Slime
07-29-18, 04:19 PM
#1
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Slime
So I just got Slime installed on both tires on my mountain bike, and I wondering if there is anything I should know? One thing that comes to mind is there anything special I got to do when I am pumping air into the tires or taking air out of the tires? Buy the way I got presta valves.
07-29-18, 04:46 PM
#2
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I've heard that if you do have a leak that the Slime won't seal, the Slime on the tube will keep a patch from sticking.
07-29-18, 05:17 PM
#4
Every day a winding road
Thread 50,000 on slime.
Enormous mistake. You are going to be sorry when you get a flt that the slime can't fix. Buy a good pair of tires and then learn to repair flats when needed.
Enormous mistake. You are going to be sorry when you get a flt that the slime can't fix. Buy a good pair of tires and then learn to repair flats when needed.
07-29-18, 05:18 PM
#5
Every day a winding road
07-29-18, 05:46 PM
#7
The Left Coast, USA
It's not that bad, but I wouldn't use Slime tubes unless I was getting repeated goathead flats and all the better alternatives failed. I think you don't want to deflate, the slime may run up out of the valve - messy..
07-29-18, 06:02 PM
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07-29-18, 09:47 PM
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Man you guys sure are rough today.
Regarding the slime it will be no different when inflating the tires. Slime does work best for small punctures such as thorns and usually seals up the hole no problem. On punctures larger than small thorns they may not seal the punctures in the tube. In that case just carry a spare tube with you.
Good luck and ride on!!
Regarding the slime it will be no different when inflating the tires. Slime does work best for small punctures such as thorns and usually seals up the hole no problem. On punctures larger than small thorns they may not seal the punctures in the tube. In that case just carry a spare tube with you.
Good luck and ride on!!
07-29-18, 10:14 PM
#11
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Wow, tough crowd. But to be honest, I’ve not had the best luck with Slime brand sealant. I have had a little better luck with Specialized AirLock sealant, but none of those types of products are 100% anyway. In the event that the AirLock didn’t work, I’ve still been able to clean up the tube and install a traditional patch. It’s always best to carry a spare tube so you’re not trying to patch on the side of the road.
When dealing with sealant filled tubes, remember to position the valve stem at the bottom (6 o’clock position) for at least a minute or two to allow the sealant to flow out of the stem. Then, rotate the wheel to position the stem up high (10-2 o’clock) to fill. This will help keep sealant from clogging up the valve stem (and your pump head as well).
-Kedosto
When dealing with sealant filled tubes, remember to position the valve stem at the bottom (6 o’clock position) for at least a minute or two to allow the sealant to flow out of the stem. Then, rotate the wheel to position the stem up high (10-2 o’clock) to fill. This will help keep sealant from clogging up the valve stem (and your pump head as well).
-Kedosto
07-30-18, 09:48 AM
#13
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Wow, tough crowd. But to be honest, I’ve not had the best luck with Slime brand sealant. I have had a little better luck with Specialized AirLock sealant, but none of those types of products are 100% anyway. In the event that the AirLock didn’t work, I’ve still been able to clean up the tube and install a traditional patch. It’s always best to carry a spare tube so you’re not trying to patch on the side of the road.
When dealing with sealant filled tubes, remember to position the valve stem at the bottom (6 o’clock position) for at least a minute or two to allow the sealant to flow out of the stem. Then, rotate the wheel to position the stem up high (10-2 o’clock) to fill. This will help keep sealant from clogging up the valve stem (and your pump head as well).
-Kedosto
When dealing with sealant filled tubes, remember to position the valve stem at the bottom (6 o’clock position) for at least a minute or two to allow the sealant to flow out of the stem. Then, rotate the wheel to position the stem up high (10-2 o’clock) to fill. This will help keep sealant from clogging up the valve stem (and your pump head as well).
-Kedosto
In defense of Slime, it is better than the sealants used in tubeless applications in many respects. Tubeless sealant needs to be refreshed regularly ( about every 3 months) while Slime does not. Ancient Slime tubes will still do their sliming even after years of storage. I put this down to the solvent used for the sealant. Tubeless sealants use glycols that dissolve into tire (and stay there) while Slime uses a different solvent that doesn't dissolve into the tire. If I used sealant, I'd choose the Slime over any tubeless sealant any day.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
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Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
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Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
07-30-18, 11:15 AM
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I don't agree. Slime makes it slightly more difficult but with proper preparation around the hole in the tube, the patch should stick to the rubber without issue. It's still made of rubber. "Proper preparation" would, of course, mean keeping the Slime off the prepared area.
07-30-18, 12:07 PM
#15
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Slime works great in my lawn tractor tires, wheel barrow tire, and believe it or not, my mechanic neighbor recommended it for the bead leak on my wife's car. It worked great.
But in a bike tire, no thank you. I used it once, it made the tire heavy, and the valve clogged so I couldn't add air. Nope, not for bike tires.
But in a bike tire, no thank you. I used it once, it made the tire heavy, and the valve clogged so I couldn't add air. Nope, not for bike tires.
07-31-18, 10:27 AM
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Well, we do have goatheads all over the place and Slime has saved me a bunch of riding downtime. After my ride this last weekend (16 miles), I found three holes it had plugged and my pressure was only down 5 psi.
07-31-18, 09:08 PM
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I tried slime once early on. Got a catastrophic flat on my front tire at 20mph and got slimed in my eyes. Once I picked myself up and could see again, found I slime everywhere. Since then I just run good puncture resistant tires and 2 good quality spare tubes. Flats have been rare sine then.
08-01-18, 10:37 AM
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Slime
I have used Slime. It can spray out and ruin gauge when checking pressure. Set valve at 12 o'clock and wait a bit before using a gauge. Allows Slime to drain to bottom away from the valve. I have stopped Slime and use Sunlite Thorn Resistant Tubes. Less mess, no flats, and not much weight difference.
john
john
08-01-18, 10:44 AM
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The use of sealant isn't per se a bad idea, it's just that slime is an incredibly crappy sealant. Orange seal and Stans are the most popular for a reason. Yes, they're designed for tubeless applications, but I've used orange seal in tubes with pretty good results. It only works with tubes that have removable valve cores.
08-01-18, 12:02 PM
#20
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It works great. I've never had it clog a valve. I've mostly used it on presta valves, it's fine.
I had an intance this spring when I had mixed slime and orange sealant, the the orange had dried and if it wasn't for the slime, I'd have had to put a tube in.
You can get a little on your hands, it's not the end of the world. Don't install it indoors.
It has it's place in the cycling world.
Don't avoid it because people who used it wrong had trouble with it.
I had an intance this spring when I had mixed slime and orange sealant, the the orange had dried and if it wasn't for the slime, I'd have had to put a tube in.
You can get a little on your hands, it's not the end of the world. Don't install it indoors.
It has it's place in the cycling world.
Don't avoid it because people who used it wrong had trouble with it.
08-01-18, 01:43 PM
#21
Non omnino gravis
Flat Attack > Slime.
Patches will stick to a Flat Attack'd tube. My experience with sealant in tubes is this: Flat Attack will seal the small, annoying, pinprick punctures like those from goatheads or radial tire wire. It won't stop anything else. But perhaps most importantly, is stops flats from being instantaneous. Crossing a railroad overpass, I had to check over my shoulder while merging out of a terminating lane. As I coming down the bridge and looking behind me, I didn't see a nice sunken waterline access cover-- wham, snakebite puncture. Hit the hole at about 25mph, and could hear it hissing/sputtering. Front tire, no less. But it leaked out slowly enough that I rode a quarter of a mile or so until I found a driveway with some shade to fix the flat. No sealant in that tube, I would probably have ended up on the ground.
Down to one set of wheels with tubed tires-- they're hearty Panaracer RibMos, which are like slightly faster rolling Gator Hardshells. Nevertheless, those tubes have Flat Attack in them. The peace of mind is more than worth the 2oz per tire.
Patches will stick to a Flat Attack'd tube. My experience with sealant in tubes is this: Flat Attack will seal the small, annoying, pinprick punctures like those from goatheads or radial tire wire. It won't stop anything else. But perhaps most importantly, is stops flats from being instantaneous. Crossing a railroad overpass, I had to check over my shoulder while merging out of a terminating lane. As I coming down the bridge and looking behind me, I didn't see a nice sunken waterline access cover-- wham, snakebite puncture. Hit the hole at about 25mph, and could hear it hissing/sputtering. Front tire, no less. But it leaked out slowly enough that I rode a quarter of a mile or so until I found a driveway with some shade to fix the flat. No sealant in that tube, I would probably have ended up on the ground.
Down to one set of wheels with tubed tires-- they're hearty Panaracer RibMos, which are like slightly faster rolling Gator Hardshells. Nevertheless, those tubes have Flat Attack in them. The peace of mind is more than worth the 2oz per tire.
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08-01-18, 02:41 PM
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Put some in my wife's car tire once to get home. Did the job but when I pulled the tire off later to install snow tires it was a huge mess. It never clogged the valve.
08-01-18, 03:22 PM
#23
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I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about your experience reminds of Ghostbusters.
I recently punctured right on front of a bike store, so I thought I'd ask if they could fix it while I wait, rather than do it myself. The mechanic said he didn't have time to fix it while I waited, but offered to put sealant in my tube. He said that using the sealants marketed for tubeless tires were better for this kind of application than Slime.
I recently punctured right on front of a bike store, so I thought I'd ask if they could fix it while I wait, rather than do it myself. The mechanic said he didn't have time to fix it while I waited, but offered to put sealant in my tube. He said that using the sealants marketed for tubeless tires were better for this kind of application than Slime.
