Slime Inner Tubes

[Matt1eD]

I've started cycling home at weekends (health, environment and all that) - approximately 11 miles with the first six on a cycle track. Two punctures later I'm a little pissed off!

Anbody used these - I've read very mixed reviews. Any other ideas? Thanks.

[eshrules]

Originally Posted by Matt1eD

I've started cycling home at weekends (health, environment and all that) - approximately 11 miles with the first six on a cycle track. Two punctures later I'm a little pissed off!

Anbody used these - I've read very mixed reviews. Any other ideas? Thanks.

i got annoyed with the very same thing, living on a council estate, nails and remnants of frag grenades are commonplace.... i tried out the slime tubes out of curiousity more than anything, as there really isnt much price difference. one thing i will say, they do work.. to an extent. anything bigger than approx 2/3 mill in diameter, you'll have a puncture, but given enough time, they tend to 'heal'. the smaller the puncture, obviously, the better/quicker the tyre will 'heal'.

i tested a tyre with slime tube inside, to see how durable it was, glass is a big no no if you slash your tyre with glass, dont expect the slime to do anything. screws are a bit difficult too, because of the way the 'thread' slashes the tube, so that depends on size etc.

i would have thought though for usual day to day riding, you'd be fine. i've had mine in country parks, off road and everything and the slime tubes have stood up well.

[Fabula]

Not used them, but a friend who is a bike nut warned me off them as they tend to dry up and stop working after 6months to a year, so need replacing regularly. Given the cost differential, they are apparently not worth it.

May try them myself despite the warning, just to see.

[eshrules]

Originally Posted by Fabula

Not used them, but a friend who is a bike nut warned me off them as they tend to dry up and stop working after 6months to a year, so need replacing regularly. Given the cost differential, they are apparently not worth it.

May try them myself despite the warning, just to see.

i've had mine for approx 9 months and no sign of drying up just yet .... maybe one of those things that you do or don't, perhaps not quite as definitive as we'd all like

[moogle]

tell me about it. london and all the broken glass all over. never used them but i just bring my toolkit in my bag and spare tyres. although i did see on ebay a kevlar tube protector. its basically that material that goes between the tyre and the tube and it's tough to pierce it etc. was £12 and i regret i didn't get it.

[schmunk]

Would you not be better with prevention rather than cure, and use Specialised Armadillo tyres (or similar)?

[Matt1eD]

Thanks all, sounds like I might try giving the inner tubes a try and then when I'm next Wiggling get some new tyres (which tbh I'm in need of anyway).

Will keep you posted if I have any probs.

[chrestomanci]

Originally Posted by Fabula

Not used them, but a friend who is a bike nut warned me off them as they tend to dry up and stop working after 6months to a year, so need replacing regularly. Given the cost differential, they are apparently not worth it.

I definitely think they are worth it. I have some on my mountain bike, and I rode for nearly 2 years (3-4 hours every Saturday) without being inconvenienced by a puncture. I still got a few, but they either healed, or went down so slowly I did not have to fix it till the ride was over. There was no sign of the slime drying up when I eventually got a puncture from a huge nail.

A bike shop I used to go to had a demo of slime, that consisted of a small wheel from a child's bike, and a board with a nail in it. They would puncture the tire with the nail, and it would heal in a few seconds as you watched. I dare say there was quite a bit more slime than normal in that tire, but it was still very impressive.

[herulach]

Id go for tyres over tubes. The sludge is incredibly heavy, and only really useful on pin pricks and the like. longer slashs (like you get from glass for eg) are pretty much unfixable.

[Matt1eD]

Weights a factor - it's a fairly heavy MTB - how much difference does it make?

[JPreston]

Herulach's right. I don't rate them particularly, although I run them together with puncture tape (I don't give a toss about weight, I'm a BEEEEEEFCAAAAAAKE ) and I still get occasional punctures, not to mention sidewall rips and so on for which there is no prevention. Better to just get quality tyres, 120tpi, makes a big difference just from that.

Best thing if you are cycling just on roads, is get yourself some puncture-protected slick or semi-slick tyres like spesh armadillos. You will also really notice the difference having slicks makes versus knobbly tyres on tarmac.

[Matt1eD]

It sounds in general like the slime isn't worth it as it protects against the small stuff when some decent tyres will protect against the small stuff and slightly bigger stuff!

Read a bit about the Armadillos and have settled on getting these and sticking with normal tubes.

[SilentDeath]

You can always play with slime later.. think its the same stuff you can buy in a compressed can for car tyres. Only difference is you put it in after the puncture instead of it being in before, which might be very usefull since you wont need to pump it up either.
However its about 7 quid so depending on your time and effort of chaning a tyre it might not be worth it if a new tube is the same price.

No idea if those are any good, since my bike was stolen the same week I bought my first car, and never ridden one since

[KiMi-Tech]

I personally hate Slime inner tubes they make your bike feel sluggish, i would just get some kevlar tube rotectors and or some decent kevlar bead tyres.

[alexkoon]

Most people would probably recommend Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres if you need serious puncture protection. But read they are very heavy.

I cycle commute and had a period of punctures. I changed my tyres to Specialized Armadillos and so far so good. Better spend money on new tyres if you have thebudget.

[danroyle]

when i go riding i also have a set of allen keys in my bag a pump and a spare inner tube just in case. if i am doing some more hardcore riding it is easier to rip out the tube and replace it with a new one, most of my pounctures are caused from jumping and kerbing the tyre and pinching the tube so slime doesn't work,

plus as someone pointed out slime is only any good on tiny holes