For longer term testing, you may want to try doing this experiment after the tires have had the sealant for a few weeks, and see if there are any problems with particulate settling which could affect the sealant's effectiveness...

We'd love a new version of this for 2020

This is the best presented bike-related test I have ever seen. Very good data and recommendations and I appreciated their methodology. This was very useful to me. Thanks!

Great product review. I appreciate the effort and data compiled. I'm still a HUGE fan of Stans sealant as it's never let me down. Saved my buttocks on a 30mile ride several years back. I recently replaced a tire that was LONG overdue and upon inspection it had 9 mesquite thorns still imbedded throughout the tire.

I wish more video's were this well done. Excellent work, Thanks!

I've been using Finish Line sealant on my brand new 2018 Intense Sniper Trail Expert Build bike for the past two months and have been extremely impressed with the seal it provides on both the beads as well as the goat head thorns that are constantly attacking my tires on my local rides. Just yesterday during one of my rides, I spotted two thorns that I decided to pull out to test the sealant's performance and both of the holes created by the goat heads sealed within seconds, which I was very happy to see.

I've only ever used Stands. It's been good to me over the years. Great Video.

Now this IS a test. Great explanation, very informative. Thank you.

Great video, guys. I found it very helpful. Thanks for sharing!

I would like to see this test for Muc-Off sealant test like this. And updated test for 2021 products.

Thanks for clearing the air, tired of listening to those who say what's the best, you showed me why or why not!

I started out using Stans original, and quickly learned it was a nightmare to clean out. I swap tires depending on the season or location I'm riding. Also I replace tires after 25-40% wear and sell the used tires. Being able to quickly peel the sealant out makes the used tire more appealing to buyers. Orange Seal original makes my life easy. Plus I hate the smell of ammonia.

I've been a stans fan for years. Only the bigger holes need a worm. Thanks for running the test

Thanks Seb for a really useful review.

Just watched the video. I've been using the Finish Line stuff for years. I had no idea it was so much worse. It does dry out and lasts longer than regular Stan's, which I used before. But it does not clog up and form those 'corals' that end up rolling around in the tyre. And being able to just clean the inside of the tyre with water is a huge benefit, in my eyes. I like changing tyres a fair bit and not having to deal with sticky latex residue every time is nice. You do have to put in a lot more than with other sealants to get the inside evenly coated. And even with the recommended amount there is not enough of it in the tyre to form a puddle, which you can move around to try to seal a hole. I used regular Orange Seal once a few years back and it worked very good. It did however seal the valve stems quite effectively as well. I ended up not using it again because it used to be hard to come by locally. A litre of Finish Line sealant is €25,- nowadays. Perfectly acceptable, imo.

Very detailed review. I use Stans Race Sealant. I cycle to work and use my mountain bike also for leisure so I wanted something that would work well. It's probably overkill for my type cycling, but when you get a flat on the way to work it is very annoying. I just wanted to have a hassle free ride. I would never go back to inner tubes, but I will carry one in case I get a large slice in the tyre.

One of my tires has slime and one has Stan's. I had side wall leaks and Stan's seemed to plug those way better than Slime did. I've heard nothing but great things about Orange seal but the reason I didn't try that was the cost compared to Slime and Stan's. Happy to see a video showing a comparison.

I've only used stan's, and it works really well. Sealed up a half cm sidewall crack in less than 1 sec and didn't lose any pressure for the past 2 wks. I love these videos, make more! We need good testings like this.

Really well done, honest review. 👍🏽

Hi, one observation, Stan's sealant is corrosive to aluminium, so if there are any scratches or paint missing inside your rims Stan's will eat them for breakfast, I have lost two rims (both Mavic Crossmax ST) to Stan's. They coroded around the valve hole creating cracks in the inside wall of the rims, expensive lesson! Cafe Latex does not corrode aluminium as there is no ammonia in it (unlike Stan's). Both work well at sealing punctures but if you use aluminium rims Cafe Latex is the better option. Great video, cheers, Peter.

Moral of the story, don't stab your tyres with screwdrivers

I was regularly getting punctures from the thorns on the local trails and probably other sharp things and hard riding here in the UK, sometimes 2 a day and punctures suck the fun out of riding for me. I watched this vid around this time last year and looked at reviews online then I plumped for the regular Stans No Tubes rather than the Race version and haven't had a puncture since, out riding most days, apart from December and January where I rode about 10 days in total. Absolute game changer for me and I can't speak for the other brands, but i'm sticking with the regular Stans as I can just fill up a tyre and forget. Both sets of wheels have been converted to tubeless using Stans. Far better than sliced bread imo and thanks to the reviewer and BikeRadar for doing this test.

I had never even heard of the Caffelatex before I'm going to look at it right now. Thanks.

thanx for all your vids!!! very knowledgeable and ur easy to follow and understand... Keep up the great work brotha.... just side note Latex is water based. U can clean latex paint with just warm water so...Again thanx for the taking time to do these video's!!!!!

Even though this video is 3 years old I appreciate it very much, gives me an idea of what sealant 2 use

We'd love a new version of this for 2021!

Same feeling for that finish line stuff - it's rubbish. Doesn't effectively seal small holes and in my testing didn't manage to even outlast stan's race sealant. Great test as always Seb!

I use orange seal endurance in my 2 mtb bikes. I have had them last up to a year without drying out! That is through a New England summer and winter. I also have had it seal some pretty big holes. I have also tried caffe latex and didnt have good luck with it. Awesome test!

I would really love to see a similar but gravel-centric test. Testing different sealants on thinner tyres at higher pressures (35-50PSI), plus how different sealants work with repair knots (which are often necessary to keep going without slow leaks). Also, even though Doc Blue is made by Stan's, Schwalbe's product has more particles in it.

Just had my first flat tire. I will be using the race seal solution seems very best because I been putting it through alot of stuff. This video helped alot thank you.

Super useful stuff! Thank you.

The caffelatex additive Vitamina Cl improves it even more, can defo recommend.

I've had best luck with the original Orange Seal. I tried the endurance and found it didn't work near as well as the original stuff. I can get six months out of one usage so that's not too bad. Here in Arizona there is no way you can realistically run without some sort of tire sealant because you are bound to get numbers upon numbers of thorns in your tires. My second favorite is Stans.

Thanks. This was handy to know, I've been thinking about going tubeless.

i just bought the caffelatex without watching this video and im glad i did now that i did watch the video. Thanks for the test. going tubeless very soon

Super useful, thank you for the video!

Great video. Thank you. Information much needed...have you ever tested regular slime? I have used it in mowers ATVs and trailer tires...once even used it in an airbag for supporting heavy loads in my pick up truck. Seems very thick in comparison

Good info. Thanks man!

thanx for the awesome reviews

I've been using the finish line stuff in my rear tire, and Stan's in my front. I found, as you did, that the finish line sealant doesn't seal larger punctures very quickly or well. A farmer relative of mine suggested that I water down the finish line, as that's what he does with an agricultural sealant that works on similar principals. I put 1/8 cup of water in my rear tire, and haven't had any problems since.

orange seal is really good!! set my bike up for tubeless 1.5 years ago and i put 250ml per tire and it has held up great!

Thanks ever so much for this informative review.

Seb is the best at bike radar period

I was an early convert to FinishLine sealant and then an early convert back to latex based sealant. Often it just wouldn't seal a hole, or would seal for a short time then leak. The other issue I had was that it would seep under tubeless rim tapes and cause the tape to unstick from the rim. I really wanted to like Finishline, but in the end, I've gone back to Stans.

I’ve used Stan’s and orange seal, the Stan’s did dry out on me, but that was really my fault for not being vigilant on adding more sealant. The orange seal actually sealed a quarter inch slice, just above the bead and stayed sealed for a month! Both have worked well, just be sure to add more every few months!

Thanks for the tests, spent time and the review! Everything cool! +1 and subs))) have fun!

Spot on! My experience is exactly as described in the tests. Stans Race for the win but I have a sealant that performs as well at half the cost.

Very helpful review thank you so much

Damn, glad I saw this. I was about to buy some that new Finish line sealant to try out. Currently using Stans race sealant, it seems to work good and no flats. But it gets so hot here it only lasts about 2-3 months before drying out and need to add more.

Nice controlled test. I used stans and it did what it's supposed to. Have been using orange for a year and it's great also.

Excellent report Seb!! It is difficult for the consumer to sort out quality product from 'snake oil'. This objective study is very helpful! I may stay with standard Stans, as I use large quantities, and encounter a lot of daily small punctures in goat head territory. For larger emergency holes, some combination of tire bacon, CO2 inflator, or dreaded innertube are easy to carry. I wish Stans sold their standard sealant in a larger quantity, half gallon or gallon would be a nice quantity to last me through a calendar year. Perhaps some market research could reveal moving away from 1L towards pack-able convenience ~88ml trail bottles and 2-4L shop bottles with plus sized tires gaining in popularity? I have run out of sealant in my 29x3 bike twice this year, and feel like a monthly charge is more appropriate than the 2-4 months claimed. As a year round bicycle commuter, I'm thinking I need to top off with ~20 ml per 29 x 3 tire every month to keep my ride reliable with my pin cushion-ed tires in goat head territory. I'd love to know if I am accumulating or running dry with my dosage regime. This information would also be useful for the user, if it's not already available. Maybe some form of x-ray/infared vision could help to see the level of the puddle through the tire casing.

I use both Stan's reg and Orange Endurance. Thus far the Orange has been running quite well. I like the ease of the Stan's but i have had problems with any slash or moderate puncture, additionally the seals always seem to break around 20psi. The Orange Endurance on the other hand sealed a hole from a rather large tack. Right now I am leaning towards the Orange Seal.

tanks for your time, i used Stans race and Standar.

I've found that Caffelatex eats tires (it's ammonia-based and is mildly corrosive.) It works pretty well, but it will destroy some of the more supple road tires. I realize this is a mountain bike centric review and that mountain bike tires are much more robust than road tires, so my comments are specific to my use case. In my case, a Compass Extralight 38mm tire had a sidewall blowout after about 1500km and upon inspection I saw that the casing had failed due to near-uniform corrosion from the inside (normally they last 4500km.) My LBS confirms this is a fairly common occurrence with lightweight road tubeless tires. I've tried all the major brands with road tubeless Compass tires (extra light casings) and find that Orange Seal works best.

I'd say go for the best no matter the cost. Compared to the cost of our bikes and gear, the most expensive sealant is peanuts haha

I wonder if the variable of the wheel contacting the ground helps compress the sealant in the hole to provide better seals. Maybe just spinning it in the air causes the sealant to continue to blow out? But then again the seal could get damaged when riding so maybe the results would be worse.

Appreciate the time and effort put into this test. Since the Doc Blue is made by Stan's, I wonder if (other than honourable mention for being the same as Stan's regular sealant) having another option in there like the Bontrager sealant would have been a better choice.

When I used coffeelatex it dried up really quickly and was really hard to clean out of the tire

Seb, you must wear some kind of protective eye wear for something like this bud. Really found it informative though.

Well, I am riding tubeless since 2014. For these 6 years I was on Stans original sealant, 90ml per 29x2.25 Schwalbe tire front and rear. It worked flawlessly for all that time. And just after 2 seasons I've added 30ml more per wheel and here you go - another 2 years of trouble free riding. But in the beginning of this season I cut my rear tire badly (about 5cm long cut from tread to sidewall) and bought new tire. But bike-shop didn't have Stans in stock, only Hutchison was available. The difference was like night and day! While Stans, original not even race one, had sealed new tires in about 15 to 30 seconds (Schwalbe's Lite Skin has billions of little holes evenly distributed withing the whole surface of the new tire, yeah, yeah, I know, but the tire weight is 515g), 120ml per tire of that Hutchison milk-shit hadn't manage to do it for 4 days. I've experienced complete flats 6 times and only on day 5, after adding another 30ml it eventually sealed all those tiny holes. So now for me - Stans forever!

Have you tried the Magic Milk Hi Fiber? I have been using it for a couple of months and it seems to perform well.

I’ve used Orange seal, stans, stans race and the effettoo sealant. The orange seal has been the best by far! Has lasted for ages, in fact it hasn’t ever dried up and seals brilliantly! Stans race is better than the std sealant but didn’t seal as well as orange seal. The effetto sealant drys up very quickly and you can’t get the remains off the inside of the tyre so I’ve had to throw tyres away because of this. Orange seal all the way!!!!

I am very happy with the Caffelatex, which plugs small holes instantly. Compared to Stan's, it is much easier to clean out. Usually I clean the wheels and renews the sealant at start of season (mid/late April in Norway), and ride the whole summer without changing or topping up. Last year (2023) I tested the Mariposo Vegetalex, which is a latex free sealant. It did not work at all for an old < 1mm hole in my tire which the Caffelatex sealed instantly. So returned to shop and got a new bottle of Caffelatex instead (239 NOK, or 20 pounds for one litre)

I had 5 flats on my racerking 2.2 and i wanted to make a bullet proof tire so i cutted the side walls of the tire and kept only the knobs surface ..then i glued it (knobs facing up) in the interior of a Kenda Kinetics,i knew that i wouldn t find a tire thick like that so i made it myself,i love it!

Thank you for this test! I agree Stans Race Sealant, don't settle for anything else. Been using Stans since I started using Tubeless. No flats for 4 years, except for 3 wheel failures!

i've been using caffelatex and i can't say i found it so good (tested with RocketRons EVO and RaceKings) and it lasts only a couple of months in the tire. In case of RoRos i had to pump them quite often on that sealant on RK it didn't hold the puncture - and i don't know whether it was already dry or it was simply too big hole. I am now using some other sealant and i see it performs better.

Well done and fair to each product

Just about to go road tubeless and this was great info. I wonder if the pressure differences in road tubeless will change any of these results though and for the other sealants not tested in this as well.

HI, Seb. I'm from the Philippines and am wondering which tire sealant (hopefully Stan's sealants), how about running tubeless tires (for comparison on Maxxis & Schwalbe) on a DYNO (for cars) @ 30PSI & see how long it can hold on. If Stan's hold on the longest, then I DEFINITELY will use what you recommend. Thanks!

My strategy: 1) Use a lightweight pinch flat protector like Huck Norris or cSixx Foamo to minimise rim strikes and tire damage 2) Always carry a Maxalami or similar product that can quickly be applied from outside 3) Always carry a 60ml milk bottle if the tire bleeds out before you're even able to apply the Maxlami 4) Use a milk that is reliable at sealing small holes and that lasts long (won't dry up like Orange) Stans Race sealant may be able to seal bigger holes but has the huge drawback that it cannot be injected through the valve which is very important if the tire bleeds out

I have been using Continental REVO sealant, so far so good

Nice video!) I can confirm what you ve said there. Stans Race sealant is from my exp. the best out there!

We'd love a new version of this for 2021

I bought my bike used and it had already been converted to tubeless using Stans kits. So far I've had 0 problems, and I swapped out my rear tire for a better DH tire and also used Stan's when putting that on. I do notice that I have to add air to my front tire every few weeks, which I'm thinking I need to add some more sealant. I haven't noticed any holes and I run 35psi in the front and 30psi in the rear. The bike is a 2015 Kona Lava Dome 29er hardtail. I weigh 250ish lbs. Should I up my pressures to 40 in both tires and see if that helps with them holding air? Or should I dump some more sealant in and go back to the pressures I am currently running? I ride single track, but I also pull my daughter around town in her cart around town a lot. Any suggestions? Sorry for the movel of a comment.....

For the next review, I can only recommend to try out Monkey Sauce. It just came out before the summer, and it's a whole new world. From what I understand, they found out other sealants are mainly composed of ... water (sealants producers are probably laughing all the way to the bank). Monkey Sauce simply pumped up the active ingredients, such as Latex. I've been testing it since it came out, and I don't get flat anymore. For a little bit of context, I ride in Vallnord, Andorra. We eat rocks and roots for breakfast. Those rocks are sharp, loving to cut your tires.

Have tried Caffelatex, Stans, and the Winter version of Orange Seal. The last one is still untested (knock on wood, no one wants a flat on a fatbike at -20). The sealant did weep quite a bit on the huge 'Beist 45NRTH tires, but they have held air since March at around 5 psi. For what is worth, Caffelatex has sealed all the holes in CX/Gravel tires I've made, and have sealed hard-to-seat tires on tubeless rims when Stan's was having a hard time (ironically, a Stans tubeless road rim with a Hutchinson tire). Maybe it is because it's supposed to froth when spun around? I would certainly buy that sealant again.

I have been using Continental's Revo sealant for at least 3 years, purchased in a 1 liter bottle for just over $20 shipped. It works very well, although I have not actually had the misfortune of trying to seal a large hole yet. I always put in an oz or 2 more than recommended, just to be sure, and to allow for it drying up. I ride in Phoenix for 4+ months, Chattanooga for 2 months, and Ontario near Lake Superior for the rest of the year, plus Gallup NM for a couple of rides per year. All 3 places have plenty of sharp rocks and I and my buddies who all use the Revo as well have yet to have a problem it cannot solve. Additionally, when it comes time to replace a tire the old sealant cleans up pretty easily. I should say I think it is very important to be meticulous in cleaning the old sealant off the wheel when mounting the next tire, particularly where the bead seats. And by that I mean remove all traces of the old sealant. If you are re-using the old tire (for whatever reason) clean its bead as meticulously as you can so the tire fits against the wheel's bead properly.

The glycol based stuff is what is used in off-road vehicles, particularly mining and excavation trucks where pressures are much, much higher and temperatures can go to 100c+. The extra viscosity isn't a problem as the high pressure differential can overcome it and plug a leak. I guess MTB pressures are no way near high enough.

very good review!

Another question is feel and cleanup. Stans is rather sticky/slimy to deal with and can stain wheels. Orange seal cleans up nicely, evenly coats the tire and leaves an extra layer to tire that you can peal out. Haven't messed with the others but all round performance and mess I choose original Orange seal.

Would you also do this test on roadbike tires to see if the difference in pressure and volume may make a difference in the sealant?

Normal Stans is the Bomb, I have not tried or seen Muc off in shops here in SA.

Being from Canada, the claim to be effective down to minus 23 celcius is an appreciable feature for the Finish Line.

2021 I use stans, but it doesn’t seal punctures on my xc bike with xc tires very good, and I have to replace the sealant pretty often. What sealants are good right now?

I only use maximum protection and Stan's race is the best stuff. I set up my old xc bike today with it. I had a cracked rim and I only noticed it today because I removed the tubes. Well, guess how long Stan's needed? 2 revs. The race mix never failed me. The normal or doc blue stuff is to weak . I used the race mixture for one tire at least for 4 months because I had injury and it still was liquid.

Nice review. Nice looking reviewer too.

I've had great success with the E13 Tyre Plasma, much better than Stan's Race Sealant in my experience. I think part of a good sealant is coating the inside of the tyre and your test doesn't give time for that to occur. The inner coating helps the still liquid sealant adhere and plug holes. I also find it lasts the life of most of my rear tyres at least.

Hi, Thanks for an interesting video but you need to test sealants at temperature. I recently converted to tubeless and had Stans in my tyres until they both deflated on a hot day with my bike leant up on a coffee stop. Since then I've moved to Orange and had no problems. How about a test on maximum and minimum temperature usage for sealants? Also what about a video on the affects of CO2 on sealant and sealants that are ok with it being used?

I have a bottle of regular stan's and a bottle of caffelatex. Should I finish the Stan's first on my road bike or go straight to caffelatex? I use my road bike for quite a long (2x42km) commute and need reliability so I arrive on time

Cafe latex working really well for me, no ruined rides and doesn't dry out too quickly

I've returned from the Alps recently and on the rear I had the Hans Dampf EVO PaceStar and Doc Blue sealant. I have counted that I accumulated a bit over 20 punctures on the rear tire by the last day of vacation and every one of them sealed without me even noticing any air loss during the ride...It was just full of sealant stains and noticable small punctures all over the thread ... p.s. And in Germany, the Schwalbe sealant is actually quite cheaper. Having said that, on my Continental tires, it simply doesn't make a seal in the first place, those tires work good with the Continental Revo sealant in my experience and one should stick to the recommended method from Continental. Although, the 2018 tires are way easier to seal... So, i think it also depends on the tires...

Did you guys test the Slime tubeless sealant before in a different video?

Dang, I had high hopes for the finish line product

Great video Caffelatex is my pick

how long should it last in the bottle???...the race selant that i had, was totaly sticky webby and creamy after 5 mounth...when i wanted to fill up the summer tires

Nice video mate! Just a few quick questions (if anyone knows) 1. Currently I have a tubeless setup and I'm using a sealant from a different brand (Schwalbe Doc Blue). Can I just top up with Stan's NoTubes RACE sealant after a few months? or do I need to first remove the tire, clean it completely and then use Stan's? 2. Stan's claims that their RACE sealant (which you use in the video) may not be injected through the valve since it is very likely to clog it. Can you confirm that, or do you disagree with this statement. 3. Do you prefer Stan's RACE sealant over Stan's regular TIRE sealant for long distance bike travelling and adventure cycling? many thanks for your reply. Cheers from The Netherlands!

I've been using orange seal on my mtbs for a few years no problem. Road tubeless I've had three terminal punctures and a friend two terminal punctures with orange seal. Whilst I used endurance my mate used standard and it dried out incredibly quickly. My experience is one possible puncture may be due to being too cold to seal and twice it would seal but couldn't hold a rideable pressure. I think the test would be more interesting with a range of tyre widths, tyre pressures and let's be honest there isn't really a road specific sealant so we try to use the same sealant on all our tubeless systems so it maybe worth throwing road tubeless in the mix.

I switched to FinishLine sealanr and it has been proven to be the best Ive ever used. It doesnt dry inside the tire like other sealants and it seals instantly. I have an wheel hanging in my garage i set up with it to test it out by punching holes in the tire and it still seals 5 months later. I used CO2 cartridges to seat the tire on the bead and had no problems at all. Its expensive but they claim will last the life of the tire. I was able to set up 8 tires with the large bottle so all my bikes are set up with FinishLine. Wont use anything else.

I live in the Southwest deserts of the United States. The main concern out here are the sidewall punctures from cacti and sharp rocks. I have been using Stan's (regular) and the overall experience good. When it comes to certain sidewall punctures, you're either putting in a tube or use those plugs if the hole is not to bad. With the plugs, Stan's works great and i recently got a very odd cut on my tire that would not seal with Stan's. I think Stan's is actually very good and again, like the video says, some real world flats can't be solved by any sealant for sure. Great review! Perhaps I missed it, but how about that 'Slime', the glow-in-the dark one? Anyone recommends it? Thank you!

You guys should test Muc Off No Puncture Hassle Tubeless Sealant. I hear it's one of the best, too.