Tires & Tubes Do sealants cause tire imbalance?

[addertooth]

I just got through putting 8 oz of "Flat Out" tire sealant in each of my 26 X 4 tires (the recommended amount).
I noticed a bit of tire-hop imbalance after doing this.
At first, I was hoping my bead had re-seated improperly; the rear tire did need an "adjustment".
After bleeding off the air in the rear, and re-seating the bead, my physical "out of roundness" was addressed, but,
I still have some imbalance in both the tires as they were spun while the bike was leaned on the kickstand.

It was not like this before, at least, not to this degree.
Is this something which will sort itself out by riding a few miles, or is the unspoken cost of using sealant?
Where I live (out away from people's yards), the most common "ground cover plant" is the dreaded Goathead.
Getting two flats in one week was enough to make me order some sealant.

As a sidenote, I am surprised by how thin the carcass is on these 26 X 4 tires. It doesn't take a very long thorn to reach the tube.
This bike is used as a street commuter bike and sees very little time off the asphalt surface.

 

[DieselTech]

I just got through putting 8 oz of "Flat Out" tire sealant in each of my 26 X 4 tires (the recommended amount).
I noticed a bit of tire-hop imbalance after doing this.
At first, I was hoping my bead had re-seated improperly; the rear tire did need an "adjustment".
After bleeding off the air in the rear, and re-seating the bead, my physical "out of roundness" was addressed, but,
I still have some imbalance in both the tires as they were spun while the bike was leaned on the kickstand.

It was not like this before, at least, not to this degree.
Is this something which will sort itself out by riding a few miles, or is the unspoken cost of using sealant?
Where I live (out away from people's yards), the most common "ground cover plant" is the dreaded Goathead.
Getting two flats in one week was enough to make me order some sealant.

As a sidenote, I am surprised by how thin the carcass is on these 26 X 4 tires. It doesn't take a very long thorn to reach the tube.
This bike is used as a street commuter bike and sees very little time off the asphalt surface.

Take the big honking orange reflectors off of the wheels. That's what was causing my wheel hop/bounce.

 

[addertooth]

Take the big honking orange reflectors off of the wheels. That's what was causing my wheel hop/bounce.

Yes, I did that early on, and added spoke reflectors by 3m.
I noticed those bulky orange reflectors created a problem.

 

[DieselTech]

Yes, I did that early on, and added spoke reflectors by 3m.
I noticed those bulky orange reflectors created a problem.
View attachment 11929

Ok I noticed that when I put the flat out in my tires it aggravated the reflectors weight. So I removed mine.

 

[biknut]

Yes and no. I never notice it. I use about 12 oz of slime in each tire. 24x3 tire. most of the slime will collect at the lowest point when it's stationary, but after the wheel starts turning it self balances. Most eBikes aren't fast enough to notice an out of balance wheel anyway. Because I never get flats anymore overrides any side effects.

 

[n0kin0bu]

I just got through putting 8 oz of "Flat Out" tire sealant in each of my 26 X 4 tires (the recommended amount).
I noticed a bit of tire-hop imbalance after doing this.
At first, I was hoping my bead had re-seated improperly; the rear tire did need an "adjustment".
After bleeding off the air in the rear, and re-seating the bead, my physical "out of roundness" was addressed, but,
I still have some imbalance in both the tires as they were spun while the bike was leaned on the kickstand.

It was not like this before, at least, not to this degree.
Is this something which will sort itself out by riding a few miles, or is the unspoken cost of using sealant?
Where I live (out away from people's yards), the most common "ground cover plant" is the dreaded Goathead.
Getting two flats in one week was enough to make me order some sealant.

As a sidenote, I am surprised by how thin the carcass is on these 26 X 4 tires. It doesn't take a very long thorn to reach the tube.
This bike is used as a street commuter bike and sees very little time off the asphalt surface.

I am definitely not a fan of tire sealents. You'll find out when you have to change your tube. The better option is a product out there which lines the inside of the tire with a soft kevlar liner that sticks onto the tire prior to inserting the tube. Will it stop a nail? probably not but thorns are not a problem

 

[pagheca]

I have also asked myself the same question. One possible explanation is that because the sealant is semi-liquid, with vibrations and centrifugal force, it immediately distribute uniformly.

For a 29" (73 cm) diameter wheel, the centrifugal force at 25 kmh (15.5 mph) turns out by easy calculation to be about 14 times the force of gravity. Enough to kill even the best fighter pilot, who can usually sustain 9g for a few seconds. This is probably also the reason why the sealant works well: as soon as you start to gain some speed, the pressure toward the tire is such that the sealant will squeeze into any possible hole, and seal it.

 

[fabbrisd]

Well.... so you know a 26x4 tire - FlatOut recommends 16oz of sealant for that size tire - don't over think it - were you just saving the other 1/2 of FlatOut's 32oz bottle.... the ONLY people that Don't Love FlatOut - are the One's that haven't tried it yet..

 

[munirider]

I have always mounted my own motorcycle tires and at one point I tried tire balancing beads. Small BBs that you put inside your tire, there was a small funnel that screwed onto your valve stem that let you pour the beads into your tire. Then when you ride the beads distribute themselves and were supposed to balance out any imbalance in your wheels.

I don't know if they worked or not because it's too subtle of a difference to feel. I wanted to take a wheel into a motorcycle shop and have them spin it on their tire balancer but never did.

Anyway I would think that sealant would work much the same way, I would think that in the cold it may not distribute so well and leave you with a really unbalanced tire.

 

[fabbrisd]

All well and good ..... on the eBike Forum's I participate in - FlatOut has NEVER been reported as a Balance Problem - Slime CAN cause a balance problem as Slime can "clump up" inside the tire with age. FlatOutt comes with a 5Yr guarentee against "clumping".

I am not a FlatOut salesman - frankly I was a Tannue early-adopter - then I switched to Mr Tuffy and FlatOut for ALL my eBikes - and Flatout (no Tuffy) on my eScooters.

FYI - you can't run a Tire Pressure Monitoring System with any tire sealant - so that you know.