I’m thinking about going tubeless for my commuter bike, where flats are often small leaks from bits of wire (presumably from shredded auto tires) or small nails picked up on the road. The tubeless wiki simply recommends Orange Seal or Stan’s, but I’d be interested in what members are actually using for road tires in the 32-36mm range. There is no end of other brands (e.g., Vittoria, Pirelli, Reserve, Squirt), but as I didn’t want to make the poll that long, please add a response with any other favorites.
I’m assuming Silca is the current/second generation and not the original, but based on the rankings it probably includes both. I hated the original, a mess to load, complicated second product to top off, etc. and it’s the only Silca product I’ve ever ditched. I’m running the new stuff on one bike and so far it’such easier to work with.
I voted for Orange Seal but TBH I use Orange Seal Endurance more often as it definitely lasts longer and has worked good enough. At least the two formulations can be mixed and matched, so there’s no need to commit to using only one. In 4+ years of road tubeless I’ve only had a single puncture that didn’t seal, requiring Dynaplugs, which was when the tire had OSE inside. Purportedly, OS regular should seal a bit faster and work on larger holes without the need for a plug, so when I’m feeling more paranoid about a particular upcoming stretch of time or routes, I put in regular.
I use Effetto Mariposa Vegelatex. It’s a dream to clean up with water, as it doesn’t seem to clump/dry out as other stuff and I also don’t want to be spraying harmful chemicals around in nature. I used this on an 1800km bikepacking trip in my wife’s and my own tires and it seems like it sealed everything, we only ever noticed her losing air once and even that sealed without a plug and just needed some repumping.
I do however always carry dynaplugs with me and run inserts even on road (Vittoria air liners), which give me the ability to ride home on a completely flat tire in case the sealant would fail me.
I’m closing the poll now that voting has tapered off. Looks like Orange Seal was the clear winner, with the regular and endurance formulations gathering 56% of the votes. Stan’s regular was second, with 19%, to Orange Seal.
