Even though I test loads of tubeless tyres, sealants and wheels on my own road bikes, I haven't bothered to make the change myself purely because I get very few punctures – maybe a couple every 10,000 miles – mainly down to the fact that I'm not bothered about running lower pressures for comfort. Fewer potential punctures. With no inner tube inside the tire you eliminate one type of puncture that even sealants can’t handle: pinch flats. These are a complete non-issue with tubeless tires. The water-soluble nature of the Inner Tube sealant requires more to be added to the tube than you would Muc-Off's tubeless sealant – about 90ml for a 700C tyre rather than 40ish, which obviously adds a bit of weight. Minimal upfront cost. Both Slime and Muc Off make excellent quality sealants, and a small bottle is comparable to the price of a new inner tube. Having a flat tire is part of riding a bike, but as much as it’s part of the activity, a flat tire can ruin your ride in record time. Thankfully, there are a few ways to prevent flats, one of which is using sealant. Let’s find out whether putting sealant in your inner tube will help you prevent flats and help you ride worry-free.

However, if you are using Presta valves then that will be your first hurdle when it comes to installing it, as the bottle and kit are designed primarily for Schrader (car type) valves. More comfort. As you don’t need to be worried about pinch flats, you can run your tires at lower pressures, which enhances your riding comfort and your grip because it increases your tire’s footprint. There is a workaround though. That little nut that you screw over the valve right up to the rim... well, if you unscrew that towards the bottom of the valve, you can butt the tube up against that and you will spill very little. Not ideal, but it's doable. Tires with Schrader valves all have removable cores, so putting sealant in them is very simple. All you need is a core remover, which is built into some sealants.There are some punctures that the sealant can’t handle, specifically those on the side of the tube and those on the tread area that exceed 3 mm in size. The main convenience of having a tubed tire with sealant is that of not having to stop for every single small puncture, but only for nasty large ones. Things can sometimes get messy. If you are ever in a situation where you need to repair the tire tube or the tire tread, you will likely end up getting your hands pretty dirty with all the sealant.

Don’t take chances. Just because you have puncture resistant tires and sealant in your inner tubes it doesn’t mean that you will get no flats. If you see thorns or sharp objects you should still avoid running over them.You can put tire sealant in bike inner tubes to fix or prevent punctures on the tread area smaller than 3mm, but it will not prevent pinch flats or punctures bigger than 3mm. For best results, use tube-specific sealant. The sealant will plug small holes and prevent them from becoming large punctures. As long as you have inner tubes with removable valve cores you can fill them up with this Muc-Off stuff. Nothing is completely failure-proof, and your sealant is not like a wild card that gets you out of every bad situation. During the winter, though, it's nice to have a bit of reassurance that you aren't going to find yourself on a wet, cold, dark country lane swapping over a tube. To prevent pinch flats from occurring, you need to run your tires at sufficiently high pressures, and if the road conditions are really hostile, you should consider using wider tires if possible. With a greater surface area, these tires are less likely to be impacted by sharp stones and potholes. How Long Does The Sealant Last In The Tube?

Less protection. The inner tube is the weakest link in the chain (tire, tube and sealant), as it’s quite vulnerable and some punctures can’t be handled by the sealant as they are too big.Run your tires at higher pressure. Since sealants are not meant to deal with snake bites, you should pay special attention to running your tires at sufficiently high pressures. Low pressure increases your chances of getting pinch flats and punctures outside the tread area of the tire. Overall, the ability of Muc-Off Inner Tube Sealant to seal the typical sizes of punctures you get on the road is impressive, giving you many of the benefits of tubeless without the cost of getting everything set up. Verdict Use a tire with puncture protection. Although the sealant is designed to fix slow punctures, you should strive to minimize the chances of getting a puncture in the first place.