Stan's sealant

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Have a fat tire bike on the way here. I just ordered two tubes with removable cores. How much of Stan's (or other brand) sealant should I put in each tube. Instructions say 3-4 oz, but that doesn't seem like enough. Comments appreciated.
 
The label on the jug of Slime I bought says 4 to 5 pumps (each pump equals 1 oz) for 26" tires up to 2" in diameter. For larger tires it says 6 to 8. Stan's might be different though.
 
I used 4-5 oz on my 4" fat bike tires. Using Stans, I've had mixed results. Some things like small nails, thorns, staples can be helped with sealant. If you do any biking near or around roads that handle a lot of commercial truck traffic Stans might not help that much for larger debris.
 
hurricane56 said:
I used 4-5 oz on my 4" fat bike tires. Using Stans, I've had mixed results. Some things like small nails, thorns, staples can be helped with sealant. If you do any biking near or around roads that handle a lot of commercial truck traffic Stans might not help that much for larger debris.
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Ok. Thanks.
 
I have been using 1.5scoops/90ml/3oz Stans in 26x2.1 tires for over 10 years. I do add another scoop/60ml/2oz about 6 months later and replace my tubes every year. Never had a flat with this setup.

On my 27.5x2.8 tires I have been using 2 scoops/120ml/4oz for the last 6 months. Never had a flat with this setup.

As others have mentioned, Stans is really best for the smaller type punctures (90% of flats I have ever had are from goatsheads).

When I change tubes every year, the tube is stuck quite well to the tire due to all the punctures that have been sealed. I rode a demo bike for a week (without stans) and got a goatshead flat within 10 miles.
 
Every LBS buddy in the know CRINGES and often refuses to deal with the mess of these products. Nasty stuff. and totally unnecessary. Better tires are the best solution.
 
I dissagree—this product made my commute possible. I use schwalbe tires—27.5x2.8—these are good tires. Flats on theses larger ebike tires with more resilient beads are rediculously difficult to change—a flat is a big deal. With this product I haven’t had a flat in over 3000 miles. Just saying?
 
There are pros and cons to using tire sealant and opinions vary. It can indeed be messy, like changing the oil in your car, if not handled correctly. In my case, the only minor clean up I've had to do is the inside of a tire casing after a puncture flat. It is easily done with paper towels and a little dish soap. A blowout or major tire cut would be a different story but in that case, both the tire and tube would likely be thrown away with little or no cleanup involved.

The only complaint I have with sealant is it can foul your tire inflator and pressure gauge. When necessary, I simply blow out the inflator after use and clean the pressure gauge with a little soapy water.

I suppose it depends on individual preference, the kind of bike and the type of riding you do. Personally, I have saved more time and effort by not changing flats than I have cleaning up sealant spills.
 
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Thomas Jaszewski said:
Every LBS buddy in the know CRINGES and often refuses to deal with the mess of these products. Nasty stuff. and totally unnecessary. Better tires are the best solution.
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I disagree with that. I used Schwalbe Marathon tires and they are pretty much impervious to goat head thorns, which will penetrate just about any other tire. I switched to Compass tubeless tires with Orange Seal sealant and saved two pounds of weight on the bike and have lower rolling resistance and no flats. I was getting flats from thorns on my mountain bike with tube tires like every other ride. Switched to tubeless and get no flats unless I get lazy and the sealant dries up. There's really no mess if you do it right. They now have plug kits so you can plug a tire puncture without talking the tire off the rim of the sealant doesn't work for some reason. Valve cores occasionally plug so you should keep a bunch of spares around, and they can be cleaned as well.

But if you're not getting many flats, there's no reason to go tubeless.
 
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I’m not suggesting it doesn’t work for riders. A poor way of saying be sure to make it clear to any shop. All I’ve used either refuse to deal with the stuff, or tire work is more expensive. Some are a real sticky mess. When I used similar products I didn’t impose on a shop to deal with it. Yeah goat heads are brutal. I totally get your choice. Here in a small MN city I’ve not had a street flat in 10 years.
 
I have two 2016 4" fat tire Radrovers with about +6500 miles between them and work commute all year. Having 5-15 goatheads in my tires after every ride is a normal thing. What I've found out is fat tires are not at the same level of puncture resistance tech compared to thinner plus size or smaller tires. I switched to 120 tpi Vee 8 tires and they are more flat resistant compared to Juggernaut that came with the Rover.

What helps me is the combo of:
- Vee 8 120 tpi tires with 5X more and larger nobby (larger and closer tire nobs to increase the tire thickness against goatheads)
- Mr. Tuffy liner, added thickness and layer of protection before the goathead can reach the tube.
- 26X4 inner tube+spare in my Topeak rack bag. Stans only works for goatheads/thorns size holes. Screws/road debris/glass flats holes are sometimes too large for Stans to seal. These types of flats/tire slits would even knock a tubeless fat tire bike out.
- Two 2-oz small bottles of Stans per tire (4 bottles total per ebike), helps seal goatheads if longer thorns make it past the tire+liner+tube combo. Because of the amount of goatheads, I usually have to add a bottle of Stans to each tire every 2-3 months or you will run out of sealant.

I also keep alcohol handy wipes and paper towels to clean up any sealant if I can repair the flat. Sometimes it is just easier (and faster) to just replace the tube. I sometimes try and fix one big hole and see 5-10 spots on the same tube where fresh sealant plugged smaller holes. I just replace the tube and order another one on Amazon for $12-$15. I've gone from 2-3 flats per month down to 2-3 flats per year. No fun fixing a fat tire flat at 5:30 am in winter halfway between work and home.
 
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