TESTED: E13 Tubeless kits
E13 create a whole range of gear - but it's their tubeless kits that might surprise you, hitting shops with plenty of rim width options - to suit the growing array of rims on the market.
Words: Adam Macbeth
Photos: Chris Herron
E13 have been around for years and are probably best know for their stellar range of chain guides, and more recently their growing options in cranks, wheels and tyres. The obvious next step once wheels and tyres are in the lineup is a way to get them to hold on to each other a prevent flats.
E13 Tyre Plasma Sealant shares many of the traits of its competitors but claims to be able to seal punctures up to 4mm in length and doesn’t contain any nasties that may start to eat away at your tyre from the inside once flats have been healed. E13 also claim that one 120mm serve should last as long as six months in a tyre which seems like a bold claim and quite a bit longer than other sealants are recommended to be replenished.
The E13 tubeless rim tape is offered in three widths, 25, 28 and 30mm and is one of the first to cater for the plethora of wider, modern rims on the market. Fitting was a no-brainer and the tape conformed nicely to the internal surfaces on the rim with a little tension and no swearing or reapplying. Nice!
The matching Plasma Tubeless Valves, despite coming in some nice anodised colours, have been designed to deal with a greater volume of air. We’ve all been that guy at one point or another, struggling to get a tubeless tyre to seat with a compressor knowing full and well that the problem is the stupid presta valve not letting enough air in. The valves feature an interesting two-piece design that should make them pretty tough. In actual fact it did SEEM easier to seat a new tyre using the E13 valve. Maybe that’s because a lot more air got in. Maybe we just got lucky?
Once all together with tyres mounted and sealant inside the Plasma did a pretty quick job of sealing up the little gaps between tyre and rim. And after a few shakes the tyres held pressure overnight no worries.
How do you test sealant exactly? Well, I beat the crap out of a brand new set of tyres and didn’t get a flat so surely it must be good right? It is hard to quantify for sure but it is fair to say that, upon checking my pressure before each ride, I lost less air over the course of a week using the E13 sealant, valves and tape than I am used to losing with my usual system. A longer-term look into this is probably required but hey, at the very least my bike looked better with anodised black valves.
Hits:
- Variety of tape widths
- Long-lasting
- Great airflow through the valves
Misses:
- None yet
RRP: $39 for 1L sealant
$29 for 8m tape
$29 for a pair of valves
From: dirtworks.com.au
