Sunday, May 03, 2009

I am still not seeing the advantage in Stans

During the pro race at Winding Trails this Single Speeder rolled into the pits, hopped off the bike and started working on his front tire.

After quite some time he gave up and threw a tube into tire. You can tell he was using Stans No Tubes by all the white gunk oozing out of the bottom of the tire. What I don't see is that this guy is till carying two tubes for emergencies anyway, like this one.

Glad to see this guy got rolling again!

A couple of weeks ago I was on a Trail Ambassador Training Ride with CT NEMBA when one of the riders on a nice Voodoo Canzo FS 29er who was rolling with Stans lost his seal. I ended up giving him my spare tube so he could continue, otherwise it would have been the dreaded Walk of Shame back to the parking lot.

3 comments:

Adam Roth said...

I have yet to flat with tubeless tires, but I have ridden with friends who have lost a seal from impact or gashed open a sidewall. A CO2 gun will solve the first problem. A spare tube will solve the second. I also add some sealant (about 60cc) when mounting to tire. This will take care of any minor punctures along the way. Occasionally I'll see white blotches on the tire after the ride which means the sealant is doing it's job. Now, some riders will use non-UST tires (for weight savings) and load up on the Stans. For example, my UST Continental Race Kings weigh about 650 grams each. The non-UST supersonic models are around 420 grams. That's a big saving to those weight weenies, but it comes with an increased risk. Even so, I won't go back to riding with tubes. There's a distinct feel to riding tubeless that I won't give up.

Mark said...

That's pretty compelling. Thanks for the insight ... I understand now that Stans does make sense.

CB2 said...

Most Stan's failures are from operator error. People will not re-fill their tires often enough, and there won't be enough Stan's to fix the puncture. Or they won't mix the Stan's properly and not have enough latex fibers in their sealant.
Tire choice is important too. I used to love Kenda Karmas. Wicked light, fast, and way better than you'd think in all but worst conditions. But way too fragile. Maxxis tires have been very reliable tubeless. I run Ignitors, or Crossmarks @ 24#'s