Hello I've read that slime tubes add a good bit of weight , can someone tell me there experience with them please
Inner tube
- Thread starter Flathandsem
- Start date
I used to use them on my commuter bike, back when I had an office to commute to. They do deaden the ride a bit and take the edge off the acceleration, likely not an issue on a pedelec.
However, in my experience I found them more reliable than armoured tyres and could pick up multiple puctures without deflating, so if you absolutely had to get where you were going and get there on time, they were worth putting up with.
However, on a light, flighty road bike they do adversely affect the feel and blunt performance, so I wouldn't recommend them for that. Conversely, on a pedelec already weighing 16+ kg with 50 or 60 NM of powered assistance, you likely wouldn't notice this much, if at all. In addition, you don't want to be messing with hub motor connectors etc at the roadside, so they're probably not a bad addition to a pedelec.
Make sure you depress the tyre valve every week or two - an ideal opportunity to put a pressure gauge on and have a check - or they can gum up the valves.
However, in my experience I found them more reliable than armoured tyres and could pick up multiple puctures without deflating, so if you absolutely had to get where you were going and get there on time, they were worth putting up with.
However, on a light, flighty road bike they do adversely affect the feel and blunt performance, so I wouldn't recommend them for that. Conversely, on a pedelec already weighing 16+ kg with 50 or 60 NM of powered assistance, you likely wouldn't notice this much, if at all. In addition, you don't want to be messing with hub motor connectors etc at the roadside, so they're probably not a bad addition to a pedelec.
Make sure you depress the tyre valve every week or two - an ideal opportunity to put a pressure gauge on and have a check - or they can gum up the valves.
My experience was very bad. They weren't good at stopping punctures and both times I had a puncture made a huge mess of the inner tube and the inside of the outer tube.
Marathon Plus were the answer ... but if you are concerned about weight they may not be the best answer for you.
Slime did prevent my tyre going down, but since then they have gummed up the valve , preventing inflation .
Tried slime once total waste of money, if you want to add stuff to tubes forget it and go tubeless using Effafetto Caffelatex.
You say that, but I once had a load of thorns go through a Continental kevlar belted tyre. Luckily the slime tube held and did not deflate, and when arrived Home I removed the tube I had to peel it off of the inside of the tyre where about 2 dozen thorns had pierced it and were gripping the tube. Tyre 0, tube 1.
Read the instructions and ensure the valve is at the top when checking the pressure or adding air and it wont leak out.
If you're slapping the gauge on every couple if weeks, like a prudent rider would anyway, the valves will not gum up.
Read the instructions and ensure the valve is at the top when checking the pressure or adding air and it wont leak out.
If you're slapping the gauge on every couple if weeks, like a prudent rider would anyway, the valves will not gum up.
My experience is that Kevlar tyres work against glass (commute many years ago on Glasgow canals) but do not work well against thorns especially in sidewalls. (and as above, slime didn't help)
Marathon Plus work against both glass and thorns (commute in Winchester countryside, mixed back road/off road). Reduced one or two punctures a week to none over about 10 years.
Slime is not reliable enough. It causes problems as well as solving them. If you can, get some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres and forget about punctures. Nearly everybody on this forum has the same experience as me with them - zero punctures in many thousands of miles since fitting.
Another vote for Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres, one slow thorn puncture in one since 2007, and that so slow I rode six miles home on it with a single quick top up of air.
In contrast my tries with slime always ended in failures to repair and a horrible mess to deal with.
A thought prompted by the thread title, why do we say inner tube when there's no outer tube?
.
In contrast my tries with slime always ended in failures to repair and a horrible mess to deal with.
A thought prompted by the thread title, why do we say inner tube when there's no outer tube?
.
Edward my Brother and Myself are careful with our tyre pressures and after a time we both experienced the same fault caused by Slime . Inability to inflate at all . Only solved by replacing valves , until the next time ?
It's very messy and doesn't prevent punctures. The best thing would be to keep your tyres inflated properly.
Had them a few years ago, total waste of time and simply fitted Tannus armour inserts with slightly smaller inner tube with Schwalbe moto x tyres .
I've also had excellent results with Tannus Armor inserts, though I have continued using the regular tubes. However I report on the last 9 or 10 months of cycling...... the hawthorn hedge cutting season is now upon us and I hope my good fortune will continue.
They make sense if you want to use a particular type of tyre for the riding you do. For normal commuting on the road, I can't see an argument for paying £30 for a tyre plus £30 for an insert when you can get all the protection you need from a Marathon Plus for about £30.
Slime in my (tubeless) ride on mower tyres is a life saver, with hedges all around. Slime in inner tubes is, imo, dumb. Messy and dumb. Bike came with big apple tyres, so now it has tannus Inserts, and I pray a lot.
Over many years I’ve had good and bad results with slime. I once pulled 7 thorns out without the tyre going down then I had a flat with just one thorn. Never had any mess, just a small area of slime at the puncture site, easily wiped with a tissue. Always wipe the dried slime from the valve before inflating.
I‘ve also used Marathon Plus tyres for a while but still had punctures. The worse thing about the MP tyres is the problem of removing. I had to carry and use a blunted screwdriver to lever the tyre seal on the rim and this was damaging the rim.
I recently went tubeless and found it almost impossible to remove the MP tyres. Tried clamping the tyre in a vice with no luck and eventually cut them off. They were an absolute nightmare. Could have been the deep seat on my tubeless ready rims I suppose but dread to think if this had been miles from home.
I‘ve also used Marathon Plus tyres for a while but still had punctures. The worse thing about the MP tyres is the problem of removing. I had to carry and use a blunted screwdriver to lever the tyre seal on the rim and this was damaging the rim.
I recently went tubeless and found it almost impossible to remove the MP tyres. Tried clamping the tyre in a vice with no luck and eventually cut them off. They were an absolute nightmare. Could have been the deep seat on my tubeless ready rims I suppose but dread to think if this had been miles from home.
Hello again, what are the kevlar tube things like. And I appreciate every one is going to have to have diff experiencea
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