Slime and pinch flats

[[email protected]]

Are slime-filled tubes supposed to be any use in sealing pinch
punctures? My experience this morning would suggest they're not! My
own fault really - let the back tyre pressure get a bit low and
carrying heavy panniers... would have to happen on one of the coldest
mornings of the year too (minus 5C in the back garden overnight).

A couple of other observations:
1) Conti TravelContact tyres are great (first puncture in the 8 months
I've had them on) but a real pain to get on and off (especially off as
they seem to weld themselves to the rims over time!)

2) Plastic tyre levers are utterly useless, doubly so in cold weather
(both snapped)

3) Slime is also pretty useless when you pinch the new tube when
replacing the tyre. D'oh!

Only an hour late to work this morning )

___
Rob

 

[Rob Morley]

In article <42fd1355-6973-4b51-9137-c2c46f0eef92
@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com>,
[email protected] says...
> Are slime-filled tubes supposed to be any use in sealing pinch
> punctures?

IME (of fixing other people's punctures - I've never used it on my own
bikes) Slime is only effective with pinhole punctures.

> 2) Plastic tyre levers are utterly useless, doubly so in cold weather
> (both snapped)

Some plastic tyre levers are utterly useless, some are pretty effective,
it's often hard to tell which sort you have until you bend or break
them.

 

[Pete Biggs]

[email protected] wrote:
> Are slime-filled tubes supposed to be any use in sealing pinch
> punctures?

You're lucky if it seals an ordinary puncture, let alone a pinch puncture.
The holes/splits are too large.

> My experience this morning would suggest they're not! My
> own fault really - let the back tyre pressure get a bit low and
> carrying heavy panniers... would have to happen on one of the coldest
> mornings of the year too (minus 5C in the back garden overnight).
>
> A couple of other observations:
> 1) Conti TravelContact tyres are great (first puncture in the 8 months
> I've had them on) but a real pain to get on and off (especially off as
> they seem to weld themselves to the rims over time!)

Not a surprise to me to hear a Conti tyre is tight to fit.

> 2) Plastic tyre levers are utterly useless, doubly so in cold weather
> (both snapped)

Depends on the "plastic". Fibreglass reinforced nylon ones are fine, IME.

~PB

 

[Roger Merriman]

Pete Biggs <[email protected]> wrote:

> [email protected] wrote:
> > Are slime-filled tubes supposed to be any use in sealing pinch
> > punctures?
>
> You're lucky if it seals an ordinary puncture, let alone a pinch puncture.
> The holes/splits are too large.

not sure it's the size so much, more where. i used to use slime and it
did work even with some fairly big thorns and such but doesn't seem to
cope with pinch flats how ever small.
>
> > My experience this morning would suggest they're not! My
> > own fault really - let the back tyre pressure get a bit low and
> > carrying heavy panniers... would have to happen on one of the coldest
> > mornings of the year too (minus 5C in the back garden overnight).
> >
> > A couple of other observations:
> > 1) Conti TravelContact tyres are great (first puncture in the 8 months
> > I've had them on) but a real pain to get on and off (especially off as
> > they seem to weld themselves to the rims over time!)
>
> Not a surprise to me to hear a Conti tyre is tight to fit.
>
> > 2) Plastic tyre levers are utterly useless, doubly so in cold weather
> > (both snapped)
>
> Depends on the "plastic". Fibreglass reinforced nylon ones are fine, IME.
>
> ~PB

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

 

[Duncan Smith]

>
> 2) Plastic tyre levers are utterly useless, doubly so in cold weather
> (both snapped)
>

The blue ones from Park Tool are very strong and reasonably priced - I
think they are stocked at Wiggle. I've only had them snap on tough
jobs, like fitting a puncture proof tyre to an awkward rim combo for
the first time (which really calls for metal levers) - other than
that, they'll be fine.

http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=11&item=TL-1

> 3) Slime is also pretty useless when you pinch the new tube when
> replacing the tyre. D'oh!
>

Slime is a waste of time. Puncture protection is all about the tyres
- fit Schwalbe Marathon Plus or Dutch Perfects 'No Flats'. You wont
get any punctures from the outside in. Keep the pressure high and the
rim-tape in good order and you shouldn't get any from the inside
either.

Regards,

Duncan

 

[[email protected]]

On Dec 13, 6:03 pm, [email protected] (Roger Merriman) wrote:

>
> > You're lucky if it seals an ordinary puncture, let alone a pinch puncture.
> > The holes/splits are too large.
>
> not sure it's the size so much, more where. i used to use slime and it
> did work even with some fairly big thorns and such but doesn't seem to
> cope with pinch flats how ever small.
>

I think you're right. The holes (a pair) seemed pretty tiny but the
slime seemed did nothing at all. When I got the first flat I was only
a mile or so from my destination so tried reinflating and spinning the
wheel to see if it would reseal and at least let me ride on until I
could change the tube in the warm, but no.

Duncan - thanks for the lever tip, I'll check them out. The ones that
snapped were some cheapo brand that came as part of a repair kit and
were apparently made of cheese.

R