I know a general question has been asked regarding the amount of sealant recommended for gravel tires, but was wondering what people have done for the Dirty Kanza. I dont care about a little extra weight, and would like to avoid as many tube changes as possible. I was planning on using 4oz of sealant (2 stans race, 2 stans regular) in each of my 700x38 tires. Is this overkill? Thanks for any suggestions.
I usually run 3 oz for 40s, but given the high potential for flats, 4 oz seems reasonable. But... why the mix of race vs regular? I'd run solely Race variant, the regular doesn't seem to test out well.
thumper88 wrote:I usually run 3 oz for 40s, but given the high potential for flats, 4 oz seems reasonable. But... why the mix of race vs regular? I'd run solely Race variant, the regular doesn't seem to test out well.
I had emailed Stans support and they had suggested mixing the 2 when i asked what they recommended. I didn't get the reason behind it.
OP, 2 - 2.5 is what I normally run in 36 to 38's and the last rear I wore out had 4 sealed holes in it that went unnoticed to me, tires see rough riding with plenty of pokey things, never flat (knock on wood).....normally I find zero to three sealed holes in the rear when wore out (and about the same on the front with 3-4 times the mileage compared to rears).
IMO 2.5 is enough, 3 is more than plenty, and 4 is overkill in your 38's.
For normal riding, put in 2 to 2.5 oz, and make a little mark on a dipstick to where the level is with your valve at 6 o'clock and check it like you check oil if the bike doesn't see a lot of use. If you use it a lot, the rears typically wear out before you will need to much if any. As others have mentioned, if you can hear it in the tire doing the shake, it's enough. IMO, over the life of a tire more sealent is generally lost when the tires get seated initially, or gets dried out due to lack of use.....than gets lost due to holes......large cuts are different matter.
(Adding, I have no idea why Stans suggested mixing the two.....the old man in me says they get to sell two bottles that way....but who knows. I run orange seal, but stans is fine).
I'm not sure that putting more sealant in the tire will help it to more effectively plug punctures, most of which are pretty small. Just put in the normal amount, which for a 38mm tire is about 2 oz. Any big cut that won't seal with 2 oz probably won't seal with 4 oz, but with more sealant you will have a bigger mess to clean off your frame later.
Thanks guys. My only thought for running more sealant for the dk was it might be helpful if i encountered multiple punctures. I have no first hand idea how bad the flint rocks are, i’ve just been reading how they can shred tires. I never have issues flatting on the gravel roads around my home and normally just run 2 oz in my tires. My tires wear out before they ever puncture.
I'll jump in with a different perspective. Running more than an ounce of sealant in a 38c tire is unnecessary. Despite the manufacturers' claims to the contrary, no sealant will handle casing cuts reliably, if at all. They work great on small punctures from thorns, glass, wire, nails, etc. and those doen't require a lot of sealant, even in the case of multiple punctures. Putting a lot of sealant in a tire just increases the amount of sealant that will spray all over everything in the event of a large cut, without adding any extra flat protection. The only advantage of running more sealant is that you don't have to add it as often.
I've completed the Dk200 twice. ('17 and '18). I've used 36mm Clements and 38mm Panaracer Gravel King SKs. During the race, neither time did I know of a puncture of any kind. I never noticed a decrease in air pressure. Post race, I did notice I had in fact had small punctures that sealed. I used no more than 2.5-3oz of sealant. 1st year Stans Race, 2nd Year Finishline's version. As others have said, I wouldn't add 'extra'.
I use 3oz Orange sealant in a 40mm tire which is 1oz more than Orange suggests.
What I think is more important than what tire, rim, sealant, etc. is how you ride.
I’ve flatted once during 4 DK’s and it wasn’t a sharp flint rock that did it. It was my own fault and I learned a valuable lesson. There are many fast descents on the DK followed by a water or cattle guard crossing near the bottom. So you’re going fast and you hit a big wet rock or square edge of concrete on a cattle guard and cut a tire.
So the key is to not hammer thru water or hit the cattle crossing slabs full bore. Just ease up a bit.
Another little trick. Look up ahead... if you see someone flatted, frequently two or more people, slow down! It wasn’t one piece of sharp flint rock that flatted both of those riders. It was that they were both going fast and hit the same feature too hard.
My only flat was within the first 50 miles of my first DK. It became crystal clear when another rider suffered a flat on the same cattle crossing as I just had.
So while mostly non-sealant related I hope this assists you in being flat free this year.
