[Flyer]

I know people have had some good and bad experiences with sealant and I'm all about not using tubes if I can help it. I have been using Stan's Notubes sealant for years and wanted to try something else so I bought the Bontrager Superjuice. The dealer told me he didn't feel it worked as well as Stan's but I wanted to try it anyway. It's very pricey at $16.99 for 8 oz while I can get Stan's 32 oz bottle for around $20. The dealer's basic gist was that the Superjuice only sealed tiny thorn holes well and cost way more than Stan's which sealed stuff better. He did not carry any Stan's- just Superjuice and a generic one.

Superjuice is clean and easy to work with. It looks good enough to drink with Vodka. It seals small holes okay but anything more than a thin thorn and it keep oozing and bubbling out and takes a long time to seal. It also evaporates very quickly when left out with a similar weight of Stan's sealant. Almost all the Stan's sealant is still there while the Superjuice has significantly evaporated in 24 hours (pretty dry here in Colorado). I have not tried the evaporation test in a tire but will do that next. I cannot imagine that it will last longer than Stan's given my open air test in two tires. The quick evaporation was a bit too quick. I don't know what the liquid is made out of but it dries fast. My hopes were dashed since I thought it would outlast Stan's stuff. I now have one type of sealant in each tire and will recheck the quantity in a week.

I have heard that this is a rebadged sealant from some other industry. It simply does not work as well as Stan's though it does quickly form a slick seal around the beads that then dries well and holds air properly. That is one thing it does quicker than Stan's sealant. That advantage is not meaningful to me because Stan's sealant does the same thing in a few more minutes. I used tubeless-ready, tubeless, and two regular Maxxis Minions (may as well be tubeless- they are completely non-porous). The Minions do not leak sealant at the sidewalls or anywhere else. At close to 850 grams, they better have a thick non-Kenda casing.

Superjuice is not for converting tires and will do okay as a sealant but a fat thorn hole may not be sealed at all. It will keep oozing and bubbling regardless of how fast you spin the tire. The Stan's stuff will shoot out for a second and then seal the hole completely.

Sorry for no pics- I toook a ton the best I could but my antiquated Smartmedia card decided to only give back gray squares instead of pictures. Video clips would be more effective anyway.

Next time I have some time to kill, I'll try Slime and the generic (A-I?) sealant carried by the local dealer who sold me the Superjuice. I also have the Geax Pitstop foam-like sealant now.

I used three different nails for my test- two skinny ones from my picture hanger kit and one thicker one I found on my driveway crack. I also used a thorn I found. It starts out skinny and sharp but get much wider and thicker at the base and was very strong. I punctured the tread (between knobs) and the sidewalls. I eventually broke the thorn tip off and will have to find a replacement. No, I'm not using a goathead- I can see bad things happening.


If you have sealant info when comparing two or more, post up as well.

 

[Thought Criminal 9]

Thanks for all that info - very interesting.

I used to use the Super Juice for tubeless ready but starting mixing my own from inexpensive sealants bought at auto parts stores.

The Bontrager Super Juice does take a while to seal. I just thought it was way overpriced as well. My mixture is a bit faster but works well. Also, I can alter the viscosity as necessary to get it to seal faster.

I don't use Stans because it's latex and harder to clean up when I change tires which I do a lot.

 

[Flyer]

Yeah, Stan's is a pain to clean out though I basically rinse with a hose and hang the tire to dry. The Superjuice is easy to clean.

 

[benm5678]

interesting to read this post, since today I had my first flat while trying out tubless... I have bontrager rims/tires, and superjuicy in them.... got a tiny cut in the tire, and superjuicy just keeps oozing out... i've left the tire with the hole at the bottom for over an hour, and still not sealed.

i'll definatley try the Stan's now, before i give up on tubeless (which so far isn't worth it for me... only 4 rides and already got a flat... but maybe with a good sealant it'll work as advertised

thanks for this info!!

 

[Thought Criminal 9]

interesting to read this post, since today I had my first flat while trying out tubless... I have bontrager rims/tires, and superjuicy in them.... got a tiny cut in the tire, and superjuicy just keeps oozing out... i've left the tire with the hole at the bottom for over an hour, and still not sealed.

i'll definatley try the Stan's now, before i give up on tubeless (which so far isn't worth it for me... only 4 rides and already got a flat... but maybe with a good sealant it'll work as advertised

thanks for this info!!

Don't give up on tubeless. I've had 2 flats on the trail in 4 years of riding tubeless. Most other people have had similar or better success. I've ridden many miles of trails in the Sonoran (loaded with cactus) desert near Scottsdale and have never had a puncture there. One of my flats was due to riding over a barbed-wire fence.

Sometimes cuts will not seal well with that super juice stuff. A patch may be the best approach.

I road with inner tubes for 15 years and I could not run less than 40 psi and if I forgot to pump up before a ride, I would pinch flat. This could be because I always used to run very light tires with very light tubes and ride very rocky terrain here in the Front Range.

Tubeless tires seem to feel lighter and have more acceleration. There are all sorts of theories about tube/tire interface and friction on this. So, I would never in a million years go back to tubes myself.

 

[benm5678]

yea, i'm definatley not going to dump the idea right away... i'll batlle it some more. but will try other sealant... i bet these kind of small cuts will be pretty common where i ride... and i'll need it to seal itself, since it's the last advantage of tubeless i'm counting on (less flats). As far as weight, i can't tell... so it doesn't really affect me. As far as running lower pressure to get more traction, i didn't see a benefit either -- in my experience, a tubeless tire filled to 30psi feels (when you squeeze by hand) the same as a tire filled to 40psi with a tube, and didn't feel like it provided more traction on the trail... maybe my inexperience has something to do with me not noticing a difference.

but to get back to the thread topic... is Stan's worth it, or is the harder cleanup i'm reading about a real pain ? I put a tube in my tire today for the meantime, and taking out the SuperJuice was really easy, it just dumped out, and i didn't even worry about wiping the tire.... which is the way you'd do it if you have to make the swap to a tube in the middle of the trail.

 

[heiney]

I've never heard of Superjuice before... But I was riding in the mountains around Santa Fe this summer and managed to rip a knob off one of my tires. I lost all the air in my tire and did not think my Stan's sealant was going to be able to plug up the hole, so I just forgot about it and managed to walk out of the mountains which sucked. Anyway, once I got home I starting investigating what happened and it turns out that Stan's DID eventually plug up the hole. I pumped the tire back up and Voila! So I walked out of the mtns for nothing. DOH! :madman:

Point is, Stan's Goo is good stuff.:thumbsup:

 

[benm5678]

that's cool about how well Stan's works ! (and bummer to find out after you hike down the trail...but still u got some good excerise )

i tried some more SuperJuice in my tire (without patching the tire)... this time I made sure I shook the bottle well before applying, which is the only step i'm not sure i did the first time. When I read the Stan's instruction on notubes.com I saw how they emphasized the importance of shaking the product to mix up the sealing agents that sink to the bottom, so that made me think maybe i missed this step with SuperJuice.

anyway, the tire sealed up much better now, but when I inflate to 60psi it bursts the small cut open and let's out 10-20psi (along with shooting out some superJuice goodness)... i can ride it though at normal pressure (~30psi), which wasn't possible before I re-applied it. We'll see how well it holds up now on a rocky trail, and meanwhile i'm ordering a bottle of the much cheaper Stans to see how well it works (it isn't available at my local Trek store - big surprise !)

the only question i have, if you have a flat on the trail, and need to swap to a tube, is the Stan's a pain to cleanup in the woods ? does it just dump out or do I need to carry some paper towels to wipe it out with ?

 

[Flyer]

Just dump it- it all evaporates except for the crystals. It is not hard to clean from your tire of rim either. It simply rinses off. Any fine crystals can even be safely left in the tire though a brush or dishwahing sponge gets them all off.

 

[Jim Freeman]

the only question i have, if you have a flat on the trail, and need to swap to a tube, is the Stan's a pain to cleanup in the woods ? does it just dump out or do I need to carry some paper towels to wipe it out with ?

In the three years we have been using Stan's in regular moutain bike tires with tubes and in genuine tubless tires on the correct rims, we have never experienced a puncture that Stan's could not deal with. I still carry a tube, but it is for other people in an emergency. I still carry a CO2 inflator too, but it just because I want to be ready for anything, or to lend as needed.

I seriously doubt you will ever face a cleanup task in the woods. However, here in Arizona it is necessary to make sure all your Stan's has not seeped out of the dozens of punctures in an old tire or evaporated. It's worthwhile to add a little every three months or so, in my experience.

Stan's . . . don't leave home without it. :thumbsup:

 

[heiney]

that's cool about how well Stan's works ! (and bummer to find out after you hike down the trail...but still u got some good excerise)
...
the only question i have, if you have a flat on the trail, and need to swap to a tube, is the Stan's a pain to cleanup in the woods ? does it just dump out or do I need to carry some paper towels to wipe it out with ?

You can just dump it out. You will find that a lot of it is lining your tire so if you are willing to carry a rag to wipe it out then why not. It is an unavoidable mess. Losing a knob is a pretty rare event. It did take a very long time to seal mine and I had to fart around with getting the Stan's sealant to seal. I really wasn't interested in the exercise that day. I was only interested in enjoying the 8 mile downhill that day. I don't know how good the exercise was

Let me warn you to to always check for thorns or others objects that have punctured your tire BEFORE installing a tube. Usually, you will have several thorns that can exist in the tire because the sealant just, wells, seals it up. These will need to be removed obviously. Installing a tube is no quick endeavor here.

You probably know this but Stan's does not like CO2 so you have to carry a small pump around with you, and then ofcourse it has to be checked often because it can dry out.

 

[Randall XC]

Super Juice Rules!

I've got to throw my 2 cents in here. Let me share two stories. One happened when I tried to jump up over a very high curb and the rear wheel hit the corner so hard it pinch flatted the tire. POP! then fizzle. .. spurting Super Juice through a hole big enough in the sidewall of the tire to put the tip of my pinkie through. With two CO2 cartridges, I opted to use one to attempt to refill the tire in order to make it the last two miles back home. It seemed the Juice was sort of slowing down the leak toward the end. I rotated the tire on its side in order to get enough juice in the hole and then filled the tire. It worked! The Juice filled what seemed like a pretty big hole and I was actually surprised it worked. It did leak a little and by the time I got home, I knew the tire had to be discarded. But I was impressed by the stuff.

Secondly, today I was out on a trail (in Scottsdale, AZ) and a short length of a very thorny tree stuck to the front tire. When I looked at the thorn that had pierced the tire, it must have been 4-5mm in diameter. I yanked it out and spun the tire once. Some Juice squirted through but immediately stopped the leak. There was absolutely no noticeable loss of tire pressure and no additional leaking through of the Juice after spinning the wheel a few more times. The Juice has been in my tire for almost a year now and I have only had to top off the tire pressure a couple of times. I have Specialized's sealant in the rear tire which regularly needs to be inflated.
Super Juice is so easy to install. You just pour it in (not through the valve like Stan's) and use a CO2 cartridge to inflate. Using a pump doesn't work well.
Super Juice is the best!

 

[KevinB]

Good info. Thanks for posting!

Another sealant to try (add to your list) is Specialized Airlock. I've used it in UST tires and I think it works slightly better than the Slime made for tubeless tires. I've not compared it to any of the other sealants though. (Yes, I have to get around to trying Stan's one of these days...)

 

[rkeen]

Homemade sealant

Hey Thought Criminal 9, would you care to elaborate on what you're mixing up for a sealant from the auto parts store?

I've used the superjuice and have left it alone for up to a year before it stopped sealing. I did get one puncture that it couldn't seal, but it was about 3/8 of an inch so I wasn't at all surprised. I'm currently trying Hutchinson's "Protect Air" sealant, but after 3 months both tires I have it in are loosing air, so I'm not initially impressed with the stuff in comparison with the superjuice.

 

[Thought Criminal 9]

Hey Thought Criminal 9, would you care to elaborate on what you're mixing up for a sealant from the auto parts store?

I've used the superjuice and have left it alone for up to a year before it stopped sealing. I did get one puncture that it couldn't seal, but it was about 3/8 of an inch so I wasn't at all surprised. I'm currently trying Hutchinson's "Protect Air" sealant, but after 3 months both tires I have it in are loosing air, so I'm not initially impressed with the stuff in comparison with the superjuice.

It's a mixture of tubeless Slime, EZ Seal and water. I used to use Propelyne Glycol instead of water, but I don't think it's necessary. I think the mixture works as well as Super Juice but is far less expensive. It's good at plugging fairly large holes but not as good at initial sidewall sealing with more porous tires such as Tubeless Ready or regular tires. Stans is better for that. Stans will seal the sidewalls more quickly and thoroughly but will eventually dry out and lose it's effectiveness. I was considering trying to mix that custom brew with Stans but who knows what sort of strange concoction that would result in.