Review: OKO Tyre Sealant and Tubes

Tyre sealant always brings an interesting debate among cyclists; some love it, some not so much. In my mind, if it helps to overcome punctures, it is a welcome addition to any tyre on a training or commuting bike, where a bit of weight addition is no bad thing. 

In addition, for mountain bikers, tubeless tyres are making a real impact. I run tubeless on my Whippet and it is such a great set-up; eliminating pinch flats, and pretty much eliminating normal punctures too. One of the keys to a good tubeless set-up is the sealant. 

OKO know a thing or two about tyre sealant; in fact they were the inventors of tyre sealant way back in 1978. In the last couple of years they have made a push into the bicycle segment and with some great new products. Most people that run sealant in their tyres have heard of Stan's or Slime; OKO has advantages over both of these that I discuss below. I've had the OKO Puncture-Free and X-treme Sealants on test on all four of my bikes over the last month, they're performing well...

OKO sealant can be applied to almost any tyre set-up; it comes in a variety of bottle sizes, these can be used to dispense sealant directly into tubeless systems. It also comes in pre-filled inner tubes for mountain bike sizes; additionally there's a patented syringe that you can purchase that screws onto the valve so you can apply the sealant to any Schrader or screw-out Presta valve tube (which is how I applied the sealant into my road bike tubes).  

Puncture-Free is designed to be an all purpose sealant; cheaper than Slime and just as effective. I've been using Puncture-Free in both the pre-filled tubes on my commuter bike and on my training road bike wheel-sets through the use of the syringe injector. To ensure that I gave it a good test I put an old worn out set of tyres on one wheelset, tyres that I would be bound to get a puncture with. I didn't. Enough said.

The X-treme Sealant is designed for cross-country and downhill mountain biking; applied to tubed set-ups it is designed to be especially resilient to snake-bite slit punctures, which is an impressive claim for a sealant. I must admit that I haven't tested this context of the sealant as my mountain bike runs a tubeless system. However, in the tubeless system it is highly effective (no punctures at all despite running over glass and many many thorns). 

The X-treme Sealant (along with Puncture-Free) have the great virtue that unlike latex based sealants (such as Stan's), they are not latex based but rather water soluble. The result is that firstly they are a lot cleaner and easier to wash out of a tyre, they also don't damage your rims. More importantly in my mind though, they don't dry out! That means no more latex balls inside your tubeless system; the sealant really is a fit-and-forget solution. Admittedly after a month of testing I cannot fully confirm this non-solidifying quality, but certainly this sealant is a lot more pleasant to handle than latex ones, and it is clear that it is a water-soluble solution.

People may complain that sealant adds weight, and affects the feel of the bike; that may be the case in some scenarios, but on a training bike, commuting bike or even a race bike sealant has many virtues. A puncture can ruin a ride, a commute, and can certainly ruin a race; the OKO sealant works effectively at eliminating punctures in all the formats that I have used it throughout the test period. You can't ask for much better than that.

OKO sealant is available from select distributors, which can be found at OKO.com


Comments

  1. Really interesting article and review of OKO. We currently sell it as part of our business, but have found it hard to find credible reviews on the product.

    Thanks very much.

    Leanne @ LA Distribution
    www.ladautoblog.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi

    Did you test this stuff with TL-Ready tyres or UST tyres? Just wondering as the oko site recommends OKO Magic Milk for TL Ready which is latex based: (text copied from oko site)

    "WORKS WITH INNER TUBES and FULL UST TUBELESS WHEELS/TYRES, with Schräder or removable-type Presta valves.

    (For 'Tubeless Ready' tyres, use a rubber rim strip and OKO Magic Milk, which is the best sealant to seal the bead/rim gaps)."

    I would like to use the non latex one on TL-Ready tyres as I am tired of "latex balls" But if the latex free one does not work with TL-Ready tyres then i guess ill stick to what I use now.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi there, I used it with UST tyres, I have also tried Magic Milk and would use that in preference for tubeless to be honest. This standard sealant it a little on the thick side to cover the whole tyre effectively.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "in the tubeless system it is highly effective (no punctures at all despite running over glass and many many thorns"
    I don't believe a sealant can prevent punctures, mearly it seals them up when they occur. No doubt, many other factors will determin how likely you are to puncture, such as tyre, rim, pressure, terrain, surface and so on.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The blog was absolutely fantastic! Lot of great information which can be helpful in some or the other way. Keep updating the blog, looking forward for more contents...Great job, keep it up..tubeless road wheels

    ReplyDelete

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