Bicycle Tube Question/Poll (slime)

[Mandobart]

I know there are some very avid cyclists here. I wouldn't count myself in your ranks, but I do enjoy pedaling my Trek along the trails here in the PNW.

I live on the dry side of the mountains where we have the scourge of western cyclists - tackweed (aka goat heads or puncture vine). As a result, many people use a product called slime that supposedly seals any small tube punctures.

I hate the stuff (tackweed and slime). Local bike shops insist on using slime in new tubes. Invariably within a year it rots out the valve core (presta and shrader equally). Now you have a failure that you can't patch and slime won't fix. Better off using thick tubes and tire liners.

My morning ride with my son (visiting from the wetside) was delayed due to a rotted out presta valve thanks to slime.

Anyone have similar problems with the nasty green stuff?

[Earl49]

We feel your pain. We have a matched pair of Sun EZ-3 recumbent trikes and live in goat head country. We have used Kevlar-belted tires and Slime tubes for years, yet still go through about a dozen tubes a year. The goop inside seems to seal up minor punctures OK but has a definite lifespan of maybe a year before it stops working. As you alluded, it does gum up the air valve easily. I have removed tubes that had no leaks or punctures that I could find, but the valve will no longer hold air. I have even pulled the valve stems and cleaned them which sometimes helps -- briefly. We have to air up two of the six tires before almost every neighborhood ride, and carry a pump just in case when trail riding. I even keep a filled air tank in the truck when we are riding away from home.

For the front tires I switched to regular tubes last spring. They go flat more easily but the valve stems do not get clogged. It's a trade-off. We are now in the habit of parking so that each valve stem points up from the bottom at about a 30° angle. The idea is that the Slime drips out of the valve stem but that does not always work. I don't know how much slime is inside each tube to know if having the stem at bottom dead center would have the end floating in a puddle of Slime.

Our bike shop sells thick foam inserts that mostly fill the void and protect a regular inner tube. But those don't come in our tire size (1.5" x 20"). I could cut a larger diameter one down -- they them for have 1.5" x 27" tires -- but doubt that the loose ends would stay in place very well. I wish that I could remember the brand name..... thought there was a picture handy but cannot find it. If I could find an airless tire that would work, we'd switch immediately.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

I know there are some very avid cyclists here. I wouldn't count myself in your ranks, but I do enjoy pedaling my Trek along the trails here in the PNW.

I live on the dry side of the mountains where we have the scourge of western cyclists - tackweed (aka goat heads or puncture vine). As a result, many people use a product called slime that supposedly seals any small tube punctures.

I hate the stuff (tackweed and slime). Local bike shops insist on using slime in new tubes. Invariably within a year it rots out the valve core (presta and shrader equally). Now you have a failure that you can't patch and slime won't fix. Better off using thick tubes and tire liners.

My morning ride with my son (visiting from the wetside) was delayed due to a rotted out presta valve thanks to slime.

Anyone have similar problems with the nasty green stuff?

If your rims are compatible go tubeless. You can also search out quality tubes. There are non-rubber tubes and also the classic good made in France Michelin tubes.

Some I know who've gone tubeless have also done the cush core thing. I am tubeless where possible, buy French or German tubes when possible, and carry spare presta cores.

[mtdmind]

I have the same where I live..devil's pop corn. I dislike the slime because if it gets into the valves they are ruined. I have went back to no slime plain inner tubes. I also got very good at catching the goat heads when they stick to my tires. When I see something white on my tires I always stop and I am always able to pick them out before they bury themselves too deep.

[RP]

Ok dumb question. I'm a long time cyclist and know that bike tires require periodic tire inflation after sitting idle. How do you do that if you've used slime and your valves have been rendered even partially non-functional?

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by RP

Ok dumb question. I'm a long time cyclist and know that bike tires require periodic tire inflation after sitting idle. How do you do that if you've used slime and your valves have been rendered even partially non-functional?

With or without slime you can see tubes and stems crack or deteriorate.

The metal tubeless stems don't do that. The valves are replaceable. Tubeless is worth pursuing if you are a regular rider.

[hubcapsc]

If your rims are compatible go tubeless.

Bleggh. Maybe if you ride, like, every day or every other
day. If you ride only every week or every other week, the
other name for tubeless bike tires is "flat". Anywho... I
stuck with it for a while, and didn't like it.

I went back to thick thorn-resistant tubes (I used to
get thorns in the Clemson forest, so I had some
of the same problems as the OP).

People say "they're too heavy!". I say I didn't really notice
much beyond not getting thorn flats...

-Mike

[Napman41]

Forget the Slime and try using Stan’s tire sealant.

[FrankHudson]

I've read of those thorns, but have never biked where they are a common problem. Can we assume that you're sure your flats are confirmed to come from those thorns?

I know tubeless setups which use sealants but not tubes are all the rage. I've thought about it on the bike I have that has tubeless ready rims, but have never pulled the trigger. I've read that some prefer Stan's to Slime too.

You've mentioned trying different tubes and liners, but not tires if I recall. I've gone with more puncture resistant tires with a good reduction from flats from the urban stuff one finds around cities. Continental and Schwalbe offer some lines in many sizes with extra puncture protection. My feeling/observation is that once a pointed object get through the tire a mere tube isn't likely to stop it. My wife used to use Mr Tuffy liners between her tube and tire with some success, but again looking a urban flats from debris.

This site is more focused on the last few percent of performance one might get out of a set of tires, but it does test on puncture resistance too. If you're looking for a more puncture resistant tire (and I would be) it may help with narrowing down the search.

Bicycle Rolling Resistance tire tests

Way back in the 20th century I used to have a set of tire wipers on my old road bike. Looked like these:

Tire Wipers

The theory was that it wasn't the "first strike" that caused a lot of punctures, but the subsequent revolutions of the tire "nailed" the object through the tire. The idea here is the wiper would knock it off the tire surface before that happened. I'm not sure that's so with a significant number of punctures, but it's another thing that some people think helps.

No one has suggested monel tubes or using a thicker pick as a tire iron yet, so maybe one of the above thoughts may help.

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

I've read of those thorns, but have never biked where they are a common problem. Can we assume that you're sure your flats are confirmed to come from those thorns?

Actually I pretty much never get flats on my bike anymore. I'm the bike mechanic (well basically the fix everything guy) in my family. Today it was my son's bike with the flat, and I'm pretty sure it was caused by the presta valve completely rotting away where it attached to the tube. Makes it hard to hold air - even harder to pump back up.

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

You've mentioned trying different tubes and liners, but not tires if I recall. I've gone with more puncture resistant tires with a good reduction from flats from the urban stuff one finds around cities.

In addition to biologically induced flats we also have road debris - broken glass, nails, wire, etc. I use a good rim guard to prevent spokes and nipples from poking through. I use full width tire liners between the tube and tire. I also buy heavier tubes, plus when the kids were riding their bikes all over I used old tubes slit along the inside to wrap the new tubes with an additional protective layer. This combination (or just a few of these strategies) have been very effective.

The one thing I won't use is slime or any type of internal sealant (the sole subject of my original post) as I've found it corroded the valve core of the tube. Little did I know my son (who is grown and lives on his own) opted for the slime treatment in his new bike when he got it. I'll bet he won't choose it again.

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

Way back in the 20th century I used to have a set of tire wipers on my old road bike. Looked like these:

Tire Wipers

The theory was that it wasn't the "first strike" that caused a lot of punctures, but the subsequent revolutions of the tire "nailed" the object through the tire. The idea here is the wiper would knock it off the tire surface before that happened. I'm not sure that's so with a significant number of punctures, but it's another thing that some people think helps.

Yep, those are great. I had them on my old technium. I haven't seen them for wider tires (or at all recently). Really wouldn't be too hard to make myself.....

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

No one has suggested monel tubes or using a thicker pick as a tire iron yet, so maybe one of the above thoughts may help.

;-) yep we got that going for us so far. We use vespel for valve packing at the power plant though - so there are potential Bluechip tube applications I guess...

[imwjl]

I'm guessing most here take a moment to tune their guitars before playing. Go tubeless and just tune your tires before riding. Tubeless is not just an option for some fault tolerance. It's superior handling, superior comfort, superior performance.

Do you defend tubes and bias ply tires for your car if it's not a Model A Ford? No, you've probably been using tubeless tires with superior radial ply construction for decades. If you want to enjoy the bike at its best and if you ride fairly often just realize there's a much better way with tubeless.

This is not an option for all tubes but some do have removable presta cores, and you can use same sealants for tubeless tires. Reality is tubeless ready products are best.

One other benefit for anyone with some enthusiasm and interest is most newer bike choices with tubeless ready wheels have better designs in other ways.

[hubcapsc]

Reality is tubeless ready products are best.

You heard it here first folks - tubeless is best for imwjl ...

-Mike

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by hubcapsc

Reality is tubeless ready products are best.

You heard it here first folks - tubeless is best for imwjl ...

-Mike

What we said. If you want to ride or do ride tune it like your guitar. Ride something that brings you pleasure and performance just like your instrument.

There have been a lot of bike back orders lately but anyone with some interest should give up old craptacular designs and products. Maybe one's issue with not riding is craptacular design from the fools who thought bikes should be like racers' or done the same stupid way they did the previous models.

Get tires that will amaze you. Get bikes you ride in instead of on! Seriously. The world needs happiness. It's what good bikes do.

[philo426]

Don't leave it in a car tire either !it will damage it!

[merlin666]

Wow I really am lucky I guess. I only ride for fun and in nice weather maybe 2000 to 3000 km per year, and in the 25 years I have owned my bike never had a flat though I ride on and off pavement. This is a a department store bike and had many parts replaced over the years as they wore out but still has original tires and tubes. The tires are very worn now but still seem to hold up. At what point are tires supposed to be replaced?