Slime tubes ruined my ride again

bigmart

I need to rant!

For the 2nd time in a month I've had a slime tube let go on me. Tonight I got a small 'pin prick' of a puncture from a thorn, tyre went flat, so I stuck some pressure in and rotated the wheel expecting it to seal up and be away.
Oh no! all we could here was whisle, whisle as the tube deflated,

In the end had to remove the tube, identify the hole and then rotate it a t 6 o clock back and forth, did it seal, did it chuff! in with a normal tube

I had one in my front for the last 6 weeks, changed my tyres this wkend and there was 5 punctures and it had not deflated once

Have to say I'm totally disapointed with them, especially when you consider the cost

Letter has gone to Slime's HQ :evil: :evil: :evil:

M6TTF

Toooooblessssss.... It's the future

Mccraque

I tried them 'back in the day......all I found was that they bugger the wheel equilibium...so if you hit 30mph+ you can just feel the whole back end shaking on the bike where the slime has glooped in a lump at a certain point in the tyre.

Oh yeah....and sealing punctures is another thing they are not too good at.

I've seen the light and gone tubeless. A little bit of bonty juice in the tyre and I have had no flats since July when I converted.

Halleluja!

ride_whenever

just go ghetto...

Mr bump

Go on my son let out your rage!!!
Personally i do thin it was an excuse to stop as you couldnt keep up with me and my awsomeness!!

bails87

To be fair, it didn't ruin your ride, it just didn't save it

But I had the same problem, they worked for a while, then ended up just spitting out all the Slime inside my tyre, without sealing the puncture(s). So when you do change the tube you get covered in green gunk! :evil:

I used another sealant, sludge I think, for a while, but a pinch flat meant that leaked in the tyre in the same way, so I'm now trying tubeless, will hopefully get it set up tonight.

Hercule Q

i had a slime tube last 20 mins until it got a slash in it and couldn't be sealed

Belv

I have had various liquid-filled tubes fail to seal on-road and off-road punctures. Now I use tyre liners in both situations with much more success - prevention is better than cure!

I am very interested in tubeless tyres for the MTB though.

afcbian

Had mine in for 3 months now, puncture free and the odd few thorns i pulled out have sealed no problem.
Other than a small amount of additional weight which i don't notice anymore they seam to work great.
How long they continue to work for of course is the question

bigmart

it sprayed Mr bump in the face when we infalted it out of the tyre, he he he!

Slime got straight back to be and are sending some new ones, so at least their customer service is good

They did how to do ghetto tubeless in MBR a couple of months back so might have to give that ago

whyamihere

Why do people insist on using Slime tubes? They're the worst 'upgrade' you can get for your MTB.

Alex

Second worst. I still see people putting boots on expensive forks and shocks.

Miggins

whyamihere wrote:

Why do people insist on using Slime tubes? They're the worst 'upgrade' you can get for your MTB.

Oh no! I'm brand new to mountain biking. Just ordered up my new bike along with a few other bits'n' pieces - one of them being slime. Should I not get it, then? The sales guy also offered a strip which goes inside the tyre to stop the thorns in the first place, but I chose the slime. Any advice most welcome!

afcbian

whyamihere wrote:

Why do people insist on using Slime tubes? They're the worst 'upgrade' you can get for your MTB.

I didn't get mine for an upgrade
I was doing a 78 mile offroad ride and didn't have the funds at the time to go tubeless so simply bought 2 on ebay for £8 brand new.

I figured that at least they may prevent a frustrated ride due to multiple punctures. And they did.........pulled 2 thorns out after the ride and it all worked a treat. Have got used to them now and left them in.

Slight weight penalty but have to say my experience is positive

Alex

Unless you're riding country roads and towpaths, you honestly don't often pick up thorns.

A slime tube doesn't negate your need to carry a spare tube, as it'll only seal up the tinest of holes, not pinches or tears, and the slime has a tendency to goo up the valve. Oh, and if it sets at the bottom, or if it's very cold you get a wheel that wants to shake itself right off the bike.

You should always carry a spare tube and a couple of patches on a normal , regardless of what tyre/tube system you are running. Even tubeless.

afcbian

Alex wrote:

Unless you're riding country roads and towpaths, you honestly don't often pick up thorns.

A slime tube doesn't negate your need to carry a spare tube, as it'll only seal up the tinest of holes, not pinches or tears, and the slime has a tendency to goo up the valve. Oh, and if it sets at the bottom, or if it's very cold you get a wheel that wants to shake itself right off the bike.

You should always carry a spare tube and a couple of patches on a normal , regardless of what tyre/tube system you are running. Even tubeless.

Who said it did ???
I always carry a spare tube, patches, along with pump, multitool blah blah blah.
I am aware that they are not the holy grail but simply state again, that they have prevented several punctures for me and work fine.

tri-sexual

Alex wrote:

Second worst. I still see people putting boots on expensive forks and shocks.

i know its no longer fashionable to put boots on forks and shocks but why?
seem like a good idea to me as long as they are installed correctly and totally seals against the elements. mud, grit, flying debris, pressure washing can shorten the life of forks and shocks dramatically requireing much more servicing and possible replacement.
i understand that a poorly fitted boot will allow water and debis in and if left could cause more problems than a fork/ shock without but if it works properly then it can not only protect the fork/shock from the elements but also keep in lubricants/grease which should prolong the life of the part.
rubber boots are fitted to car components such as CV joints, they protect the joint and keep in the thick grease in, a split cv joint boot if not replaced will destroy the CV joint very quickly
any clever people out there who can explain to me why they are no longer fitted?

ps. slime is cr@p - they dont work and makes cycling a chore

bails87

I think it's because they're not particularly well sealed, so grit etc gets in, but then can't get out.

And Slime tubes aren't brilliant, but mine saved me from plenty of repairs before eventually giving up. And I do ride on country roads and towpaths, not many mountains round here

Big Shoes

I have had the Slime liners (the ones that go between the tyre and tube) for 4 years now and not even had 1 puncture, same as on my wifes bike, 4 years, no punctures. So i would say that they work perfectly. get those instead.

tri-sexual

bails87 wrote:

I think it's because they're not particularly well sealed, so grit etc gets in, but then can't get out.

a well designed and fitted boot should be well sealed, a car's CV joint boot is held in place with clips and lasts for years, been thinking about this, cannondale still use boots on their lefty and fatty forks

bails87

It should, but how well designed and fitted are the Lizard SKins neoprene ones

Also, the seals on most modern forks are good enough that theres no real need for them.

A CV joint needs to be surrounded by grease, it has the boot to keep the grease in as much as to keep dirt out. Bike forks don't need that kind of lubrication, not on the exposed stantions anyway.

Alex

A good quality conventional MTB fork/shock has wiper seals specifically designed to keep the muck out, and they're really quite good at it. They don't need help so they are not supplied with boots.

Cannondale leftys/headshocks are not sealed pistons, they move up and down thanks to bearings rather than lubricated slippery stanchions and also have very loose wiper seals giving unparalleled suppleness. As such, they need a bit more help to keep the crap out, so they are supplied with boots.

That's why your non-cannondale forks don't need boots, now for the reason you SHOULD NOT USE THEM.

Your shock and forks are sealed units that depend on perfectly smooth stanchions/pistons for good operation. In putting boots on, you cause any grit that gets underneath the boot to abrade the polished surface and possibly even scratch it. Scratch an air shock and you'll be looking at a piston replacement that will run into a three figure bill.
You'll notice that rubber shock boots actually sit proud of the item they're protecting in order to prevent this. Neoprene boots contact every sliding surface of the shock.
Use a boot on a coil shock and you'll hold moisture against the steel spring, accelerating corrosion and reducing its lifespan.


You won't see boots on any modern conventional fork, mtb or motorbike. Seal technology has rendered them obsolete.

UncleMonty

I bought two tubes of Ebay for £8 as well , not Slimes though they are something else - can't remember the name. Anyway they are spot on, can't remember the last time I had a punchture and I was aout and about a lot this summer.

delcol

i use standard tube and put stans or joes in them works a treat i not had a puncture in 12 months,,,,
does not stop pinch flats though...

if you want to run tubes then this method really does work....

bails87

I did that with Sludge sealant for a while, then had 2 punctures that wouldn't seal. A pair of gloves got covered in liquid rubber, and are still sticky despite being washed!

bergie

i used slime tubes for a 2800 mile tour last year.I had heard stories of thorns on the trail and thought i would give them a try.Didnt get a single puncture and when i got home and changed tyres i noticed that i had a bunch of thorn holes in the tubes that the slime had sealed.Maybe i was lucky but i have to be impressed with them.

bigmart

I always carry spare tubes and patches. We ride XC 95% of the time and at night so the less times we have to stop and remove wheels etc... the better,

I'll use the new ones they send me for as long as they last then look at going tubeless

konanige

dont bother with slime. get down to your nearest agricultural supplier and buy some tyre sealant from them. it cost half as much[same price but bigger bottle] can go in tubes or in a tubeless set up, doesnt freeze and you could probably bang a 4inch nail through your tyre without losing any air. trust me, when was the last time you saw farmer Giles and his footpump trying to blow up one of those huge f**k off tyres on his massive ferguson?

bails87

konanige wrote:

when was the last time you saw farmer Giles and his footpump trying to blow up one of those huge f**k off tyres on his massive ferguson?

I'd imagine tractor tyres are a fair bit thicker than bike tyres

konanige

They are but you'd be surprised how many nails and other bits of metal you find sticking right in them on a regular basis. Just trust me and try it you'll never look back, I can't remember the last time I had a puncture, and we've just had all our blackthorn hedges cut back so it's like riding around on a pincushion here.javascript:emoticon(':shock:')