The new Boyd Cycling Tickled Pink tubeless tire sealant was two years in the making. They’ve given out about 400 bottles to riders for testing, run through almost 20 different formulations and played with everything from adding glitter to pepper to rubber tire shavings to dog hair as means to clog punctures and seal a tire faster. The end result didn’t use any of those, but it is a non-toxic organic material that they’re not willing to disclose. The important part, Boyd says, is that the congealing material needs to have the same density as the liquid so it doesn’t settle and separate inside the tire. And this does, so it stays in solution. He says with the other materials tested, they were too heavy and would quickly settle and accumulate, which ends up leaving lumps inside the tire and can even clog the valve stem.
It’s a latex based formula and it smells like bubble gum. Which makes it easy to tell if it’s working to plug a leak if you smell bubble gum on your ride. Available now for $9 per 8oz bottle. To go with it, they’re offering their own tubeless rim tape that’s a little thinner than other tapes so it conforms well to the rim’s bed. They recommend one layer for mountain bikes with lower tire pressures, and two layers for cyclocross, road, etc., where you’re running more than 35psi. The rim tape comes in 22mm, 25mm and 28mm widths, all 10m long, which is enough to do a wheelset with a double wrap and have a little left over. Retail is $9 to $10 per roll. Pack in more clever new goodies below…
New wheel bags with individual padded pockets or each wheel and interior zipper pocket for axles or skewers. What’s unique about it is the backpack straps, making it easier to carry…and even ride with them. Between the back panels is an oversized plastic sheet to prevent the hubs from jabbing you in the back.
Retail is $60, available mid-August. Fits a 29er wheelset with tires inflated.
They’re also introducing their Ready to Ride system that ships wheels with tires, cassette and disc brake rotors (if applicable) pre-installed, set up tubeless or with tubes, so you can usually have them out of the box and on your bike ready to roll in a matter of minutes. Upcharge depends on which parts you pick to put on them, all selected with a drop down menu on their website. They’ve partnered with Schwalbe for road tires, Hutchinson for cyclocross, WTB for 650b gravel, and Maxxis for mountain bike. Packages start shipping August 1, and Boyd says even bike shops have been really receptive as it decreases their time to install on a customer’s bike, and for everyone else it’s a nice way to get a second set of wheels ready to roll.
The Altamont (30mm deep, 1540g) and Altamont Lite (25mm deep, 1450g) with ceramic rim coating is now in production and starts at $900 for the set. They have a 20mm inside width and are built on their Prime hubs with Sapim CX Ray spokes and brass nipples with 20/24, 24/28 and 28/32 spoke count options. Includes SwissStop BXP brake pads, which combine with the ceramic surface to provide much better braking performance. And it looks killer in person. Both models are tubeless ready.
The Jocassee is a 650B gravel/road plus wheelset is now shipping, too. We saw these in prototype form during our factory tour, check this post for all the tech details.
