white_feather

I was at Lowe's and I saw Tire Slime. It says it's for bicycles, lawnmowers and tractors. Is this the same Slime I see people on here talking about? I would love to add some to my tool kit and it's right here next to my house.

PatrickJIV

Have green slime in both my tires purchased from Walmart. Been applied for about 60/90 days. Tire still leaks small amount of air over a 30 day period, but other than that, NO FLATS.

neil0502

1) It's the same stuff;

2) Why is your tool kit next to your house ... as opposed to inside of your house??

"One night, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I'll never know."

---Groucho Marx

froze

It's the same stuff. But, Slime does not work in high pressure road tires. Once you exceed about 65-70psi the green goo will blow right out of even the smallest hole, and because it's a high pressure tire the tire will go flat. And as soon as you pump up to about 65-70 it will blow right out. If you keep the tire at 60psi it will seal and not go flat, but obviously you risk snake bites. Then if after a while you think it's sealed and you inflate past 65 then it will go flat again. Of course in the process of all this goo being blown out of the tube you end up with a green goo mess inside your rim.

Slime does work great in MTB tires though because you don't exceed 65psi.

white_feather

I am looking to use it in my cruisers at 40 PSI and my commuter which I think is around 50 PSI.

Sixty Fiver

I use it on tyres that are inconvenient to change like on the old 3 speeds... my old Raleigh Sports was sold to a friend and he has ridden it 1000's of kilometres and says the tyres don't even need topping up save for the air he loses when he checks them.

I use automotive slime and an oral syringe as an injector... it works great and is not a bad idea for lower psi tyres on mtb's and commuters where getting a flat can be really inconvenient or leave you stranded in a less than optimal location.

ErnieAZ

I tried Slime for a couple of years in two different bikes. I don't use it anymore, it causes just as many problems as it solves. It doesn't stop leaks bigger than a pin hole, from thorns for example, and only in lower pressure tires. After a year or so, the Slime corroded the cores of Schraeder valves, and also clogged them so badly the tires would not inflate. I found Slime eventually coagulated into clumps about the size of rice grains. This happened in both tubes where I inserted Slime, and also in Slime brand tubes that were pre-filled with Slime. I don't recommend this product.

froze

While Slime will clog up Schrader valves, you can either replace the core or you can clear the valve up by simply inserting a high pressure air pump like a gas station pump or a home pressure system if you have one, then just blast a quick short burst of air into the valve and bingo it's no longer clogged.

Corroded cores is also an easy cure by simply removing the core and replacing it with a new one, but I've never had one corrode with the use of Slime.

How old were your tubes that the Slime turned into "rice grains"? I've had Slime in both my MTB and my kids bikes now for over 5 years and none of them have done that.

Of course any sealant is only good for small holes like those that thorns, bits of steel wire, etc would produce, their not going to seal a half inch gapping hole-that should be common sense. I've known plenty of hardcore mountain bikers (not racers) that use Slime to protect their tires from the occasional thorn and they swear by it. But these guys also use Mr Tuffy's and the likes in conjunction with Slime because they ride in remote wilderness areas and AAA won't help them!

LesterOfPuppets

I ran slime in my MTB when I lived in AZ. Worked great. I got clogged valve occasionally, but simple enough to fix as noted above.

norwood

That's simply not true. Not in my case. I run Slime in my high-pressure road tires.

fixedgearinker

I switched to slime tubes for my Klein about 800 miles ago (presta valve from slime with the slime already installed...), i inflate to 125psi and have had no issues. And no flats either.....

ErnieAZ

The tubes were between a year and two years old. The cores were so corroded I had trouble unscrewing them, they were frozen in the stem. I don't know if usage and heat would be a factor. I ride 3,500+ miles a year on average, 4 days a week, in Arizona heat, and pump my tires up before every ride - fair amount of "new" air always going in.

On large punctures, a drywall screw for example, the inside of the tire was a Slime mess. It has to be cleaned very thoroughly to have a patch stick. I think I gave the product a fair try and on balance, good and bad, it doesn't work for me.

froze

Your right about an object the size of a drywall screw hole in your tube not sealing and about the green mess. Like I said in my last post, it's only good for small pin hole punctures, the type that thorns where you live would produce.

And your right about the green mess inside your rim and tire, but had the hole been way smaller from a thorn the mess would not have been there.

By the way, if you live in Arizona, how does Slime corrode your valves since it's not the Slime that is corroding it but rather the water, and in the dry heat of Arizona corrosion should be a minimal problem?

I don't think you gave Slime tubes a fair trial period since the first puncture you had was a large one beyond the abilities of Slime. But I understand your frustration and maybe you should consider either a Mr Tuffy or Specialize Armadillo tires.

froze

That's great, but have you had any punctures that you know Slime has stopped the leak? I ran into this conversation on this forum last year and a couple people said it stopped leaks in high pressure tires (and a few who said it didn't) so I thought they may have changed the formula...until I spoke to another roadie about 3 months ago who was using Slime tubes when he had a tiny puncture and his tire went flat. After reinflating it went flat again when he approached 65 to 70psi as what happened in my case. So I think the formula is unchanged. And do you want to change your rim strip, and clean your tire and rim because it turned green and weird inside the rim everytime you have a flat?

ErnieAZ

I had Slime stop many thorn punctures, I live in the land of cactus and cactus is a prominent landscaping feature here. The gardening people with their blowers blow lots of needles into the street. Some thorns have barbs in the end just like a fishhook. If the end of the thorn breaks off while riding, the thorn works deeper and deeper into the tire, through the casing, and through a vinyl tire liner. I know Slime works on thorns because I've had slow leaks that sealed themselves when I took the tube and liner out. The thorns were still embedded in the liner and had to be pulled out with pliers.

Slime appears to be water soluble, so I assume it contains water. It's the internal valve cores that corroded, the far end. The Schraeder valves clogged so badly I could not inflate the tire and trying to unscrew the cores was almost impossible because of the corrosion froze the cores in the stem. Once I got the cores out, I then had to flush out coagulated clumps of Slime out of the tubes. These problems occurred both with tubes I added Slime to, and with Slime brand tubes that were prefilled. I used Slime for 2 years, thousands of miles, and experienced many different types of punctures. In the end, I don't think Slime is a very worthwhile product. I also, by the way, use thorn-resistant tubes and tire liners. I also bought Schwalbe Marathon tires.

If you read the Slime packaging, it says it stops punctures up to 1/8 of an inch. That's a gross exaggeration, it won't stop anything bigger than a pin hole.

I'm just relating my experience, if anyone else wants to spend their money on Slime go right ahead, maybe it'll suit your needs. I don't like the product, I think it's almost a scam product.

froze

I'm not doubting you Ernie. If you read my post I said it was designed for thorns and their small pin holes they make not anything much larger. And an 1/8th of an inch is indeed a gross exaggeration...welcome to the world of cycling!!

Personally I don't really care for the stuff either. But in some instances it does make sense, like my kids bikes. Like I said in an earlier post, I never experienced the clogging your experiencing except for the valve stem which like I also explained earlier is an easy fix. It may be clogging due to the extreme heat you have in Arizona? But I also lived in the deserts of California, but must admit I didn't ride the mtb much there, and the kids would only ride theirs around the block and return them to the garage; so I'm not sure if the heat could be causing your clumping. Maybe someone else here can tell us their long term heat exposure with Slime.

norwood

A big part of the problem I think is that people expect freakin' miracles. Maybe that is partly because of the way Slime markets their product. I've never expected Slime to stop anything bigger than a pinhole. I figure the overwelming majority of punctures are pinholes anyway. I just take exception to blanket statements about it not working. It's worked very well for me. YMMV.

norwood

Yes I have. Absolutely.

BenReed

HA misplaced modifiers for all you grammAr junkies.

froze

Hmm, well that's weird!! I've known plenty of road cyclists including myself that have had very poor results with Slime in high pressure road tires.

And the other thing not discusses so far here about Slime is the added weight vs a regular tube, and the poor quality presta valves used by Slime.

Here is a bunch of reviews that all agree with mine, and others experiences: https://www.rei.com/product/744926

enine

Our bikes both came with slime in the tubes, I find it a pain, every time I want to check the tire pressure a little bit squirts out.

Sci-Fi

Ultraseal, even has a 'bulletproof' grade....lol. Reviews seem to be more positive than Slime. Kind of expensive though:
https://www.gemplers.com/flat-prevention

froze

I went to the web site, but it seems more for farm tractors etc. It would be interesting is a cyclist tried it and commented on the results. I have a feeling that since tractor tires are low pressure tires that it wouldn't work well in high pressure tires...but?