Went tubeless earlier this summer. Has been great up to this point. Was riding in relatively cold weather yesterday (low 20s F) and managed to get a puncture that Stans wouldn't seal - heard lots of hissing, stopped and positioned the tire so that the Stans would flow toward the hole (which it did - sealant was oozing out with the escaping air), but the hole never sealed. Popped the tire from the bead but didn't find anything sticking through (I think a small stick frozen to the ground punched through but didn't stick in the tire). I had limited air (a couple of CO2 carts) so I threw in a tube rather than hoping and trying to make the Stans seal. Guess I'm looking for input and tips regarding Stans in cold weather - or maybe this was just "one of those times" where nothing was going to help? For what it's worth, the tire in question is a UST Nevegal mounted to a Stans ZTR 355 wheel. Thanks for any help/suggestions to avoid this in the future (if possible).
Stans and Cold Weather?
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Stans doesn't work in freezing weather - it doesn't flow well enough. They also don't recomend CO2 for the same reason, but you can get that to work.
Unfortunately....
there are very few (if any) sealants that will work well in really cold weather. They may not freeze, but if it's cold enough just to stiffen them up a bit they won't flow properly as kdiddy noted. Also the volitiles that are supposed to evaporate and allow the sealant to dry as it flows through the puncture don't evaporate as quickly when it's cold. The fact that the sealant was just ozzing out of the puncture indicates that the sealant was likely too cold and thick to do it's job.
Anyway, that's the primary reason that my winter tires have tubes in them. In my experience Stans will work fine for about 2 hours more or less in 20F temps as long as the bike was stored inside and then taken out into the cold. But it depends on how fresh the sealant is and how long the bike spends in the cold before being ridden. Rather than worry about it I just ride tubes when it gets much below 35 degrees or so.
Good Dirt
there are very few (if any) sealants that will work well in really cold weather. They may not freeze, but if it's cold enough just to stiffen them up a bit they won't flow properly as kdiddy noted. Also the volitiles that are supposed to evaporate and allow the sealant to dry as it flows through the puncture don't evaporate as quickly when it's cold. The fact that the sealant was just ozzing out of the puncture indicates that the sealant was likely too cold and thick to do it's job.
Anyway, that's the primary reason that my winter tires have tubes in them. In my experience Stans will work fine for about 2 hours more or less in 20F temps as long as the bike was stored inside and then taken out into the cold. But it depends on how fresh the sealant is and how long the bike spends in the cold before being ridden. Rather than worry about it I just ride tubes when it gets much below 35 degrees or so.
Good Dirt
good info
Thanks for the replies. Squash - the sealant was not thick so I'm not thinking that was the issue. But your comment regarding some of the chemical evaporating or reacting differently because of the cold makes a lot of sense.
Thanks for the replies. Squash - the sealant was not thick so I'm not thinking that was the issue. But your comment regarding some of the chemical evaporating or reacting differently because of the cold makes a lot of sense.
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