mammoth lakes |
| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | pricepoint.com |
| Strengths: | seals almost anything. watch stan's video on his website. they're a great help for installation instructions. it's comical to watch stan jab a 1/4 nail into tire countless times and it seals up instantly. |
| Weaknesses: | rims vary in size thickness depth etc. so modifications might be required. |
| Similar Products Tried: | it's a one and only product. |
| Bike Setup: | Rocky Mountain ETSX w/Alex DP17 rims & IRC Mythos 2.1 kevlar bead tires |
| Bottom Line: | Stan's ROCKS! I've been using Stan's sealant for over three years with UST rims and tires and have NEVER gotten a flat. Yes NEVER! I just got new bike that came with standard rims and tires so I converted them using Stan's kit. The Alex DP17 rims have deep center channel. I was having a hard time trying to get any tire mounted. I emailed Stan's support Friday evening and Monday morning I received a response advising I should fill the deep center channel with some soft foam weather stripping. After that, the tires inflated easily with a floor pump. Great customer service great product. At this point I don't understand why the industry doesn't go tubeless. If you like changing flats continue using tubes. If not, Stan's is your answer. |
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Submitted by
Nick G.
a Weekend Warrior
from San Jose, CA
Date Reviewed: 5/15/2007 11:54:30 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Demo |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Purchased At: | Trailhead |
| Strengths: | Easy to apply if you START with the right components and tools. |
| Weaknesses: | None yet |
| Bike Setup: | Heckler/819 discs/Weirwolf USTs/Hadleys/Formula K24s/5th element coil/Sherman Firefly/XT/Thompson |
| Bottom Line: | Maybe writing this a little to early as I do not have any input as to sealing punctures, but as far as the set up, it is cake. I know my way around bike repairs descently, but no way an expert and I have had no problems on my first 3 rides with any of the problems I have read about in other reviews. I think that a lot of people who wrote reviews below were actually writing about the conversion kit and not just the sealant. I started off with UST rim/tires instead of converting my old rims, and I can not believe the benefits in climbing, weight, and being able to run lower tire pressure. |
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Submitted by
Trevor
a Weekend Warrior
from brisbane, qld, australia
Date Reviewed: 3/26/2007 5:15:01 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $100 |
| Strengths: | makes stan rich |
| Weaknesses: | see above |
| Similar Products Tried: | a tube |
| Bike Setup: | heckler |
| Bottom Line: | this stuff is snake oil, and i fell for it. I read all the crap about it in MBA and the rest of the publicity, spent the big bucks converted my rims got all the strips, the right tires etc etc. Yes! I did the soap thing and the compressor thing, I know my way around bikes, I set the stans tires up perfectly, and they worked. But then they stopped working. Random burps on any rocky corners, pump up the tire, farts on landings, pump up the tires. Every morning, pump up the tires. Don't do it, you don't need it. Use a tube with slime in it if you're worried about punctures. The whole 'tubes ruin your ride thing' is crap. They made it up. |
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Submitted by
Ryan
a Cross Country Rider
from Seattle, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: 1/18/2007 1:20:25 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $10 |
| Purchased At: | LBS |
| Strengths: | Works as advertised (not as many hope) Saves weight Better handling Lower rolling resistance Much less time spent changing flats ont the trail |
| Weaknesses: | PITA to install at first. You get better at it. Requires small air compressor ($99 at any auto shop + $29 for air chuck from Sears) Sealant dries over time Not all tires work |
| Similar Products Tried: | tubes UST |
| Bike Setup: | Psycle Werks Wild Hare XC with about 10,000 miles on it. Many different tires and wheels. Kendas and Contis work best for me. |
| Bottom Line: | First, I have to refute the posts below about Kendas "reacting" to the sealant. That is a shameful and pitiful lie told by Kenda to cover for a bad batch of tires they put out. During that time the casing blistered and separated on many Kenda tires, sealant or not. See: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=257300 for one reference. Notubes could probably sue Kenda for defamation on this one. Regarding the system (using it with regular tires): If you check out the installation and use instructions on the notubes site, you'll see that this is not intended to be a low mantenance solution. It's difficult, messy, and you have to maintain it. It was originally just for racers, but it's not so hard that you need a mechanic, just patience and an understating of how it's supposed to work. The benefits over UST is performance. The heavier, stiffer UST tires have more rolling resistance than "normal" tires. The benefit of UST is in ease of use. They're much stronger and easier to mount. Puncture resistance is better on USTs as well assuming you put in some sort of sealant. I've been using Stan's for 8 years now and about 10K miles. About a dozen sets of tires. Hundres of punctures and one flat. One. I cut the sidewall on a rock. That came after 6 years and I was so lulled into a sense of security I had no spare tube. I ended up riding home 10 miles on a tire stuffed with dried grass. Now I carry a spare tube, just like the directions say. |
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Submitted by
ATBScott
a Cross Country Rider
from Castro Valley, CA
Date Reviewed: 11/4/2006 8:44:23 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Can I only have one? |
| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Strengths: | Punctures and leaks are sealed almost immediately, Reduces weight slightly in the wheel... |
| Weaknesses: | Somewhat of a pain to install, but not that bad. Worth it for me. I have done a number of sets of tires. Notubes.com website says some tires are "supported" and others not. Have had issues with "supported" tires and runs fine in tires that they say are not supported. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Tubes galore |
| Bike Setup: | Ransom LTD, Spec Enduro Pro, 99 SJ FSR |
| Bottom Line: | This system has been relatively trouble-free for me. It is a bit of work to get set-up, but not bad once you have done it a couple of times. Couple of teaspoons of detergent in a cup of water, and an old paintbrush work great to soap the bead. Also, you really should have a compressor to get this together - you may have a coronary trying to pump that fast and hard to seat most tires! The only tires that I have had a problem with setting up were Kendas - Stan "recommends" them... I have used Specialized, Ritchey, WTB and IRC tires, on both Mavic and Easton Rims. I don't buy the "weak bead theory". Tubes only hold a few psi at most. The bead and casing of a tire hold the pressure. If the bead was weak - the tire would blow at higher pressures if it had a tube in it or not. I have to say that the IRC (Trailbear 2.25) was the easiest tire that I have mounted with Stans. The WTB 2.24 Mutanoraptors ran fine with it for 6 months - just recently switched to tires that will work better now the rains are coming. I have run those WTB tires as high as 50 psi for a longer road stretch at the start of the ride, then aired down at the trail. No failure. They also mounted easily, but did take a few minutes more sloshing the sealant around to get them to seal all the casing pinholes. The only tire I have have ever had a bead failure on was a Specialized tire, ages ago. The actual bead held up fine - the casing fabric around the bead failed and the tire came away. Fortunately I was close to home! In nearly 30 years of riding, with a lot of Specialized Tires since, I figure it was just a fluke, and the tire had a couple of months on it anyway. BTW - three layers of electrical tape, TIGHTLY wrapped and then a UST valve, sealed in with a little extra RTV sealant has worked just fine on two sets of non-UST wheels (disc). No leaks, weighs nothing. Don't try it with rim brakes though. I recommend the Stans - you may not need the full kit if you are adept at setting it up yourself. The rim strips he offers are nice, but not that light and PRICEY. If you have a set of wheels that came with UST valves, try the tape. |
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Submitted by
dave
from boise
Date Reviewed: 11/3/2006 11:20:01 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | pricepoint |
| Strengths: | thorn flats and pinch flats eliminated, pros use them with good results...national xc champs |
| Weaknesses: | need a compressor or a lot of patience with a hand pump |
| Similar Products Tried: | Mavic crosslands with U.S.T. tires |
| Bike Setup: | ibex hardtail, rim brakes, Mavic 717 rims with xt hubs |
| Bottom Line: | this product combined with my hardtail is my secret weapon for smoking lard ass all mountain bikes on a climb, combine stans with a lightweight wheel and sub 450 gm tire and extended climbing is a pleasure you could probably go with a Mavic U.S.T. set up at a similar weight however the wheel set is $750.00 plus the U.S.T. tires.Stay with the reccomended tires I have been running the older versions of Hutchinson Pythons and got about 2500 miles from the last set with no flats, I replenish the sealant every 3 months and I am careful not to rip the valve stems by stabilizing them when inflating and am careful not to overtighten the stem nut.I carry a spare tube for on trail repairs however I have never had a failure off-road, had two flats from huge nail punctures on road. A compressor is much easier for intial set up however the system is so flat resistant that long term maintenance is minimium anyway.I run a heavier duty Mavic Crossland wheelset and tires with Stans sealant on my Heckler. |
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Submitted by
SB rider
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Barbara
Date Reviewed: 9/18/2006 2:10:17 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | price point |
| Strengths: | Hopefully, no more flats. Able to run low air pressure - Great hookup at 30psi. Conversion of non-UST tires to tubless. Can't tell the sealant is in the wheel. |
| Weaknesses: | Stan's website videos make everything look like cake - DON'T be fooled!!! He's done that 1000 times. Air compressor will save you a lot of cursing, pain, and time. In some cases it might be impossible without one. Weight savings not that much when converting rims unless you were using a larger inner tube ( > 140g). Rim strip(~55g) + sealant(90g) = 145g. About what my old 19-2.1 tube weighed. |
| Similar Products Tried: | Slime - it sucked and was heavy. Tire rotated funny too. |
| Bike Setup: | Superlight with mavic x317 laced to King iso disc. |
| Bottom Line: | PITA to install. No joke. Use a LOT more soap to water when installing. I was unable to get the tire(Kenda 2.35 FR DTC) to seal with a bike pump until 1. Using a tire lever to press the rim strip down near the valve stem; 2. Attempting to inflate tire without the valve stem core installed, then disconnecting bike pump, quickly put finger over stem to stop air leakage and reinstall valve stem core. Sketchy but it works if you're fast. If you don't have a compressor its going to take at least 30 minutes of screwing around with soapy water to inflate the tire and then another 15-20 to covert that tire to tubless (with the sealant). It potentially could be impossible to inflate with your tire choice. The biggest gain is low air pressure and no flats. The no flats part was huge for me. |
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Submitted by
Luke shooka
a Weekend Warrior
from NYC
Date Reviewed: 9/10/2006 9:51:34 PM |
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| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $55 |
| Purchased At: | gotham bikes |
| Strengths: | Does instantly seal as advertised, hopefully the risk of pinching is eliminated. |
| Weaknesses: | Holy fawking christ these things are a pain to set up. |
| Similar Products Tried: | normal tubes |
| Bike Setup: | mavic 317 disk rims with specialized 2.00 resolution tires. |
| Bottom Line: | ok,so I'm a mech at a shop and these things were still a MAJOR pita to install. Realistically, expect to spent at least 30 minutes per wheel to mount a tire, especially if it's your first time. Tip: Use WWWWWWAAAAAYYYYY more soap suds than what's suggested by the notubes.com site. Instead of using a brush, I filled a water bottle with dish soap and water-- Instant foam. The more foam you have at the seams, the better your chances at having these things seal up right. I have NO IDEA as to how people can mount these without compressed air. Perhaps my rim/tire combination lends itself to harder inflations, but my intital impressions were that is was almost impossibly difficult to set up. |
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Submitted by
Mel Stewart
a Cross Country Rider
from Steamboat Springs, CO
Date Reviewed: 8/27/2006 1:25:52 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Eye to Eye |
| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Price Paid: | $50 |
| Purchased At: | pricepoint |
| Strengths: | Works great (with the right tires) Relative easy set-up, I just used a floor pump, lots of warm, soapy water and pump like hell |
| Weaknesses: | Does not work well (with the wrong tires, ie.e panaracer smoke) and initial set-up is expesnise |
| Similar Products Tried: | tubes |
| Bike Setup: | Yeti ASR-SL |
| Bottom Line: | I started using Stan's about a year ago. It worked GREAT with my first set of tires, IRC Mythos. Picked up a fair number of thorns and NO FLATS. In fact, I did not have one flat, although I did have to "refill" the with Stans after about 8 months as the product does dry out. On my next set of tires, Panaracer Smoke and Dart, had two flats on the rear (Smoke) in the first four days. Rock punture right through the tire. The Stans did seal, but took about 10 min to form an effective plug. Second flat was during race, so after about 4 min decided to bag the sealant and popped in a tube. Bottom line: use a tire with good rim strip and thicker rubber? |
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Submitted by
fastsmither
a Cross Country Rider
from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Date Reviewed: 7/7/2006 10:43:57 AM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Birch Ski |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $65 |
| Purchased At: | Ebay |
| Strengths: | Weight reduction, lower rolling resistance |
| Weaknesses: | Pain in the freakin' butt to apply |
| Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Blur - Mavic X717 with Kenda Karma Tires |
| Bottom Line: | An air compressor is a must to apply. Using a floor pump will cause insanity, or at least damage to the stuff you end up throwing around in teh rage that will no doubt ensue. Keep at it though, once you get the tire to seal, the benfits are well worth it. I had Kenda lightweight tubes in prevously, and I weighed the wheels before and after, and found I got a 124 gram weight reduction per wheel. That is huge, over 0.5 lbs for the set. Tires also roll better, and acceleration feels much snappier. So far it lost air on the first night (down to 20 psi), but ever since has been holding 30 psi. Hands down the best, most cost effective upgrade to any bike (how else can you spend $65 and lose 0.5 lbs of rotating mass?), but be warned it is very frustrating to apply. |
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Submitted by
Aaron Robnett
a Cross Country Rider
from Iowa City, IA
Date Reviewed: 4/26/2006 6:53:17 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Gunpowder State Park, MD |
| Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month |
| Price Paid: | $80 |
| Purchased At: | Scheels All Sports |
| Strengths: | Light, Puncture Resistant, Reliable |
| Weaknesses: | Length of Install, Requires some adjustment with some tires (additional layers of velox rim tape under rim strip.) |
| Similar Products Tried: | Michelin Latex Tubes |
| Bike Setup: | 2000 Klein Attitude Race, Surly rigid fork, x517 rims on CK front hub, DT Hugi 240 rear hub, revo spokes, Conti Explorer front tire, Hutchinson Python rear tire, XT Cranks, Surly Chainring etc |
| Bottom Line: | Well the set-up on this product was awesome. I pulled my front tire, cleaned my rim, slapped on the spoke tape that was supplied plus one layer of Rox Super Duty rim strip and aired tire up without sealant. There were about 5 leaks per side which is common I assume. Added sealant and had one persiting leak that was minor. Took about 45 min to do one wheel including everything. Went to mount up my rear tire (got a brand new schwable fast fred light) and would not fill at all. I didn't add any layers of velox at all not wanting to add weight and just slapped on my python going against recommendations. seated just fine and am running it now. i know the risks involved running this tire and am just fine with it. if this tire does fail, and or i am ready for a lighter rear tire i am going to pull off my python and add some velox and hopefully it will seat. my only concern with this is that the rim strip already sits very securely under the bead lock at this time, so i'm wondering if this will cause any folding of the center of the strip. Overall great product. I loved my old michelin tubes, flatted the other day and only had two left and decided it was time to try the new stans kit. ran the old DIY setup back in the beginning of the stans days and finally just got sick of it. now hoping with these strips it will make my life easier (which after initial setup, it is.) Top notch work Stan. |
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Submitted by
Luke Georgian
a Racer
from niantic,ct
Date Reviewed: 4/26/2006 1:31:36 PM |
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| FavoriteTrail: | Middle cottonwood. bozeman |
| Duration Product Used: | 6 months |
| Price Paid: | $54 |
| Purchased At: | Pricepoint |
| Strengths: | Gets rid of those reliable tubes |
| Weaknesses: | Setting them up is very difficult without an air compressor. Tires will blow off rims at 40psi. No way to put them back on unless you carry tubes. |
| Similar Products Tried: | none |
| Bike Setup: | Multiple bikes |
| Bottom Line: | UNLESS YOU INTEND TO CARRY COMPRESSED AIR TO YOUR RACE, OR ANY WHERE YOU RIDE, FORGET ABOUT IT. I had a tire blow off the rim at 40psi, loud sound to say the least. I had to remove all the Stans stuff and put in a tube to ride the seven miles to the road. The first time I tried to set up Stans without compressed air, I had to rebuild the pump. The second time, the (almost new) pump broke. Every time your tire goes flat (at least every two days) you potentially need an air compressor. |
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Submitted by
Rick Katz
from Louisville, KY
Date Reviewed: 3/18/2006 8:24:15 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 1 Year |
| Strengths: | Reduced my wheels combined rotational weight by 200 grams! Eliminates pinch flats Allows me to run 25lbs of air pressure for superior traction in technical situations. |
| Weaknesses: | Can be difficult to set up. |
| Bike Setup: | 05 Stumpjumper Pro HT, SRAM X9 RD & trigger shifters, PG990 Cassette, XT FD & Hollowtech M960 Crankset, Manitou Skareb Super fork, Azonic CF1 1.5" rise carbon bar, Thomson Elite SP, WTB titanium rail saddle, Time ATAC Pedals, Avid Single Digit 5 V-Brakes, Mavic 517 w/King hub RW converted to tubeless w/Stans, Mavic 223 w/Specialized hub FW converted to tubeless w/Stans, 23 Lbs. |
| Bottom Line: | I have upgraded nearly every part of my bike and I can tell you, without hesitation, that the best of these upgrades is the Stan's tubeless conversion kit. I love the increased traction and lower rotational weight. I don't understand why anyone would use a heavy tubeless tire when they could shed 100 grams per wheel using a converted conventional tire. I ride 5-6 days a week (less in the winter) on very rocky singletrack. Before I converted my rims I had two pinch flats a week on average. It has been about a year since I started using Stan's and I have had a total of two flats. One of which was during a ride when I was experimenting with sub 20 lbs on air pressure. Don't try that, I blew the entire tire off the rim bunny hopping a log. I now run 25 lbs of pressure and it's flawless. Setup Help: The original setup of my rims I did find somewhat difficult but I have since learned a trick that makes it much easier. First of all, a floor pump will not work, high pressure air is a must. When adding air remove the core from the valve stem to allow the air to flow into the tire at a higher rate. Once the tire is inflated place your finger over the hole, and then quickly lift your finger and screw the core into the stem. I set up a new tire a few weeks ago and didn't even need to use soapy water as recommended by Stan's. |
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Submitted by
dave
a Cross Country Rider
from boise
Date Reviewed: 3/2/2006 2:52:21 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years |
| Price Paid: | $56 |
| Purchased At: | pricepoint |
| Strengths: | seals all thorn flats,better traction due to being able to run low pressures without a pinch flat good online support,tires easier to mount than UST tires. |
| Weaknesses: | a compressor make mounting much easier |
| Similar Products Tried: | ust system |
| Bike Setup: | 2005 Ibex hardtail,2001 trek fuel 90,2005 santa cruz heckler |
| Bottom Line: | This is an excellent product IF you follow the instructions otherwise stick with your tubes and all their inherent problems.I have used the reccomended tires and have had thousands of miles of trouble free riding, the only two flats that I have had have been a result of a huge nail and a screw, numerous thorns punctures have sealed up fast,I use a compressor at home and carry a spare tube for backup. |
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Submitted by
brokenspoke
a Cross Country Rider
from Ithaca, NY
Date Reviewed: 2/16/2006 7:08:37 AM |
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| Duration Product Used: | 2 Years |
| Strengths: | Tubeless tires without the weight. |
| Weaknesses: | Excessive mount time. Doesn't seal leaks. Loses air. |
| Similar Products Tried: | UST |
| Bottom Line: | This stuff is great for converting a regular tire to tubeless, but after 2 years it has YET to stop a single leak! I've flatted many times with many different tires and the BEST this stuff has done is to slow down the leak. I now run UST tires on UST rims and love it. They mount fast and don't lose air. |
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