Brand new Michelin e-wild leaking sealant from sidewalls

[GeordieKenevo]

Hey all

Thought I would try the Michelin e-wild front 2.6 tyre as it was on offer over Black Friday at several places for £39.99 and having set it up last night upon checking my bike this morning I've found it's dropped 20+ psi and the reason... sealant leaking from the sidewalls on both sides in multiple places!

I'm just awaiting a reply from the retailer I bought it from in the UK but has anyone else seen such an issue before?

Oh and this 2.6 measure 2.4 inches at best set up to the correct pressure so overall I'd avoid these tyres even if they seem cheap unless others have been luckier?

 

[Tooks]

It’s not unusual to see a few pin pricks of sealant on the sidewall like that, so I wouldn’t worry about it.

They will seal up and you shouldn’t see any more.

 

[GeordieKenevo]

It’s not unusual to see a few pin pricks of sealant on the sidewall like that, so I wouldn’t worry about it.

They will seal up and you shouldn’t see any more.

Really? I've literally never seen that before but that's what the bike shop also said

I have to say, seeing that doesn't give me much confidence that the sidewalls on these will be much good but others on her seem to rate this tyre so I guess I will give it a go

 

[Tooks]

Really? I've literally never seen that before but that's what the bike shop also said

I have to say, seeing that doesn't give me much confidence that the sidewalls on these will be much good but others on her seem to rate this tyre so I guess I will give it a go

I’ve been running a pair of Michelin tyres all summer on my Gen 3 Levo , Wild AM2 up front and Force AM2 on the rear, and they’ve held up really well.

I’m sure they’ll be fine.

 

[DeanBeanoTaylor]

I had this issue on my analogue bike a couple of years back with the normal wild enduros. Seemed to seep through the sidewalls on both tyres.

There were some parts on the sidewall that the sealant was coming through like yours and some sections had damp patches with sealant. Ended up going back to Maxxis after that.

Never seemed to loose a lot of sealant or tyre pressure quickly so wasn't really anything to worry about, just annoying for the price of tyres

 

[Doomanic]

This was my DH carcass DHR2 before I put sealant in…

I had to put 120ml of sealant in to stop it leaking!

 

[johnnystorm]

WTBs can sometimes do this too. I had a pair of Nanos and the front was fine but the rear wept for a good while before eventually sealing up.

 

[Swissrider]

I use Stans fluid and it leaks out of the sidewalls of my Maxis tyres. It looks like condensation on the tyres, ie it is clear little droplets. It does not look great and it picks up dust and muck but i don't seem to lose pressure. However, the recommendation is to change fluid every three months and I have had the same fluid in for three years and it still seems to work!

 

[vertrkr]

I'm on my 2nd pair of Michelin Force AM2. Both sets were pretty porous. It took extra sealant and a couple days to seal up. Rear tire soaked up 100ml so I added another 100ml. Front took 140ml. All good now.

 

[TheSnowShark]

It's strange because I would agree that this is a serious flaw, no ?

 

[p3eps]

I had Michelin Wild Enduro F and R, and have had 3 sets over the last 3 years. Currently on Specialized Cannibals for winter, but will go back to the Michelins for summer.

I had a few leaky bits on mine too. If you’re concerned, use Stan’s Racing Sealant - which is a lot thicker and doesn’t leak.
Otherwise, top up with regular stuff once or twice and it’ll stop.

Great tyres for most occasions.

 

[RustyIron]

I'm just awaiting a reply from the retailer I bought it from in the UK but has anyone else seen such an issue before?

That's the way it's been since the early days of tubeless tires on mountain bikes. Some tires' sidewalls weep a lot, some not at all. For the most part, lighter, thinner sidewalls will weep more. It will weep the most when the tire is new. You can also expect some weeping after going out and shredding particularly hard. It's no big deal.

The BEST practice is to go out and ride immediately after mounting the tire. All the flexing will help get the sealant into all the microscopic pores. Just adding sealant and putting the bike back into the garage can result in flats, just like you've experienced.

 

[mustclime]

Sealant got to seal. I haven’t had a tire that didn’t pass a little sealant.

 

[TheSnowShark]

So, for you, porous tires are ok...

Do you imagine the same thing on your cars ?

I find this to be totally disastrous, buying new tires that are leaking !

 

[ilostmypassword]

Back in the days of UST tyre standard this was never an issue. Those were the days!

These days standard tyres with minimal side wall strength are used for tubeless and this is very common. My Maxis rear tyre needs sealant to stay inflated as the side wall weeps 24/7.

 

[johnnystorm]

So, for you, porous tires are ok...

Do you imagine the same thing on your cars ?

I find this to be totally disastrous, buying new tires that are leaking !

To flip that one on its head.
I need a machine to fit my van tyres and they're too heavy and won't fold up so I can't easily carry a spare!

 

[mustclime]

So, for you, porous tires are ok...

Do you imagine the same thing on your cars ?

I find this to be totally disastrous, buying new tires that are leaking !

Ever pickup a car tire? They are not light .Back in the day when tubeless first came to the market the tires were quite a bit heavier than they are now. I have no issues with the sealant doing its job.

 

[Montana St Alum]

I've put away 6 bikes for the winter (It's Utah, and ski season!). As I've done in the past, I put some new, some old with sealant dried/removed and pumped them to pressure. They were Schwalbe, Continental, Maxxis and Pirelli. They were all premium variants. Of the 8 tires, 3 leaked air (no sealant) more than I'd like as in a 20 or so psi drop in 3 or 4 days.

One leak was at the valve/tape interface. One was due to damaged tape, so I retaped that and one was an old Nobby Nic that just wouldn't hold air due to the sidewall. I threw some sealant into that and it sealed up. But even in this case, no sealant made it through on a 29x2.6 Schwalbe.

Additionally, my son and I run or have run Maxxis Exo and never seen leaks on new or undamaged tires. I have a Pirelli Scorpion XC RC that's under 700 grams and even its thin walls (Prowall) don't leak without sealant.

This may be normal for this model, but it's not acceptable. I started mountain biking in 1989 and was an early adopter of tubeless. Back then, you'd expect this. We used to go through filling the tire with sealant and laying it on its side to seal everything up - shake - repeat, ad nauseum.. Not these days.

A quality tire, good tape job and proper installation of the valve should and will hold air. The sealant is there for damage incurred, not to compensate for a badly designed and built tire.

 

[Expidia]

For my hard earned money this is unacceptable IMO! Get a refund and go for a different brand.. Try a tire with a 120 TPI casing.

 

[irie]

A quality tire, good tape job and proper installation of the valve should and will hold air. The sealant is there for damage incurred, not to compensate for a badly designed and built tire.

This ^^^

 

[Zimmerframe]

This was my DH carcass DHR2 before I put sealant in…
View attachment 130050

I had to put 120ml of sealant in to stop it leaking!

Why spend all that money on a breathable tyre and then mess it up with sealant !

 

[GeordieKenevo]

I asked the retailer about a refund and they told me it was normal but apparently the tyre comes with a 2 year warranty so I'm going to use it and see how it goes. However I'm in agreement that I don't think sealant should come through the sidewalls

I might contact Michelin direct if I do get any issues rather than the retailer though and see what they say about it.

 

[irie]

I asked the retailer about a refund and they told me it was normal but apparently the tyre comes with a 2 year warranty so I'm going to use it and see how it goes. However I'm in agreement that I don't think sealant should come through the sidewalls

I might contact Michelin direct if I do get any issues rather than the retailer though and see what they say about it.

It might be normal for Michelin tyres, but AFAIK it's not normal for other manufacturers tyres. Sounds like manufacturer bullsh*t to me.

Edit: if you send pics to Michelin you might get a free tyre ...

 

[head]

What you see on the first picture is definetely a non-issue. I saw that on non-Michelin tires and never had issues with leaks after the sealant settled in.

 

[TheSnowShark]

I don't see why sealant would be obligatory in a tubeless, in fact if that were the case they would absolutely have to say so in their pre-sales technical descriptions..

For me, as I said above, it's a fault..

 

[head]

I don't see why sealant would be obligatory in a tubeless, in fact if that were the case they would absolutely have to say so in their pre-sales technical descriptions..

From Bike Technology (Maxxis)

Tubeless ready tires are denoted by the letters “TR” on the sidewall.

Tubeless ready tires must be mounted to tubeless compatible rims and require the use of a liquid sealant to maintain pressure.

From Fitting Tubeless Ready tires (Michelin)

THE MICHELIN MTB RANGE (EXCEPT FOR MICHELIN WILD RUN'R) CAN BE TUBELESS MOUNTED, UNDER THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:​

• You use a Tubeless-UST rim
• You do not exceed the maximum pressure as written on the side of the tire
• You add puncture sealant
• You check the tire pressure before each ride

 

[steve_sordy]

I was told once that tyre walls were airtight. I believed them because it seemed to be common sense. I mean, look how thick the rubber is! Then, early on in my tubeless experience, I was fitting a tyre and the air leaking through the sidewalls made the soapy water I was using foam up. I had what looked like thousands of white foaming volcanos. I learned that latex sealants are much better at sealing tyre walls than non-latex versions.

When setting up a tyre to be tubeless for the first time, I always give the wheel a good shake to distribute the sealant and then lay it down on a bucket for the air pressure to force the latex into any porosity. That process also covers any possible leaks at the rim/bead interface. Then flip and repeat. That will be the end of any leaking from the sidewalls for the life of the tyre. I have had this on many different types of Maxxis, Schwalbe and WTB; also some no-name tyres that came on kid's bikes.

I do not see sidewall porosity that is overcome so easily as a fault worth the hassle of a warranty claim. All that email/phone chat, removing the tyre, cleaning it up and sending it back. What a ball-ache!

 

[GeordieKenevo]

Well my e-wild has a small tear next to the tread that the sealant didn't quite fix after I think the 5th ride but I'm not wasting a plug on it and have stuck a Vitoria Maza on I got for a decent price as I've not been impressed by these at all

Mud clearing is non existent and they clag in most conditions so I personally wouldn't recommend the current version although allegedly there's a new version coming in a few weeks.

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