Q: Why is such a product needed?
A: There were several aspects of current tire sealants that we (Effetto Mariposa) felt we could improve. We wanted a sealant to be more effective (being able to be there and everywhere in the tire when punctures occurred), more stable in time and temperature, without any chemical potentially dangerous for tire/rim.
Q: How much easier is it to set up a tubeless tire?
A: Tubeless conversion of standard tires has a lot to do with the tire you're using and its bead diameter. Once inflated, a better sealant will seal the tire faster, but has a lesser influence on the primary inflation (where bead diameter/rim used play a major role, instead).
Q: Do you intend it to be used like Stan's Notubes, both as a sealant as well as to allow tube type tires to be run with out tubes?
A: Yes. We officially recommend Caffélatex sealant and KIT for Tubeless Ready (Hutchinson, Bontrager, Specialized...) or TNT (Geax) tires, where beads are tubeless-like. Caffélatex Tubeless Tape is quite thin, and for the tubeless conversion of standard tube-type tires a compressor is going to be a must. The advantage of Caffélatex Tape, beside the low weight and resistance, is that it's easy to mount TR and TNT tyres on 'converted' rims, something very difficult using rubber sealing rim-strips.
Q: In motorcycles there are similar products, foaming tire sealants, is this an adoption of that?
A: The base formulation we started with to develop Caffélatex comes from the automotive field, where sealant stability, effectiveness and chemical compatibility have very high requirements.
Q: How important was it to get the ammonia out?
A: Very important. That obliged us to stay away from natural latex formulations and turn to synthetic latex, which has some other advantages as well. The ammonia content of current latex sealants is not dangerous for tires/rims in the short period... but some concerns start to be raised from long-term users. We prefer to avoid any of these potential problems from the start.
Q: Will it dry up as fast as other latex-based sealants?
A: Synthetic latex lasts longer than natural latex... although it's difficult to give numbers here, it depends a lot on tire/wheel/external conditions. During our field-testing Caffélatex has stayed liquid over 12 months in thick-casing tubeless tyres on UST wheels. Nevertheless, in the impossibility of knowing our customers' specific application (kind of wheel/tire set-up, tyre sidewall thickness and porosities, external temperature and humidity, bicycle storage conditions...), we recommend checking Caffélatex every 2 months, to make sure it's liquid and therefore retains its 'puncture preventive' action.
Q: How is the Caffelatex tubeless kit different from other tubeless kits?
A: The kit includes also an injector, which is normally not included in other kits. We think an injector is a must to do a clean job and perfectly control the quantity of latex you're using.
The sealing tape, although similar in function to exisiting products like Stan's Yellow Tape, is of a completely different grade: it's fiber-glass reinforced and can stand 9 bar (126 psi) with a single turn. That will potentially allow road-tubeless conversions as well, as soon as more road tubeless tire options will be available.
Beside injector and tape, the kit includes Caffélatex sealant and high-quality tubeless valves with replaceable valve core. All the elements of the kit are made in Italy.
Q: If I use CO2 cartridges with CaffeLatex will it freeze?
A: Caffélatex won't coagulate or freeze (it can go as low as -20°C in its liquid form).
