Puncture Prevention - Slime filled tubes ??????

andyj1234uk

Good afternoon all,

Just been for a ride down the local canal towpath. After 3 punctures in 20 mins due to thorns, i am considering getting pre filled slime inner tubes. Are they worth the extra expense and do they really help with preventing punctures.

Thanks

Andy J

peter413

I found the slime ones were worse than useless.

Wrecked the handling, weighed a ton and wouldn't seal a single puncture. i also completely destroyed it in 3 days :shock: (in which time I had 4 punctures and finally the valve split in two)

5xcr

hi, a bit late this reply, busy at work. I use slime in my tubes and also a slime liner to stop punctures, and find they do not puncture at all. I would say it doesnt make the tyre unbalanced or wreck the valve( shradar)and its just a gel so extra weight is minimal. The liner is a thin strip of rubbery plastic and light as afeather.

worth the slight weight penalty to stop punctures for a year of riding,and then top up with fresh slime.

remember , slime wont stop pinch flats because the splits too big though.

hope this helps, 5xcr

Big Shoes

I also use the slime liners, light weight and they sit between the tubes and the tyres, they have been superb, I have not had a puncture in over 5 years.

bails87

You could try putting tubeless sealant inside a regular tube. That's what I did and it worked as well as , if not better than the slime. Plus it doesn't clump together in one place like the slime because its more "liquidy".

bomberesque

bails87 wrote:

You could try putting tubeless sealant inside a regular tube.

^this is the best idea that I've heard this year. Kind of like very easy Pseudo Ghetto tubeless.

iirc the technique (rather than trying to get teh latex through the valve) is to snip the tube and put it in there. Then pump the thing up with the tyre on and the first job the latex will do is seal the small hole you made. Voila ghetto slime tube!

bails87

bomberesque
I'm not sure that the sealant would seal the hole, depends how big you make it I guess, but it's easy enough to fix with a bog standard patch. But schwalbe presta and most schraeder tubes have removeable cores.

Jonsquires

Hello

i have have a similar problem with the canal towpath. I seem to get at least one puncture every other ride. I found that the slimes didnlt work too well on the strech of canal I use as the thorns where so big. (actually the first one I had I got an impact pucture but that is a different story!!). Our local town makes abig show of being cycle friendly (including the canal, but when sopme goes to cut back the hawthorn bushes they don't clear the paths!! )

I will try the liners as well but in my expirence Slime tyres don't stop punctures from thorns.. i was just going to avoid the towpath, but itdidnlt really want to as it is a much nicer route to my local trails rather than the road option....less hills too....

bomberesque

Bails. Yeah, can't recall where I read the advice about piercing the tube. I *think* it was in one of the BR guides but can't find it now. As you say though, if your valve doesn't have a removable core then it's easy enough to snip the tube, put the latex in and then patch the hole before inflating

when you tried this, did you find this stopped pinch flats aswell? Sounds a lot less messy / easier than ghetto tubeless (as fantastic as that has been for my relationship with the puncture fairy )

andyj1234uk

Thanks to everyone for the replies. On the weekly shopping drag (trip) to Asda i found some Bell bike bits. In all of these were some self sealing tubes for £4 each. So i dropped a couple in the trolley, despite the wife complaning about this. At that price it is worth giving them a go. They also have Kelvar lined tyres for £10 each so I might invest in them next pay day. As the bike will only be for canal towpaths and possibly my local trail centre (Canock Chase). Once on i will let you know how i get on.

Cheers

Andy J

bails87

bomberesque
It might work, not saying it won't, but I patched the tube, it made sense to put a 'sure fire' repair on while I had the tube out anyway.

Unfortunately it didn't stop a pinch flat. Holding everyone up on the forum ride on Cannock Chase is what made me go tubeless :oops:

Again though, it depends A small pinch flat that's essentially just two needle width punctures will probably be fine. I never found the puncture that finished off my tube, the whole thing, along with the inside of the tyre, was covered in sealant.

Sarnian

I am using Stan tyre sealant on one of my bikes in normal tubes, it came about by accident, I was in a rush the other month went to get my bike out of the shed and there it was a puncture.
Being in a rush and thinking on the go (and the spare tube being back in the house in my camel back) I took the valve core out (so glad I never binned that core extractor) grabbed one of the syringes from my bleed kit filled it up with Stans sealant and squirted down the valve put the core back in, gave the tyre a spin pumped it up and there you go, has not gone down so I have now done the back one

G-S

With regard to andyj1234uk's comments earlier. I gave a bash to the Asda kit you mentioned above with mixed results. The tyres ara a bargain for £10 a throw, however, only if you are riding on the road or metalled paths. If you hit the slop, or any woody trails you will have an interesting time at best. The tubes, with the pre-filled gunk are ok at best and practically impossible to repair once damaged ( I wasted a couple of scabs working that one out!). I would use either product only for the gentlest of rides home from work. If you are hitting the trails, tubeless is deffo the way to go.