On one hand I caught a “snake bite” flat a few weeks ago on the road bike due to one of those metal plates on the street and wished I had tubeless instead of sweating it out on the sidewalk in midtown changing out a tube after a long ride.

On the other hand I tried changing tubeless tires on the cross bike over the weekend and it was unexpectedly messy from the wet sealant and annoying because of the crusted sealant. I have to be doing something wrong.

I must be missing something on clogged valves? I have a straightened paperclip to clear out valves and the sealant syringe dealie. Seems to work okay. I originally had a mtb specific valve set which have a really cool design that minimizes clogs and increased air volume throughput but they didn’t have removable cores which… nope, back to basic Stan’s.

I switched to orange seal about a month and a half ago and it definitely clogs the core more than Stans- It's noticeable, but doesn't prevent me from pumping my tires or cause any actual problems.

I retaped my rims so it could be attributable to that, but I also lose anywhere from 5-10 psi less day to day compared to Stans. Luckily though, I haven't seen it's puncture sealing ability yet but if I do, I'll report back.So far, I've been happy with the change.

Matt do you use the standard or extended life formula? I used extended and haven’t caught a flat yet but it stays liquid for like 4-5mos.

Once I started using Orange Seal, that was that, it just works well.

I'm on the endurance orange seal that lasts longer -- because who remembers to top off ever.

The valves all seem pretty much the same.  Mine are branded Muc-Off. 

I used Squirt initially.  Seemed to need much more than they recommended.  Went through it fast.

Then Stans.  Also went through it relatively quickly, but I think it was from unwise installations.

Now Orange Seal.  Can't report noticing much difference.  

I'm on standard. I also went to ride this morning and noticed that my seatpost had that slimy, sticky texture of sealant. I must have gotten a flat at some point in the past few days and didn't even notice, so +1 for orange seal

Sounds like I'll give Orange Endurance a shot.

@mugwump These are "no-clog" valves I was talking about:  
https://76projects.com/products/hi-flow-no-clog-tubeless-valves

https://reservewheels.com/products/fillmore-tubeless-valves?currency=USD&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Dynamic+Search+%7C+All+Products+%7C+US&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=4724495203&hsa_cam=18196714796&hsa_grp=143493749431&hsa_ad=618925247941&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=dsa-19959388920&hsa_kw=&hsa_mt=&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9MCnBhCYARIsAB1WQVXr5L59KsT5NWR96LBGc6zP8mZnuGNnBwLjW5NDqEDQ8-tNuwRY9e8aAockEALw_wcB

Shimano 105 Mechanical 12 Speed (disc only)
https://youtu.be/SQFRmGeKRJk?si=vxBQeCuarwygsaCd

New Shimano GRX Mechanical 12 Speed
https://youtu.be/TN6Bhmd3bqU?si=SIDRJV4hScij3d--

Greg I have the Fillmore ones and took them off because I thought you couldn’t inject sealant through them. They don’t indicate you can on the packaging so I had no idea you could. Replacing standard pasta ones with these next tire change.

David Yang said:

standard pasta ones

Dave, you can't use penne as a valve...

Autocorrect knows me waaay too well.

So I flatted in Bubblecross. I hit a rock edge too hard on the rear wheel burped and the bead just couldn’t seat itself. I got home (with sealant leaking all over the roof of the car, doh!) and used the airshot which popped the bead into place but the tire didn’t stay on, probably because of the gunked up sealant on the edges and hopefully not because the rim is bent.

I was running 30ish psi on a Ritchey megabite 38mm on dtswiss 460 rims which is 23mm outer and 19mm inner. I regret letting out the extra 5psi just before the start of the race hoping to get a bit more traction on what was looking like a sloppy course. For the record I’ve run the same pressure in Cunningham on this setup and bottomed out and burped a few times, but never flatted.

Tubeless is 1000% worth it especially off-road but when it fails it is annoyingly messy.

@David Yang

While it's not necessarily a cheap alternative, tubular tires still seem like the best CX tire/rim option.  Stronger and lighter rims, you can ride tubeless tubulars as well.  And when you finally put a small hole in the tire, you can add sealant.  

Agree Tubeless are amazing , but to be fair , we have all rolled a tire that’s bolloxed our race , it’s good to remember that all these tire choices have their own pit falls 

Next up on my list: Cushcore

It's kind of like when hardcore turned into grindcore and then everyone had to grow up and get jobs and stuff. Then we all pretended normcore was a thing, but really it was just wearing pleated khakis and like a blue button up with solid colored socks from The Gap.

David Yang said:

Next up on my list: Cushcore

It's kind of like when hardcore turned into grindcore and then everyone had to grow up and get jobs and stuff. Then we all pretended normcore was a thing, but really it was just wearing pleated khakis and like a blue button up with solid colored socks from The Gap.

I thought Cushcore was more relaxed mumblecore.  

@David Yang

If I had to bet, maybe you didn't just burp, but pinch the tire? Hope it was just a burp. 

If you did pinch it (or even if you didn't) replacing the tire (or both) for a real cx tire: challenge limus, baby limus, or donelly PDX will increase your cyclocross prowess dramatically.

Not sure how much you are joking, but I would suggest that cushcore is likely not worth the hassle. As Mark said, ultimately any setup can flat. 

Good luck!

Quite possibly the best bike bags on the market:

https://www.snack.bike/

This seems significant. 

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/shimano-to-recall-680000-ultegra-and-dura-ace-cranksets-due-to-crash-risk/

eloy said:

This seems significant. 

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/shimano-to-recall-680000-ultegra-and-dura-ace-cranksets-due-to-crash-risk/

The specific models affected are the 11-speed compatible Ultegra FC-6800, Dura-Ace FC-9000, Ultegra FC-R8000 and Dura-Ace FC-R9100 chainsets, as well as the FC-R9100P power meter variant. 

I've come across breakage stories about these cranks for the past few years.  Guess Shimano finally realized they were a problem.  

Happened to me last summer at the orchards 

Too much POWAH!

I have a spare left Ultegra FC-6700 crank-arm if anyone wants peace of mind (for free of course). 

Mark Taylor said:

Happened to me last summer at the orchards 

Shimano should clearly pay more attention to Kissena.  

Random Sram disc question. I just went to change my brake pads and couldn't reset the pistons for the life of me. Did some online sleuthing and a suggestion kept popping up of open your bleed port and let a bit of fluid out as DOT fluid can overtime dissolve water and effectively overfill the system.

I opened my rear bleed port and some fluid came out on its own, let a couple drops more out and like magic, I could fit my wheel and the everything was right in the world. Do the same to my front caliper and a lot of fluid came out, but again, like magic, the pistons can now reset and my wheel fits no problem. I went to bed in the new pads (opted for the Swiss Stop D32 RS- stopping power is significantly better than SRAM's standard but they are LOUD) and the piston seem a touch slow to retract after grabbing lots of brake (the classic ping ping ping sound for a second or two after letting go), but nothing too bad.

Does the KCC hive mind think it's time to rebleed too?

Stick a leech on that sucker and let it bleed. Good for what ails it.

Pretty amazing that Shimano sat on this for eleven years...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwwwEc0hHYI

Matt Budofsky said:

Random Sram disc question. I just went to change my brake pads and couldn't reset the pistons for the life of me. Did some online sleuthing and a suggestion kept popping up of open your bleed port and let a bit of fluid out as DOT fluid can overtime dissolve water and effectively overfill the system.

I opened my rear bleed port and some fluid came out on its own, let a couple drops more out and like magic, I could fit my wheel and the everything was right in the world. Do the same to my front caliper and a lot of fluid came out, but again, like magic, the pistons can now reset and my wheel fits no problem. I went to bed in the new pads (opted for the Swiss Stop D32 RS- stopping power is significantly better than SRAM's standard but they are LOUD) and the piston seem a touch slow to retract after grabbing lots of brake (the classic ping ping ping sound for a second or two after letting go), but nothing too bad.

Does the KCC hive mind think it's time to rebleed too?

Yes, re-bleed.

A couple of quick notes that come to mind:

• Generally letting fluid out should make the system less strong, so this suggests it is time, and there's possibly quite a bit of dirt in there
• A little dot grease and alcohol can help clean and lubricate the side of the pistons 
• I too changed my pads to swiss stop, but had the opposite effect, they are actually super cool quiet, but yes, strong.
• If you are planning on doing the bleed yourself, a good bleed kit, with quality syringes makes all easier, as cheap plastic ones can add air (ask me how I know)

I will do everything else on a bike build , but I have never bleed brakes , I watch videos on you tube and just think
” that’s looks way to complex my my head”
am I over estimating the complexities ?