Since I loathe changing tires I always carry a can of Pitstop and an extra C02 cartidge with me. The Can I have now is about a year old, and I have wildflower coming up. Does anyone know if this stuff has a “shelf life”??
I am not sure of the shelf life of the product, but just as importantly I am curious about the success rate of using products like Vittoria Pit Stop or the Hutchinson equivalent. The bike shop folks tell me it works great (in most situations), but I hear a different story from cyclists. What kind of experience are folks having in the field with these products?
I remember reading a really good review of Pitstop by Tom D. on his website (bikesportmichigan, I think). He can proably weigh-in with an informed opinion, too. His review made me buy a can several months ago, but I haven’t had an opportunity to use it yet. I’d be interested in knowing shelf life, too.
It works in MOST cases, for small punctures. Tried it in a training ride last spring; after only 1 minute stop, I was nearly ready to continue riding - but when filling the last psi’s I heard a sound “psssss” and this sticky “gel” were all over my bike and myself.
(The extra spare tube saved me from a long walk).
this year i will be racing with it too… but plan on testing it out first.
reckon it is like all things… best not to have the first use in a racing situation.
I tried two cans a while ago and had no luck getting them to work. I basically ended up wearing the goo inside and then changing the tire the old fashioned way. To me it seemed like they needed an improved tip on the bottle to positively lock onto the stem. I couldn’t imagine trying to use it through a stem extender. My experience was straight into a presta tube.
Dave G & ajo:
by tube, you both are referring to tubular tires and not clincher tubes, right? I ask because I’ve had customers return cans of Pitstop complaining how it didn’t work, only to find that they tried it on standard clincher butyl tubes rather than latex tubular tires. FWIW, the only time I’ve had it fail was once, and that as on a 16 year old Vittoria which failed at the base of the valve stem and not the tread, as I had thought. But then again, I’ve had exactly two flats in the last 11K miles, which is about as long as I’ve been using the stuff. A 50% failure rate is not good, but I was obviously tempting fate with the old tire. I’m not entirely sold on the stuff, either and would really also like to hear real life experiences here.
I thought it worked on both?
It was butyl tubes for clinchers for me. I never saw anyting that indicated only latex. Did I miss something?
Here is Tom’s review.
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/reviews/Vittoria-Pit-Stop.shtml
Here is a roadbikereview thread from January
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=119480
In Vittoria’s marketing materials, it describes the foam as latex, and so that is why I assumed it bonded best with either latex clincher tubes and latex tubulars. And at least in terms of the customers that I have dealt with, that’s been true.
On the other hand, like others, I kind of assumed that this was a tubular-specific product because the value to the clincher rider was not immediately clear. After reading some of these posts, I get it. But that said, I still wonder whether this stuff works best v latex. I have used many similar products over the years (usually marketing to the MTB crowd) on butyl tubes and found them to be essentially worthless. And so even though I’ve been using it for a year with moderate success, I’m still cautiously optimistic that Pit Stop has it’s place. I certainly can see it in events lacking neutral support, and since I ride every day on tubulars, it’s a first line of defense before resorting to a tire replacement.
FWIW: I’ve tried it on my butyl tubes x 2 and it did not work. It just made a mess. I have tubies but I don’t trust it enough to carry it only in a race.
How are most folks carrying this stuff in races? I have been strapping it under the seat but it is not easy to hold it there since it is a cylinder with no handle.
I stored it in my shoe in transition and put it in my back pocket for the ride.
So i take it no one can answer the original question…ie what is the shelf life. Would you trust the stuff after a year of being strapped to the bike?
I just bought a can to carry at CDA so I didnt have to carry a spare tubie. After reading all of this, I may carry the spare after all.
Sorry, I have no idea of the shelf life. I would think as long as it hasnt lost it’s pressure, it should be fine. Can you just try and release a tiny amount to verify it still works?
Please try your can out and report the results to us. I too have a can that is now over a year old.
i gave it a shot this weekend and it leaked. is it any good?
was it “functional” or did too much leak out?