Continental GP5000 TL Sealant Refresh

This is an update to my 6 month review of the CP5kTL, and maybe an important one. 

With any, or at least, most other tires, this would not be news, but the GP5kTL will absolutely let go of the bead when the air-pressure drops below ~ 10lbs psi, so adding sealant is a bit problematic, as the old, dried sealant tends to get between the bead and rim in an irregular way, but alas, I had no choice. 

While out riding a couple of months ago I ducked behind a shuttered restaurant, rolled through the parking lot to a discrete little nook, and relieved myself of some used Gatorade, not realizing that the shrub affording me privacy was a puncture vine, which I didn't realize until rolling across the parking lot to reenter the road from the other side. 

I stopped as soon as I noticed, and was able to pull most of the needles out of the front tire before they penetrated, but they and a couple of patches of broken glass left me with a tire whose leak became something more than "slow".

 

As a remedy I decided to try adding 30 ml of Stan's Sealant to see if that would slow the leak so I could rely on a constant pressure throughout my rides. I have to say, to my surprise it worked quite well, but there are a few caveats if trying this. 

First, is the tire worth saving? Mine was ~ 1/2 worn by the wear dimples depth, so in my case, yes. Second, I did everything I could to NOT disturb the bead while releasing the little remaining air, by turning the bike upside down so the wheel wasn't bearing any weight. Third, I used a CO2 cartridge to air up the tire as quickly as possible. Fourth, I used an injector that didn't seal the valve stem with the core removed.

I did lose a small amount of sealant, but slightly less than the normal amount, and put the full 110lbs or so of pressure in the tire to press the new sealant past the old. After sitting overnight I released most of the somewhat diminished pressure to purge the CO2, and aired up the tire with my floor pump. 

I've ridden it a few times now and it's holding air much better, so I am pleasantly surprised this prodecure can, in fact, be done with the GP5kTL. The tire still has wet spots where the water from the original sealant seeps out, but it holds pressure well during my 2-3hr rides now. I really didn't think this would go well at all, so a very pleasant surprise.

Meeting the Challenge in 2020

Strava put up a nice piece on how athletes adapted to the constraints of COVID-19 in 2020, and it's an interesting read. The thing is, somewhere in my early 30s (I'm in my mid-60s now) it hit me that it's no one else's job to keep you fit and healthy. If you want that for yourself you better learn to be selfish and make that time, because nobody else is going to make it for you. 

I upped my game a LOT in 2020, setting a ton of new PBs since retiring in SoCal, more than doubling my mileage in 2020. A big part of that was being able to do much longer rides after buying new wheels and finding the truly wonderful Conti GP5K TL tubeless tires, which do an excellent job of shaking off all the cactus needles and goat-heads here in the high desert that used to ruin my rides all the time. 

Part of it was buying better bib shorts, and now tights, so I can ride those miles, and part of it was going back to a solid seat from one with the center cut out (YMMV, but for me the extra surface area combined with better chamois did the trick). 

I also found new, remote routes, found ways and places to relieve my bladder without going into enclosed places, minimizing the time inside closed places, carrying a mask with me for when I was inside a bathroom or stopped getting water inside, and finally, just finding hydration that didn't require going into enclosed spaces. 

The political horror show that was POTUS Trump and the gut-wrenching, grim toll of COVID were also motivation to get out there and burn off some angst. Finally, as friends and loved ones were slowed due to age and disease my gratitude for being  healthy enough to do lots of long rides got me out the door on days I might have otherwise stayed home. 

For 2021 I think I'm going to up my climbing a bit, and maybe even ride fewer miles. I'd like to spend more time with my wife and our dogs, one of which is a working dog and needs a LOT of exercise to stay happy and healthy. At a certain age you stop taking loved ones for granted, because in a 55+ community people keep disappearing every week, and it drives home the point that tomorrow is promised to no one. 

Get Some!