How effective is "slime" at preventing punctures?

[Deleted member 33385]

40, 50 or 60 miles from home if I puncture a patch doesn't take long for me to put on so much better then a tyre full of green shite when the tube doesn't seal.

Good point! I'll put these slime-filled tubes in, but I'll carry a slime-free tube, just in case. The bike repair kit keeps getting bigger (sigh).

 

[richtea99]

Does nobody else carry a spare tube any more?
Just make sure you've got rid of the offending thorn/glass before installing the spare.

[EDIT: ah, you got there before me!]

 

[Deleted member 33385]

This will make some of you laugh: I bought two pre-slimed tubes yestarday and tried to fit them... the first one, I managed to nick somehow. Thought I had been careless - I have never nicked an inner tube while fitting them before. The hole sort-of sealed, but the tyre would not maintain pressure. So I tried again with the second tube - and despite being extremely careful, somehow managed to nick that one too. This time, it didn't seal at all. Deflated, both me and two tubes, at a total cost of £19.98 for two tubes. The rubber seemed very delicate, compared to my normal Impac. The manufacturuing dates on the bottom of the pack indicate 2019, which could have caused the rubber to soften maybe? The life of slime tubes is two years. I don't think I'll be using slime inner tubes, because it also seems that slime can damage rim metal:

Frequently Asked Questions | Slime

www.slime.com

I'm just going to put on Marathon Plus tyres, and carry a spare Impact inner tube, after I've thoroughly washed my wheels of slime...

 

[Deleted member 33385]

@richtea99 - yes it is funny. Slime is all over the insides of the rims, under rim tapes, probably on the spoke nipple ends. It'll take a right dunking, to get rid of this metal damaging cr*p.

 

[sjpt]

This will make some of you laugh: I bought two pre-slimed tubes yestarday and tried to fit them... the first one, I managed to nick somehow. Thought I had been careless - I have never nicked an inner tube while fitting them before. The hole sort-of sealed, but the tyre would not maintain pressure. So I tried again with the second tube - and despite being extremely careful, somehow managed to nick that one too. This time, it didn't seal at all. Deflated, both me and two tubes, at a total cost of £19.98 for two tubes. The rubber seemed very delicate, compared to my normal Impac. The manufacturuing dates on the bottom of the pack indicate 2019, which could have caused the rubber to soften maybe? The life of slime tubes is two years. I don't think I'll be using slime inner tubes, because it also seems that slime can damage rim metal:

Frequently Asked Questions | Slime

www.slime.com

I'm just going to put on Marathon Plus tyres, and carry a spare Impact inner tube, after I've thoroughly washed my wheels of slime...

Another convert. Good luck with them.
If your wheels are at all awkward to remove consider Gaadi inner tubes.

 

[richtea99]

Cruel. But funny for us heartless swines.
Thanks for taking one for the team...

 

[richtea99]

Re: Gaadi, I had to look 3 times to make sense of it.
Interesting, but it adds two more potential points of failure, i.e. the ends.

Also one of the translated Amazon reviews says in a lovely Dutch/German style:
> The hose can be easily pulled onto the rim. Unfortunately, the bike rides a bit unround afterwards.

Have you tried them?

 

[Deleted member 33385]

Cruel. But funny for us heartless swines.
Thanks you for taking one for the team...

I could have just been unlucky - the serial number underneath the boxes indicate that they were manufactured in April 2019. Almost two years old! Probably compromised structurally. I'm not going to make a fuss, because the very wise old bike owner runs a quiet bike shop, and he's got me out of sticky bike situations by dispensing solid gold advice via phone in the past. But it might be the last time I try to "Buy local" bike bits...

Slime won't get any more of my time.

 

[Deleted member 33385]

Another convert. Good luck with them.
If your wheels are at all awkward to remove consider Gaadi inner tubes.

Yes I briefly converted to slime, but will now resolutely remain slime free!

Cheers! I might get a Gaadi tube, the seem good for a relatively swift, temporary (at the very least) repair.

 

[sjpt]

Re: Gaadi, I had to look 3 times to make sense of it.
Interesting, but it adds two more potential points of failure, i.e. the ends.

Also one of the translated Amazon reviews says in a lovely Dutch/German style:
> The hose can be easily pulled onto the rim. Unfortunately, the bike rides a bit unround afterwards.

Have you tried them?

I don't ride them regularly but did have one on for a bit and didn't notice any unroundness. The reason I took it off was that they were fatter than I had expected from the sizing, and when I changed tyre (to put on a Marathon Plus) the new tyre was a bit narrower than the original and the tube too fat.

 

[Nealh]

SW used some tubeless stuff and it ate his rim from inside.

 

[soundwave]

holy **

i thought the valve had split but there is a fkn chunk of me wheel missing. is it worth trying rim tape or has this wheel had it :( only 2 year warranty with these so long gone.

www.pedelecs.co.uk