Silca is a very creative brand, they have released a lot of very personalized bicycle peripheral products, such as Mattone Seat Pack BOA knob road tail bag, Silca Phone Wallet and so on.
Recently, they extended the product line to vacuum tire self-rehydration, released a new technology of self-rehydration, and named it Ultimate. While it may be a bit unexpected to enter this space, Silca Ultimate's self-rehydration solution has some interesting technical features that fit perfectly with the Silca brand's consistent tonality.
Ultimate uses a natural latex-based formula, and Silca says Ultramate has more efficient leak plugging performance than those generally available as synthetic formulations self-rehydrating fluids. Similar to Effetto Mariposa's Caffelatex, a foaming agent is also added to the formula, which can cover the tire wall more evenly, rather than mostly concentrated in the centerline of the tire like ordinary tire repair fluid.
If that's all there is to it, does the product seem unremarkable? In fact, the special is still behind, and its additives are the focus.
To find out what the most effective ingredients of self-rehydration are and how they are behind them, Silca tested almost all of the popular brands of self-rehydration solutions available commercially. As can be seen from the figure, the self-rehydrating solution of natural latex has the best effect in plugging leaks, but the durability is lacking.
Major self-rehydration brands often add various additives to optimize the effect of leak plugging (similar to the principle of platelets in the blood to help wounds crust). At present, the additive ingredients used by major brands are different, including plastic beads, sand, flash powder, and glass fiber
At present, various fragments are at work, including glass, plastic particles, fine sand, glass fibers, etc., as well as various ground organic matter such as pepper, walnut shells, corn cobs, etc.
As for Silca? They directly use the material commonly used in high-end accessories of bicycles - carbon fiber.
Silca conducted a comprehensive evaluation of self-rehydrating solutions using different additives. In the process of testing competitors, Silca found that the less dense the additive in the self-rehydration solution and the larger the surface area, the more evenly distributed in the inner wall of the tire, rather than remaining only in the centerline area of the tire.
In the course of the study, Silca found that although some additives will be relatively better, most of the time the holes are blocked by liquids, and only a very small number of holes are blocked by additives.
Ultramate, on the other hand, uses crushed fine carbon fibers and disposes of all the coatings and chemicals on its surface, ultimately making it "pyrolytic carbon". When used in conjunction with the aforementioned blowing agents, the Ultimate not only covers every part of the inside of the tire wall evenly while riding, but these "pyrolyzed carbon" additives are evenly distributed in the self-rehydration solution, allowing it to fill holes more quickly and efficiently.
According to Silca, the fractures repaired by its Ultimate self-rehydration solution are far more stable than most of the openings filled by latex liquid alone, and they are less likely to be damaged at a later stage.
How does Ultimate perform? Silca claims that it can make up for 8mm long incisions at most low tire pressures, 6mm cuts at tire pressures of 80-90 Psi, and 5mm perforations at 100 Psi.
Ultimate's performance at high tire pressure is more noteworthy, as this is the deficient of most of the current self-rehydration fluids. If Ultimate is indeed as easy to use as Silca says, it will be a breakthrough in self-rehydration products and will greatly increase the acceptance of vacuum systems for road cars.
But isn't There a Downside to Ultramate? Of course not!
Smart riders should have noticed that the description of the Ultramate can fill the gap even wider than the real air mouth. So why doesn't ultramate clog tubeless valves? Well, let's leave it at that.
Silca claims that there is no case of blocking the air nozzle during the use of the Ultramate, but because its leak filling effect is too good, it cannot be injected from the air nozzle like a conventional tire repair solution. It is said that because the leak filling effect is so good, it cannot be injected with a syringe like a normal self-rehydration solution, so that the Ultimate must be poured into the inner wall of the tire before the tire is fully fitted.
Latex-based self-rehydration solutions volatilize naturally over time, gradually becoming less effective. Conventional self-rehydration solutions generally solve this problem by adding a self-rehydration solution on a regular basis, but this is not possible for Ultimate, as adding Ultramate requires removing the tire to be replenished.
Unable to check the condition of the self-rehydration solution in the tyres, Silca offered a solution for this by developing an auxiliary product called Replenisher. This thing is a solvent without any added pyrolytic carbon that can be injected through the nozzle for easy maintenance. Silca said that Ultramate registered users can turn on email reminders, and they will regularly send emails to users to remind users of when to add Replenisher.
According to Silca, if Replenisher is added as prescribed, Ultimate can reach a maximum of 18 months of life (but it can usually be replaced in about a year). Replenisher requires an average of about 1 ounce (about 28 grams) per month, combined with actual conditions of use. Replenisher can also be used to increase the temperature range for the Ultimate, which is friendly to riders who still insist on outdoor training in the winter.
Ultimate "enhances" every few months, but it is said that the cost of use is lower than that of competitors when calculating long-term costs.
Unsurprisingly, Silca Ultimate and Replenisher do sell for more than their competitors – at least in the early days. However, Silca said that ultimate and Replenisher are actually used less than similar products, and the cost of long-term use will be lower.
Ultimate and Replenisher are both made from eco-friendly materials. According to Silca principal Josh Poertner, pyrolyzed carbon is almost as safe and harmless as activated charcoal, and the main solvents for self-rehydration are water, a synthetic alcohol and food-grade propylene glycol (antifreeze).
Ultimate Sealant will be available in 8-ounce (227-gram), 16-ounce (454-gram), and 32-ounce (907-gram) formats for $18, $24, and $38, respectively. Replenisher 4 ounces (113 grams) bottles cost $12, and prices in other regions are still to be confirmed.
Edit: Johnny
Image credit: Silca