To slime or not to slime

Hi all,
I'm going on a long bike ride this weekend and was wondering about benefits of using slime?
I've read some stuff in this newsgroup most of which seems to say that it works rather well but some warnings that it makes the bike shake as it turns the tyre solid.
Is it worth using or should I just stick the puncture repair outfit?
Cheers
Caher

 

I have tried it several times on the road and still found I got punctures. There is also the issue
if weight in the wheels, a critical area especially if you are going long distance.

 

I'm told by my bicycle mechanic son that slime is OK for off-roading with big tyres and pressures
lower than 20lb. Apparently on higher pressures and smaller tyres (like on road bikes) the slime
will spurt out more than do anything useful. hth Neil "Caher" <[email protected]> wrote
in message news:[email protected]...
> Hi all, I'm going on a long bike ride this weekend and was wondering about benefits of using
> slime? I've read some stuff in this newsgroup most of which seems to say that it works rather well
> but some warnings that it makes the bike shake as it turns the tyre solid. Is it worth using or
> should I just stick the puncture repair outfit? Cheers Caher
>
>
>
> --
> >--------------------------<
> Posted via cyclingforums.com http://www.cyclingforums.com

 

Caher <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi all, I'm going on a long bike ride this weekend and was wondering about benefits of using
> slime? I've read some stuff in this newsgroup most of which seems to say that it works rather well
> but some warnings that it makes the bike shake as it turns the tyre solid. Is it worth using or
> should I just stick the puncture repair outfit? Cheers Caher

I always take a couple of spare tubes on long rides and just do a road side change, saving the
punctured tube for repairing later on.

Dave.

 

Caher <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi all, I'm going on a long bike ride this weekend and was wondering about benefits of using
> slime? I've read some stuff in this newsgroup most of which seems to say that it works rather well
> but some warnings that it makes the bike shake as it turns the tyre solid. Is it worth using or
> should I just stick the puncture repair outfit? Cheers Caher

I a m always saying how good it is.I have just found and installed a tube of it on my light road
bike having had a flat every time out for the last couple of weeks.I am not sure whether I would
notice a change in the feel of the wheels if someone put it in secretly.I do have friends and rels
who never have punctures since I set their bike up and don't know why,though they may one day notice
the green oozes. I like it best when I am commuting or working or pottering about.It might perhaps
make for slightly more work on an audax or long tour, but other things have more effect on that. I
would really like someone to do a rolling resistance test including acceleration resistance with a
variety of tyre types.

TerryJ

 

"Terry" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I a m always saying how good it is.I have just found and installed a tube of it on my light road
> bike having had a flat every time out for the last couple of weeks.

That sounds like bad luck! Where on earth do you ride that road bike to get so many punctures??

 

> I always take a couple of spare tubes on long rides and just do a road side change, saving the
> punctured tube for repairing later on.
>
> Dave.

I have to agree with this. Even on the off road stretches I have found it consideraly quicker to
change a tube then to repair one. As for slime, don't do it. I had a puncture and it just leaked
all over the inside of the tyres. This resulted in the tube being glued to tyre and tearing the
tube when I attempted to remove it from the tyre. It cured the flat but it just caused problems for
me later on.

Thats my two penny worth.

Gadget

 

"Caher" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Hi all, I'm going on a long bike ride this weekend and was wondering about benefits of using
> slime? I've read some stuff in this newsgroup most of which seems to say that it works rather well
> but some warnings that it makes the bike shake as it turns the tyre solid. Is it worth using or
> should I just stick the puncture repair outfit?

It does seem to me that slime is something people either like or loath, but personally I have only
good things to say about it. Over the year which I used it (before putting tyre liners in instead
because I think they're even better), it saved me from many punctures, over my ~ 23 mile daily
commute and my once ever long distance cycle ride (London to York via Sustrans routes). It saved me
from wasting time at the roadside and getting late for work, got me home in inclement weather
without the need to stop and get more rained on and more late; and where it didn't seal punctures
enough to prevent at least a slow leak (due to said rain and water getting between tyre and tube) at
least allowed me to get home and fix the punctures at leisure in the warmth and dryness of home. It
is a Good Thing, IMHO and any drawbacks, not that I really thought there were any, were only slight.

Rich

 

I've used it before. It stops small punctures OK but it wont stop really large ones. I didn't notice
any difference to the handling of the bike when I was using it.

One thing that I have found to work quite well, are Slime tyre liners, which are basically flexible
plastic strips which go between the inner-tube and outer-tyre. I would reccomend them.

 

Neil <abu[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm told by my bicycle mechanic son that slime is OK for off-roading with big tyres and pressures
> lower than 20lb. Apparently on higher pressures and smaller tyres (like on road bikes) the slime
> will spurt out more than do anything useful.

<the reply should go *under* the previous message, like this>

We used slime in the front wheels of our GTT (recumbent tandem trike). 20" x1.75 tyre at about
70-80lb pressure.

When the tube was finally given the coup-de-grace by a particularly evil piece of flint, we found it
had more than 30 thorns in it, none of which had caused appreciable deflation.

So I'd say it works pretty well for small punctures, but obviously can't cope with large cuts which
is fair enough.

--
Carol Hague Westcountry Recumbents http://www.wrhpv.com Feet first on three wheels.

 

> > I a m always saying how good it is.I have just found and installed a tube of it on my light road
> > bike having had a flat every time out for the last couple of weeks.
>
> That sounds like bad luck! Where on earth do you ride that road bike to get so many punctures??

It's just glass all over the roads round here from children drinking cider and smashing the
empties.Alfreton area of Derbyshire.It does seem to have been especially bad lately, perhps because
of the rain.

TerryJ