Orange Seal Endurance Tubeless Sealant goes in easy thanks to the handy packaging, keeps tyres sealed, and didn't dry out during the summertime test period. Plus it's made from biodegradable stuff. In tubeless system terms, that's the Holy Grail right there.
Unless you've been buried under a few hundredweight of 21mm latex tubes for the last few years you will have heard of road tubeless tyre systems. What used to be a technology prone to catastrophically messy failures and curse-inducing incompatibilities has matured into a reliable mainstream offering led by the likes of Trek offering complete rim and tyre packages.
Of course in the mountain bike world tubeless has been the way to go for a decade, but the much lower pressures and beefier rims involved made it a much easier game for our knobbly brethren to play. Now as road tyres and rims get fatter and pressures correspondingly lower for better performance, road tubeless is here to stay.
One major sticking point – pun intended – has been sealant. Tubeless systems rely on liquid sealant to maintain an airtight seal betwixt tyre bead and rim, and to plug any holes caused by thorns, glass, fish-hooks or anything else you might roll over.
The quality of the sealant, its longevity and how easy it is to apply are all areas for consideration. Traditionally sealants have been based on latex, which has a natural tendency to dry out and form horrific 'boogers' inside your tyre and on your rim.
A year ago I reviewed the Slime Pro kit and found that the sealant wasn't the best. It didn't dry out like latex did, but there was a tradeoff: because it wasn't latex your tyre needed a butyl liner in its construction, restricting choice. It was also a bit watery on the seal-a-hole side.
Then I tried the Wickens & Soderstrom No.8 but found it didn't handle higher pressures well.
Oranges and Lemons
So clearly there is historic inconsistency and a need to understand what you want from a tubeless sealant: latex-based or not, high-pressure or not, etc etc. I had heard good things regarding the Orange Seal product, but approached the test with a wary eye and a spare tube in the jersey pocket.
The Orange Seal comes in a nifty bottle pack including an applicator tube for Presta valves. This tube screws into the top of the bottle cap so there's no need to open the actual bottle. In the bottle is 237ml or 8oz of sealant, enough for four to eight 700c tyres at 1oz-2oz a pop. There's a black plastic dipstick to measure how much is left in your tyre without breaking the seal. Nifty, but you'll have to remember how high the waterline was when full to get a relative measure.
Once you've removed your valve core (pliers or a valve core tool needed) you push the tube onto the valve, upend the bottle and insert the amount of sealant needed. There's no measuring guide on the bottle which is a missed opportunity, so you'll have to eyeball it.
I was able to install it using the rather fabulous milKit system without clogging the syringe or tubes; a win for checking and topping up the Orange Seal without unseating the tyre.
Under Pressure
Whether your tyres inflate first go using a trackpump is entirely down to which rim/tyre combo you are using and has nothing to do with the sealant. I managed to seat one with a trackpump but needed my Ghetto Blaster for the other. Once up, they stayed up, no hissing or further faff sloshing stuff around.
Over the following two months the tyres stayed up and only needed a bit of topping up with air each week, maybe half what I'd do with butyl tubes. I did notice one valve core getting a little clogged, but this is common to all sealants and you need to have a plan for de-clogging your valves on a regular basis (as covered in the long-term maintenance section of this review)
After two months and for the writing of this review I opened the tyre to see what remained inside. I was very pleasantly surprised to find a considerable amount of liquid sealant present. The Orange Seal claim to 'last 2-3x longer' does seem to bear out.
On The Road Again
I can say with 100% certainty that having ridden on purpose through a good quantity of summertime Hampshire's most obnoxious detritus, I suffered exactly zero punctures. The ageing (2000 miles?) Schwalbe Ones used for the last year's tubeless product reviews kept on trucking, the various repairs made previously held up. Now I'm the first to assert that a singularity of anecdote does not data make, but I did try, dear reader, I did try.
A meta-analysis of the internet's collective wisdom regarding Orange Seal returns pretty much universally favourable results regarding puncture repair capability. Whilst I'm loathe to cite other bike review sites in my own reviews, in this case the absence of a puncture in two months of riding necessitates some context. I shall make a note of returning here in the depths of winter to update on the Orange Seal experience.
Should calamity strike, Orange Seal claim that the Endurance Sealant is good for holes up to 1/4in or 6mm. That's a hefty slash in anyone's money. I would recommend people running tubeless carry the £5 Genuine Innovations Tubeless Tire Repair Kit regardless of sealant used. It's a tiny 3g worth of insurance against all but the worst possible cut.
For the money (refills available for a tenner) the Orange Seal Endurance Sealant is an excellent choice for your tube-free hoops.
Verdict
Orange Seal Endurance Sealant is an excellent choice for your tubeless setup
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road.cc test report
Make and model: Orange Seal Endurance Sealant
Size tested: 8oz w/injector
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
It's a tubeless tyre sealant, for people who need a latex seal but don't want the faff of cleaning out dried boogers or topping up evaporated sealant every month.
Orange Seal say:
Your tubeless wheels will benefit from the use of Orange Seal Tubeless Tire Sealant. It is proven to seal large punctures up to 1/4" and perform under varying temperatures and altitudes. Orange Seal Tubeless Tire Sealant is compatible with most bike tire systems and is eco-friendly.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
NANITES
Orange Seal Cycling Tubeless Tire Sealant consists of multiple sizes and shapes of solid particles or what we call "nanites". When a puncture occurs, the nanites quickly seal the hole keeping the air in the tire and you rolling down the trail or road.
PREMIUM LATEX
Orange Seal Cycling Tubeless Tire Sealant consists of a proprietary premium latex. This latex formula was developed to co-exist with the "nanites" and clot the puncture at warp speed. The mixture has a long life span and is sustainable at extreme altitude and temperatures.
LIGHTWEIGHT
The weight of a bike wheel has a major effect on bike performance. Orange Seal Cycling Tubeless Tire Sealant was developed to be as lightweight as possible. 4oz of sealant adds only 119.6 grams to your wheel.
ECO-FRIENDLY
Orange Seal Cycling Tubeless Tire Sealant contains planet friendly biodegradable ingredients.
PROVEN
Orange Seal Cycling Tubeless Tire Sealant has been proven to seal a 1/4inch tire puncture.
It works. Can't fault it
I think it lost a bit, but hey - they all do.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Very well indeed.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The fact it didn't turn to alien snot.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Nothing, really.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your score
I'd give it 5 starts, but the price at £14.99 for 8oz isn't particularly special. That's all that's holding it back.
About the tester
Age: 43
I usually ride: Merida Ride 5000 Disc My best bike is:
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: A few times a week I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, club rides, general fitness riding, mtb, Dutch bike pootling.
12 comments
Speaking as a lazy bastard this review has convinced me further to keep well away from tubeless until the system gets more human-friendly. This is the first time I've ever read about having to regularly clear blocked valves; that's another job I'm not prepared to do. At least not all the time I can just carry a spare tube and a tiny little pump.
Do I understand you correctly that after testing it for just two months you think you're qualified to say it's long lasting? NoTubes Stan's Sealant which is somewhat of the reference just because it was one of the first sealants when TL tires became kind of a trend will easily stay ready to do its job through 4 or 5 months even in the hottest of British summers when used for something between 10 to 15 hours a week. But no one would call Stan's Sealant long lasting because of this.
I've had a setup of latex sealant go dry after little over two months. It's very dependent on whether you are using air or CO2 (I didn't use any CO2), temperature, humidity, frequency of riding etc etc. As mentioned in the review, my singularity does not data make - therefore I totally accept that other brands might last as long, given similar circumstance. This was not a side-by-side shootout.
All that said, let's play Devil's Advocate and say that the Orange Seal is good for 4 months, tops. So from a £14 bottle, topping up fully three times you're getting a year's worth of flat-free tubeless riding. I'd call that a win.
If you're lazy, tubeless is the way to go. Me, I hate wasting time fixing punctures on the roadside, in the rain and cold, getting filthy. Then repairing tubes later on, rolling them up, etc - such a faff.
I'd much rather set a reminder to spend 30 seconds every other month checking a valve core is clear of rubberized sealant. Plus I don't have to carry a tube if I don't want to.
You might prefer the former
I sure do. Total time spent repairing flats in the last 15 months and 4k miles - 10 minutes. Keep life simple, buy quality tubes and tyres.
No need to worry about limited and high cost tyre range, inflation problems, pouring gloop through a really tiny hole, gloop drying out, gloop clogging valves, having to carry a tube and pump anyway, scraping old gloop out, buying more gloop, but which gloop?
And for what? Converts tell us the comfort is better, the flat protection is better and possibly the rolling resistance drops fractionally. But then converts always extol the virtues of their latest cause. There are actually people out there who can tell solely by feel if a bike has a tapered steerer. Yeah right, of course I believe 'em.
I'd love to see the results of blind tests where cyclists had no idea what they were riding and had to decide which features the bikes possessed, that might be an eye opener.
In the meantime I won't be joining the queue to buy a system that isn't ready for the market, at least not the roadie market.
Try it first and then form an informed opinion.
Tubeless is fit and forget. You can ride all year round on fastest racing tyres with no punctures and at pressure that you actually want to run instead of e.g. stupid 100PSI in order to avoid pinch flats with tubes.
Tubeless combined with wider tyres/rims and MUCH lower pressure offers benefits that you can feel and measure.
If you read reviews of tubeless tyres such as Schwalbe pro-one and s-one the reviewers talk about running at 50psi and still getting Strava PR's. The difference in comfort and grip, plus less flats out riding.
It is a tradeoff: more messing at home setting them up vs. Less messing around out riding with punctures. Punctures in January are just a ball ache, epic acheage.
As a public service, I offer the following rebuttal, based on fact, not supposition.
Given the time to repair one flat including removal, prep, repair and replacement is 10 minutes, I can only read that you have had one flat in 4,000 miles. That says to any regular UK cyclist that you are very, very lucky.
There are a wide range of tubeless tyres available now - Continental are conspicuous in being the only major brand not to have one. They now cost on par with a decent tubed tyre. As always, you can pay lots or not much money.
There are no 'inflation problems' that are not very widely known, acknowledged, and that are easily bested with the right kit if you want the benefits which are ongoing, every turn of the wheel, every ride.
Maintenance is part of every bike. Do you insist on only using a drivetrain you do nothing to for 4,000 miles?
For 'converts' replace with 'science'. The provable science of tubeless - lower rolling resistance, increased comfort, 100% absence of snakebite puncures - are fact. Don't make out that people have to have religion or 'believe' in tubeless. To to contrary, you seem to have an unfounded faith that tubeless is not faster / grippier / less rolling resistance etc. That it is the 'latest cause', implied in a derogatory sense it appears. People assess the available evidence, then decide based on the different maintenance requirements whether to adopt tubeless and reap the benefits. No-one's forcing you to do so. Implying people like myself and others do not understand the technology and cannot make rational decisions based on the evidence and personal experience over thousands of miles / years of riding tubeless is a bit off.
No-one's holding a gun to your head. It is ready for the market, because the market is clearly embracing it.
Re: "I'd love to see the results of blind tests where cyclists had no idea what they were riding and had to decide which features the bikes possessed, that might be an eye opener."
Yes please !!!
As a follow on to
"I'd love to see the results of blind tests where cyclists had no idea what they were riding and had to decide which features the bikes possessed, that might be an eye opener."
Much of what goes to make up the 'feeling' of each bike can be attributed to its wheels & tyres. Many people, at some point, change the wheels that their bike came with........ So could I suggest bikes tests/reviews should include a section where the thing is ridden with a couple of commonly available wheel/tyre sets .......
[/quote]...... Tubeless is fit and forget...... [/quote]
Well BBB, if the review above is your idea of fit-and-forget you must be easily pleased. What about the problems inflating the tyre, sealant drying out, replacing sealant and valves blocking? How can you forget those?
You are right, of course, there are advantages to running tubeless. I've never denied that and to do so would be flying in the face of reality. But the cost in time, money and sheer faffing about isn't worth it for me, or for the huge majority of roadies.
You are right, I've had one flat in the last 15 or 16 months and I can't see how it could possibly be worthwhile swapping to a much more complicated system. The percentage gains in speed, comfort and puncture protection would be tiny but the costs would be significant.
Some day, maybe soon, there will be the breakthrough that changes the game. Maybe the gloop will last the life of the tyre, maybe a liner will replace the gloop, maybe neither of these. And when that happens I will cough up the cash and forge ahead towards the bold new dawn of cycling. But it hasn't happened yet.
Keep believing.
( Incidentally, I have never had a snakebite puncture in over fifty years of pedalling.)