Flat Free Tire Sealant: Tested
Flat Free sent us some samples of the product to test and review for the site.
Here’s some info on the product:
Flat Free is a chemical solution tire sealant that when installed inside a tire, will provide full time protection against air loss for the entire life of a tire!
Flat Free is designed to seal
* tread punctures
* bead leaks
* rim leaks
* porosity
* tube, tire or wheel-related leaksFlat Free has a revolutionary chemical structure that causes this tire enhancer to continuously remain fluid so that it will immediately fill and seal any hole (up to 1/4″) in the tread area where air can escape from the tire.
Because of this, Flat Free tire life enhancer gives you the benefit of much longer tire life coupled with less downtime and lower maintenance costs. Additionally, you will receive savings from maintaining proper air pressure.
Just to give you some background on the test conducted. We took mountain bike tire, pumped it up to 40lbs of pressure, used a bed of 5 nails to run over. If you watch the video you’ll see what happens.
Though on the end of the last test, the tire seemed to have sealed itself with Flat Free. But the next morning I followed up to see if the tube still had air, and unfortunately it was flat. Based on our tests, I cannot recommend Flat Free to our readers.
Yup, yup.. thats why I stick with Stans No tube system. The awesome guys of Evomo told me about it. Took me about 5-10 mins per tire to set up and then I haven’t worried about anything since. They have videos of how you install it and the tests they they do. Pretty interesting to watch.
Costs approx $60 if you buy through the web site. That covers both tires plus a ton of sealant left over.
http://www.notubes.com/home.php
might be interesting to try it on a tubless set up. I too run stans, but in a tubless readyset up, mavic 819 rims and UST tires. does a good job of sealing the beads and small punctures (very evident with my nevagal UST tires) but the issue i have with stans is that it eventually balls up and you need to add more, hopefully you figure this out before you have a puncture that requires it. Ive used some other non-latex based sealants that have stayed liquid, done ok with the beads but were about useless with any kind of punctures.
Thanks for the heads up about the balling up thing. I’m actully trying this system out with a non-tubless tire just to see how it works. So far so good. Plus many tubeless tires seem to be much heavier than non-tubeless tires.
Jay…I’ve been interested in that Stan’s no tubes system for a while(for non-tubeless tires). Let us know how it goes for you. Is the weight difference without tubes noticeable?
with regards to the balling up issue, the time it takes is dependant on a few different things mainly heat and humidity, the higher they are, the shorter the time stans remains active. If you are really counting on the stuff I would give a check about every month and before any big ride/race. The UST tires are definitely heavier, mainly due to heavier sidewalls but with all the Pennsylvania rock we have to deal with, its a good trade off back here in the east. Theres a few manufacturers, Specialized being one of them, that are making “tubless ready” tires, sort of half way between full on UST and a std tubed tire. Havent tried them yet, but have heard some good reports from others.
Lance,
I weighed the wheels before w/ the tubes and then after with no tubes and the Stans No-tube solution. There was a 1/2 pound difference (lighter) in each wheel with the Stans No-tube set up. So far I love them and I have had no problems. According to Stans No tube web site they recommend that you use certain tires. The tires I have now are actually are not on their recommended list, but are still working good. Looking to buy a set of Kenda’s for my next tires. (which is on their list)
Kevin,
Yeah I bought some extra solution and also a tool for adding more solution if needed. Id be interested in checking out those tires ou are talking about. Where in PA are you? I’m about 45 mins north west of Philly.