slime innertube

mario chainsaw

hi there i have just had a mountain bike for about 3 weeks and already i have had 3 punctures.
are them slime inner tubes good or bad ?

supersonic

If the punctures are by small objects like thorns, yes.

mario chainsaw

so are they the answer or do you recomend upgrading tyres aswell ?

supersonic

You can get more resistant tyres - depends what you already have. people report varying success.

mario chainsaw

i just have the ones that came with the bike its a carrera vulcan from halfords

supersonic

You can also get tyre liners, which add protection. These work very well!

See what Halfords say.

Old Git On A Bike

@ Mario, I asked about slime tubes the other day, see the responces here, mostly bad, but Punkypossum told me on another topic that they were good:

http://www.bikeradar.com/beginners/foru ... t=12569755

I decided not to get them in the end, stuck with a normal innertube, and as Supersonic said, getting a different set of tyres might help, something with a kevlar lining in the tread should help a lot, have a look at the tyres on the Chain Reaction Cycle - Tyres Section!, Continental do a range, search the page for the word protection, they tend to be a bit pricier, as is to be expected, but for a bit more piece of mind from punctures, possibly running them in tandem with slime innertubes if you feel they are worth the extra £4 on top of the price of a normal innertube, then there is also slime in a can to pump in to your tyres as well

mario chainsaw

thanks old git i will look into that , i would rather pay more to get less punctures

mike48

Hi Mario

I was having similar problems (see http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... 7#14808527) but I bought some puncture resistant tubes from the local bike shop and they have worked a dream so far.

good luck

AlanW

Another vote for the Slime tubes, but they are on the heavy side. But IMHO it is worth the extra weight, especially if you are doing canal towpaths. :x But a word of warning, it does not always work first time and you could still end up with a flat tyre. But before you replace the tube, try reinflating it again first. My experiance is that it will seal on the second or even the third attempt, enough at least to get you back home.

But always check your tyres afterwards as you could have a thorn in there and not notice. The worst problem is when the dam thorn snaps off leaving the sharp bit projecting into the tube. As you ride it moves around making the pucture hole even bigger.

I also remove the tyres every now and then (or after a big ride) just to check the tubes, you'll be amazed how many little green specs there are. :shock:

Then for piece of mind I normally add a patch over the larger ones.

In saying that, I am now trying the lightweight version, but not sure how good these will be.

They are lighter coz they only put half as much Slime inside, hence they "may" not offer as much protection?