NEW Bicycle Tire Sealant Formula!
Caffélatex tire sealant (250ml bottle)
Caffélatex is a truly innovative tire sealant: the first of its advantages over standard latex-based sealants comes from a foaming agent (Actifoam ), activated by wheel movement.
Centrifugal force drives standard latex-based sealants against the outer circumference of the tyre. Caffélatex foaming action causes it to fill the tire's entire internal cavity, making it much more effective against sidewall punctures.
CaffeLatex Reviews:
Slow twitch: "We could have a new all-around winner on our hands."
TwentyNineInches: "Effetto Mariposa has hit the ball out of the park with this sealant."Marathon MTB: "All up I have been very impressed by the CaffeLatex system"
Pinkbike:"Having spent six months using several different sealants back-to-back, we can confidently say this is the highest performing one we have tried so far." NEWEST Bike Radar: "This is certainly the best value sealant here."
Read the full, unbiased Bike Radar test review here. where Caffelatex performed nearly as well as the top competitor, but at only 75% the price; thus, giving Caffelatex the best bang for your dollar.
Fast Sealing Action
New formula Caffelatex seals up to 5 times faster than previously due to the addition of microscopic silicate paticles. Its faster sealing action makes Caffélatex ideal for MTB and road tubeless, tubular, and standard tires: it repairs punctures up to 5mm (mtb) and 3mm (road). In this video(
Caffélatex puncture repair), you can see punctures of ranging sizes being sealed by Caffélatex. When the puncture size is larger than 5mm,
Zot! is used as a catalyst to speed up the clotting action.
Long Life and Highly Stable
Thanks to its formula Caffélatex is a very stable and durable sealant, but we know this is highly depending on kind of application and external conditions. During our field-testing it has lasted over 12 months in thick-casing tubeless tires on UST wheels. Nevertheless, in the impossibility of knowing our customers' specific application (kind of wheel/tire set-up, tire sidewall thickness and porosity, 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.
When dry, Caffélatex-sealed wheels are still air-tight, but Caffélatex won't actively repair punctures.
100% Tire and Rim Friendly
Containing no ammonia, Caffélatex is 100% tire & rim friendly. CaffeLatex will not corrode the rims, which is a typical problem with other sealants. For more information you can read
Lennard Zinn's article on tire sealant corrosion.
Dugast, producers of some of the finest tubulars money can buy, are very concerned about latex inner tube/sealant interaction, as they have received over the years several warranty claims for tubulars where the tube had literally been cooked by the 'latex-based' sealant. Quoting from their Caffélatex test results:"Racers have extensively field tested Caffélatex with our tubulars. The result is excellent, it's the only sealant we recommend to our customers". - A. Dugast
Usage and storage temperatures:
from very cold to very hot, exceeding by far those of first-generation latex sealants (usage: -20/+50°C ~ storage: -15/ +30°C).
Available in:
bottles (1000 or 250 ml) or bundled into Caffélatex Tubeless Conversion Kits.
Caffelatex has been developed for Tubeless, Tubeless-Ready and TNT (Tube No Tube) and 2Bliss mountain bike tires, manufactured according to USTstandards.
How much CaffeLatex to Use in your Bike Tire
It depends upon your tire size and brand. We suggest the following amounts of Caffelatex:
| Bike Type | Tire Size | Amount of Caffélatex |
| Road Bikes | all | 25 ml -> 50 ml |
| MTB | 26 x 1.50 through 2.10 | 50 ml |
| MTB | 26 x 2.10 + | 100 ml |
| MTB snow tire | 26 x 3.7 + | 150 ml |
| MTB | 29 x 1.50 through 2.00 | 50 ml |
| MTB | 29 x 2.00 + | 100 ml |
The above figures are some good starting points. Not all tire sizes across all tire brands are created equal. You will need to do some experimentation to find the best amount to use.
Material Safety Data Sheet
Caffelatex Safety Data Sheet <- click to view and download (this MSDS file is a PDF)
Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)
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).
Click Here for the Sealant Comparison Review by Bikeradar!
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