Back in 2004, so even longer ago that the start of this thread I ultrasealed the Bonnevilles tyres as two up with soft luggage (waiting for the rack to be made) we were short of space. I put the gloop in on the Thursdays night and on the next Tuesday we were less than a thousand miles away getting a puncture fixed

The good bit: The nail had made about a dozen pin ***** holes that the goo had sealed.

The bad bit: The nail, working in the tyre then managed to hit the seam of the tube and make a V-shaped cut resulting in a complete loss of air.

We came out of the Bayeaux Tapestry to find a very sad looking bike sat on the rim. In France this was no problem, a mad Polish tyre fitter gave me a choice of a new tube (Branded or Chinese Sir?) or a patch via some pretty crude sign language while his chain smoking Gallic boss made us coffee and chatted up my wife. We were back on the road in an hour for under twenty quid. This proves:

a) France is more civilised than the UK.
b) Ultraseal mostly contained, only causes repair issues to lazy cockney rip off merchants (like a certain Surbiton Honda dealer of my experience) who'll give you the old "Nah mite, the 'ole tyres ****ed" routine followed by "Sorry Mite, can't even touch it fer a week, it's them black rahnd tyres, can't get 'em for love or loads-a-money".
c) Ultraseal can work but at some point the dam breaks. Imagine if the V-cut had opened up at auto-route speeds .

IMHO, if you use the gloop put it in only after you find and remove the cause of the puncture. If you can carry and use a patch/plug kit (Which I do now the luggage is sorted), that's still a better solution.

Edit to add: My whole pack of long distance tyre stuff (Tubes, levers, patch kit, compressor) can't actually be much bigger than the bottle of gunge. I image a leaking bottle of Ultrasteal would ruin your day?

Andy

I've changed my opinion in this stuff...I used it in South America in tubes and didn't get ONE puncture. I was convinced it was this stuff.

The manufactureres say you can use it in inner tubes.... Well you can !

But.. From using it in Africa I found It will only stop the TINIEST of punctures (and then only slow them down)

In larger punctures (nails, snakebites etc) , the sealant will seep out and coat the whole tube and tyre in sealant which makes roadside repairs almost impossible. No patch will stick to that mess.

The contamination by the sealant prevented it from sealing completely. You can't put pressure on the patch without the remaining sealant getting in the repair and seeping out and ruining the vulcanisation of the patch.

Thank god I had a spare tuble.

So...Once that sealant is inside your tube, it's there for good...

Once it's in there, you will have a lot of trouble patching any punctures.. If you can at all !

Complete waste of money IMO. Just take spare tubes and plenty of patches and glue.. If you have 2-3 tubes of tyre glue you still haven't got enough


I can't commment on tubeless...

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Snakebites....
snakes can figure out the difference between a dead tryre and a warm human!

Ultraseal tips
You can use it in inner tubes- the centrifugal force of the wheel spinning ensures a smooth coating- go for a short ride as soon as you have put the right amount in-
It remains 'liquid' in the tyre so you might get a strange feeling a short distance until the wheel has spun round a bit and evenly coat the tube again (or tyre)

It is 'washable' as in it is a myth that tyre repairers wont touch your tyres when ultrasealed- If they say that then just find water and wash out the tyre which can then be plugged (for tubeless) or vulcanised.

For tubed tyres, trick is to hold the hole at the top and 'squeeze' the ultreasel down so that it doesn't seep out. Wash top of tube, dry, sand down a bit then do your usual patch work AND ALLOW GLUE TO DRY PROPERLY.
common mistake is to try to refit same tube and ride off when the glue has not had time to bond.
Use your new tube, make a proper repair and allow to dry while you sleep.

Ted's right as to carry spare tubes of lotsa glue and few spares anyways.

I wasn't sure if you're joking or not ! Snake bites are a type of puncture causes by rim pinching but i'm sure you knew that !! lol

I cleaned and cleaned the inner tube but the film would still interfer with the patches..

The stuff is impossible to remove. It gets everywhere and as soon as you think you've cleaned the area, another lot will ooze out of the hole.

I threw the tube away in the end. A brand new £25 heavy duty tube too

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

The only tubes I had with Ultraseal got binned. The rear in France as described, the front I changed out with the next tyre and put in the bag as my spare. It started oozing gloop in the bag, so I bought another and thought I'd cut up the gloopy one for bungee connectors/storage etc. Having cut it open I ran it under a tap and tried cleaning with white spirit. This stuff does not shift, it went in the bin. I can't see how you'd clean it enough to take a patch at the roadside.

I am also struggling to follow the logic here. If I'm carrying spare tubes (or a plug kit), a compressor and tyre levers, which I know how to use on the tyres I fitted myself with lots of soap, on the basis that some Python might be in the mood for a 17-inch Metzler and the gloop only deals with Adders, why would I even bother with the goo? Surely I just feed Hissing Sid some passing sheep, change the tube and look forward to patching the spare over a cold one on the campsite later?

Andy

Assume that Ultraseal is a synonym for green "Slime": I used it in the tubes on my 400cc dirtbike. Had a puncture on the front (snake bite: very poetic btw TWB ) and all it did was make a mess. A big mess. On the side of the trail I put a spare tube in and binned the Slimed/punctured tube. Now I run mooses in the dirtbike and carry spare tubes/patches/pump/compressor in the more road-oriented bikes.
cheers
Chris

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TBS.com

I use the real Ultraseal product (colour is sort of blue- slime I think is bright green) and know this to really be water soluble-
Seems that Chris is right as what Ted may have used could be bright green 'Slime' which is horrible (IMHO)

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