Self sealing inner tubes

sandy771
sandy771 Posts: 368
edited March 2012 in MTB buying advice
Are they any good?

Just been out to check my bike before a night ride tomorrow and found I had a flat (thorn) I am thinking of going to tubeless but wondered whether it would be worth getting self sealers in the meantime.

if so what do you recommend?

Comments

  • nicklouse
    nicklouse Posts: 50,675
    Nope.

    Over rated.
    "Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
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  • delcol
    delcol Posts: 2,848
    i had good results using joes and stans in my tubes just nik the tube with a knife were the puncture is add the stans or joes then patch up the hole.. works for small puntures but does'nt work on pinch flats and if you do pinch it gets quite messy...
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  • mak3m
    mak3m Posts: 1,394
    can be heavy if you are a weight weeny

    but

    can be very handy in thorn season and save a ride on some xc routes
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    A chap in the club had some, one thorn later and the only affect was a lot of slime in the tyres and on his hands etc etc, waste of time, money and lightness.

    Simon
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    Tubeless has the benefits whilst saving a chunk of weight. Just do that.
    just nik the tube with a knife were the puncture is add the stans or joes then patch up the hole

    Hang on? So you cut your tube, add sealant, then repair the hole? Why not skip the middle stage!? Or just change the tube. Adding it retrospectively seems totally pointless to me :?
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Clearly 'Where the puncture is" escaped you?

    On a Schraeder the valve core can be removed, not on most presta's.

    Tubless is heavy than lightweight tubes from the weights I have found (120g for lightweight tubes - I use Schwalbe 1.0-1.5 inside 2.1" tyres so only cost £3.50ish each versus 60g for sealant + 70-80g for rim strip and valve).

    Simon
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    njee20 wrote:
    Tubeless has the benefits whilst saving a chunk of weight. Just do that.
    just nik the tube with a knife were the puncture is add the stans or joes then patch up the hole

    Hang on? So you cut your tube, add sealant, then repair the hole? Why not skip the middle stage!? Or just change the tube. Adding it retrospectively seems totally pointless to me :?
    As simon has said, there's already a hole, so make it a bit bigger to add the sealant, then repair it.

    Tubeless done on converted rims isn't, in my experience, reliable. Done properly I'm sure it's fine, but if you don't have proper tubeless rims and tyres, the sealant in the tube thing is a better bet, if just plain old tubes aren't working for you. Yes, it's a case of '...after the horse has bolted' for this puncture, but any future punctures should be sealed, the same as if it was a puncture in a tubeless tyre with sealant.

    Slime is sh%t though!
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    Clearly 'Where the puncture is" escaped you?

    On a Schraeder the valve core can be removed, not on most presta's.
    As simon has said, there's already a hole, so make it a bit bigger to add the sealant, then repair it.

    No, I got that, I'm not totally retarded. But why add sealant, then repair the hole you've enlarged? Why not just repair the hole? Or add sealant as a preventative. Otherwise it's all a bit stable door/horse bolting.
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    njee20 wrote:
    Clearly 'Where the puncture is" escaped you?

    On a Schraeder the valve core can be removed, not on most presta's.
    As simon has said, there's already a hole, so make it a bit bigger to add the sealant, then repair it.

    No, I got that, I'm not totally retarded. But why add sealant, then repair the hole you've enlarged? Why not just repair the hole? Or add sealant as a preventative. Otherwise it's all a bit stable door/horse bolting.

    As I said
    bails87 wrote:
    Yes, it's a case of '...after the horse has bolted' for this puncture, but any future punctures should be sealed, the same as if it was a puncture in a tubeless tyre with sealant
    If you're in a position where you've already got a punctured tube, then you can't go back in time and add sealant before you got the puncture.

    If you just repair the hole (what I do on the very rare occasions I get a puncture) then you're vulnerable to future punctures.

    If you add sealant AFTER you've already got a puncture then it will just run out of the hole you've used to add the sealant!

    By adding sealant when the tube is already out to be repaired you've only got ot patch one hole and you prevent future punctures.

    I'm not sure how much clearer I can make it :?
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    Fair enough, don't think I get it as I've not used tubes on the MTB for 11 years, and have never repaired a tube in my life :-)
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    njee20 wrote:
    Fair enough, don't think I get it as I've not used tubes on the MTB for 11 years, and have never repaired a tube in my life :-)
    As I've said before, if I had a proper tubeless ready set of wheels and tyres then I'd use it, but my conversion was an absolute unreliable ball-ache and I wouldn't recommend it based on my experiences, so if you've got non tubelesstyres and wheels, but you want thorn protection then sealant inside a tube may well work. Just not Slime because it's pants! :lol:
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • The Spiderman
    The Spiderman Posts: 5,625
    Just removed some Slime tubes that came on a second hand bike I bought.210 g each! :shock:
    2006 Giant XTC
    2010 Giant Defy Advanced
    2016 Boardman Pro 29er
    2016 Pinnacle Lithium 4
    2017 Canondale Supersix Evo
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    That's not bad, the trax one I removed from a wheel I bought was 300g!

    As for not repairing tubes, that's just silly, I use normal glue and the weldtite sheet I can cut to size.

    Simon
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    This^^^^^^^^^
    Swap out onthe trail and fix when I get home. When there is more patch than tube, chuck away.
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  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    As for not repairing tubes, that's just silly, I use normal glue and the weldtite sheet I can cut to size.

    I use tubeless on the MTB and no way am I repairing road tubes!
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    njee20 wrote:
    As for not repairing tubes, that's just silly, I use normal glue and the weldtite sheet I can cut to size.

    I use tubeless on the MTB and no way am I repairing road tubes!
    Why not?
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    Because the idea of a sudden flat on a 120psi road tyre approaching a corner at 40 is worrying enough without adding in the lottery of a tube riddled with pre-existing holes!

    It's a sufficiently rare occurrence that I'm happy to bin them when they go.
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    njee20 wrote:
    Because the idea of a sudden flat on a 120psi road tyre approaching a corner at 40 is worrying enough without adding in the lottery of a tube riddled with pre-existing holes!

    It's a sufficiently rare occurrence that I'm happy to bin them when they go.

    Fair enough!

    I *touch wood* haven't a puncture on my road bike(s) at all yet. I did pinch a brand new tube trying to get a tyre onto my new CX wheels the other night which I was planning on reparing.

    Maybe it'll go on the 'pootling' bike instead!
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    As long as it happens gently it's fine (and it usually does). I've only had a couple go suddenly, but it's not something I can recommend. As I say, for the £5 or so for tubes a few times a year I'll take the peace of mind!
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    They are handy for commuting or touring but that's about it IMO.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • jaymodunn
    jaymodunn Posts: 22
    I used slime inners on my bike. I had issues riding on the canal paths with broken glass and after being stranded 6 miles from home with a flat tyre )had a spare inner and puncture repair kit but the spare went a few miles later and the tube had too many holes) i decided to give them a go. With over 500 miles I had no issues. Whether i had another puncture or not, i rode in cities, canal etc and never got stranded again.
  • tenfoot
    tenfoot Posts: 226
    I got fed up with getting a lot of thorn punctures, so at the moment I am using one on the rear only, to keep the weight down and to halve my chances of punctures. It seems to work ok, as I haven't had a rear flat for ages.
  • bennett_346
    bennett_346 Posts: 5,029
    I just remember my filled ones tearing and leaving my hands covered in spunk in front of many people. Never again.

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