"Slime" for bicycles?

[James S. Prine]

A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has any opinions...positive,
negative, or whatever <g> about the green "Slime" being marketed as a product
that is injected into the tires of bicycles, motorcycles, etc., to prevent
'flats'.

Any opinions or experiences with this material that I can relate to him?

Thanks in advance for any responses.




James S. Prine
http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/

 

[cheg]

"James S. Prine" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has any opinions...positive,
> negative, or whatever <g> about the green "Slime" being marketed as a product
> that is injected into the tires of bicycles, motorcycles, etc., to prevent
> 'flats'.
>
> Any opinions or experiences with this material that I can relate to him?
>
> Thanks in advance for any responses.
>
>
>
>\

..One tire of mine survived a heavy wire staple puncture because of slime. I
heard a scraping noise and stopped to find a loop of wire sticking out of the
tire and rubbing on the inside of the fender. Moving the wire caused a rush of
air to escape, but when I pulled it out the hole sealed itself in a few seconds
and I was able to complete the ride. The tire lost more air while parked that
night, but then sealed completely.

Another tire got a quarter inch cut through the tube, probably from a shard of
glass. The slime did nothing but make a mess inside the tire, but it does tell
you where the hole is. It's not a panacea. You still need to carry a spare tube.
I

 

[richie]

I had a bad run of punctures and started using a slime tube. Have not had a
puncture since. Weight difference is miniscule. Would heartily recommend
for hassle free training rides. One warning...avoid pinch punctures (i.e.
ensure tube has seated properly) as the slime goes everywhere.

richie

"James S. Prine" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has any opinions...positive,
> negative, or whatever <g> about the green "Slime" being marketed as a
product
> that is injected into the tires of bicycles, motorcycles, etc., to prevent
> 'flats'.
>
> Any opinions or experiences with this material that I can relate to him?
>
> Thanks in advance for any responses.
>
>
>
>
> James S. Prine
> http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/
>
>

 

[The Queen of Cans and Jars]

James S. Prine <[email protected]> wrote:

> A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has any opinions...positive,
> negative, or whatever <g> about the green "Slime" being marketed as a product
> that is injected into the tires of bicycles, motorcycles, etc., to prevent
> 'flats'.
>
> Any opinions or experiences with this material that I can relate to him?
>
> Thanks in advance for any responses.

i've never met a mechanic who liked the stuff. it's messy, and it's not
as useful as it sounds.

 

[LioNiNoiL_a t_Ne t s c a pE_D 0 T_Ne T]

> A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has
> any opinions...positive, negative, or whatever <g>
> about the green "Slime" being marketed as a product
> that is injected into the tires of bicycles,
> motorcycles, etc., to prevent 'flats'.

I'm a daily commuter, and I've been using it for nearly fifteen years to
prevent the occasional minor leak from making me late to work. Slime may
well be a waste of money for Ricky Racer who can fix a flat on his Trek
Madone in ninety seconds, but it takes me a lot longer than that just to
pump a 2.0x26 tyre on my pannier-packing commuter bike, not to mention
the time spent finding and patching the leak.

--
Robots don't kill people -- people kill people.
http://www.irobotmovie.com/

 

[Larry Farrell]

LioNiNoiL_a t_Ne t s c a pE_D 0 T_Ne T wrote:

>> A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has
>> any opinions...positive, negative, or whatever <g>
>> about the green "Slime" being marketed as a product
>> that is injected into the tires of bicycles,
>> motorcycles, etc., to prevent 'flats'.
>
>
> I'm a daily commuter, and I've been using it for nearly fifteen years
> to prevent the occasional minor leak from making me late to work.
> Slime may well be a waste of money for Ricky Racer who can fix a flat
> on his Trek Madone in ninety seconds, but it takes me a lot longer
> than that just to pump a 2.0x26 tyre on my pannier-packing commuter
> bike, not to mention the time spent finding and patching the leak.
>
Not to mention the fact that, at least in my experience, slime makes it
virtually impossible to patch a leak if one exceeds the "patching"
ability of the slime itself. Patches simply will not stick to the
slimed area.

 

[BanditManDan]

James S. Prine wrote:
> A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has any
> opinions...positive, negative, or whatever <g> about the green "Slime"
> being marketed as a product that is injected into the tires of bicycles,
> motorcycles, etc., to prevent 'flats'.
> Any opinions or experiences with this material that I can relate to him?
> Thanks in advance for any responses.
> James S. Prine
> http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/



I found that it worked as advertised but clogged up my tire pump under
higher pressure.

Dan.



--

 

[Alan Braswell]

I used Slime for a while in both my lower pressure hybrid
tires and my higher pressure road bike tires.

In the lower pressure tires, I did not experience any
problems, but I don't know that it really prevented any
flats either.

With the higher pressure tires on the road bike, I had a
problem with it "clogging up" the valve stems on the tubes.
I don't know if anyone else experienced this problem, but it
happened on 3 different tubes. When I finally decided it
might be the Slime wreaking havoc on my valve stems, and quit
using it, the problem went away.

The owner of the lbs did tell me that a number of his
customers who had tried it were not really happy with - for
various reasons.

Hope this helps.

Alan

(remove the x's on the email address)




> A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has any
> opinions...positive, negative, or whatever <g> about the
> green "Slime" being marketed as a product that is injected
> into the tires of bicycles, motorcycles, etc., to prevent
> 'flats'.
>
> Any opinions or experiences with this material that I can
> relate to him?
>
> Thanks in advance for any responses.
>
>
>
>
> James S. Prine
> http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/
>
>

 

[Bill Davidson]

Larry Farrell wrote:
> Not to mention the fact that, at least in my experience, slime makes it
> virtually impossible to patch a leak if one exceeds the "patching"
> ability of the slime itself. Patches simply will not stick to the
> slimed area.

I found the light weight slime tube to be patchable. No problem.
You do have to make sure the area is clean and give it a little
sanding but you were doing that anyway right?

I haven't had a flat yet with a standard slime tube so I don't know
if that's patchable.

My only complaint about slime tubes is the funky valve that can come
unscrewed (from the stem) accidently squirting slime all over the
place if you have any air pressure in the tire.

--Bill Davidson

 

[David Kerber]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> I used Slime for a while in both my lower pressure hybrid
> tires and my higher pressure road bike tires.
>
> In the lower pressure tires, I did not experience any
> problems, but I don't know that it really prevented any
> flats either.
>
> With the higher pressure tires on the road bike, I had a
> problem with it "clogging up" the valve stems on the tubes.
> I don't know if anyone else experienced this problem, but it

I have, and that's why I gave up on it.

....

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

 

[Ron Wallenfang]

I gave up on them for the reasons stated by other posters here. My current
strategy is to use kevlar linings plus a thorn resistant tube that resists
being cut by the kevlar lining itself. I've only had one puncture with that
system in many thousands of miles of riding. Unfortunately, that system
isn't foolproof either, as the thick thorn resistant tubes are more prone to
stem failures than other tubes. So you still have to carry an extra tubeor
two.


"James S. Prine" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> A friend asked me to ask this group if anyone has any opinions...positive,
> negative, or whatever <g> about the green "Slime" being marketed as a
product
> that is injected into the tires of bicycles, motorcycles, etc., to prevent
> 'flats'.
>
> Any opinions or experiences with this material that I can relate to him?
>
> Thanks in advance for any responses.
>
>
>
>
> James S. Prine
> http://hometown.aol.com/jsprine/
>
>

 

[LioNiNoiL_a t_Ne t s c a pE_D 0 T_Ne T]

> slime makes it virtually impossible to patch a leak
> if one exceeds the "patching" ability of the slime
> itself. Patches simply will not stick to the slimed area.

That's why I carry packets of medical alcohol wipes in my tool bag, to
clean the area of Slime and other adulterants prior to patching. They're
cheap, they're small, and they make for a good patch. At home I use
rubbing alcohol before patching, same idea.

--
Robots don't kill people -- people kill people.
http://www.irobotmovie.com/