mjac

What are the best Self Sealing Tubes? I can not express how much I hate flats. I don't care about weight or anything else. What are the best self sealing tubes on the market?

Even with self sealing tubes, do you loose enough sir you still have to carry a co2 container? I have never used one. How do they work? The other thing is, what is a pinch flat, how do you avoid them and do 25mm tires have less pinch flats then 23mm tires...Thanks,mjac

alcjphil

With narrow high pressure tires like 700 x 23 and 700 x 25, self sealing inner tubes don't work all that well. As for avoiding pinch flats, correct pressure will pretty much prevent them.

alo

I agree. It is a problem if you are a long way from home, and have to spend a long time walking home.

I once had a flat in a front tire when I was a long way from home. I didn't want to spend hours walking. I took the tire and tube off the rim, and up over the handlebars. I then rode home on the rim. It was a cheap bike, and I had a spare wheel at home. If you do this, it is noisy, and people may look. When on hard roads, you also need to be careful it does not slide sideways.

A pinch flat occurs when the tire squashes all the way to the rim. It may happen when hitting large rocks, for example. The section of tube between the rim and the rock gets cut when hitting the rock.

Lager tires will have less pinch flats, as the tire has to compress further. But there is little difference between 23 and 25 mm.

With mountain bike tires you will have less pinch flats. If you are not heavy, you probably wont have any.

With fat bike tires, which are 100 mm, it is impossible to have pinch flats, if you run them at an appropriate pressure.

I don't ride bikes with thin tires because of this, and to avoid kinking the rim, and breaking spokes. You are probably not as heavy as me.

Most of the flat tires I have are from plants or seeds with sharp spikes on them. In some places there are a lot, in other places there are few. I don't know what it is like where you live. On rare occasions, I might get a puncture from something like a screw which is on the road.

I am planning to experiment with the liquid which is normally used in tubeless tires, which seals leaks. There are various brands. I am planning to try it in the tube, so it is less messy when I change a tire. I have not used it yet.

You can buy plastic strips which you put inside the tire, which prevents most punctures. Someone might know a name for these.

You can also buy solid soft rubber inserts which are designed to be used in tires instead of tubes. I have never seen these in Australia, but I have seen them in South Africa and Asia. The down side with these is they may be a loose fit, and the tire may slide from side to side when you turn. This may eventually result in tearing the tire wall. It would be a good idea to run these inside tubeless tires. When the air leaks, you can keep riding. I have seen these for mountain bike tires.

I once set up a wheel with a smaller smoothish mountain bike road tire, inside a larger mountain bike tire. The total thickness of both tires made punctures very rare. There was much less give with the two tires, which resulted in a rough ride.

Iride01 

Learn how to do these things and others relating to changing a tire and fixing a flat and maybe you wouldn't fear them so much. If you have a extra tube with you, it only takes a few minutes to change even when on the road. If you want to patch the tube, arguably that may be quicker or slower by a minute.

Last year the only flat I was involved in was my son's bike on a century ride. Maybe lost 10 minutes of time, some due to too many cooks with their own recipe trying to help.

mjac

I did not know this. They do not work at all?

That is what someone told me. People get pinch flats when they under inflate tires for a softer ride...Thanks,mjac

mjac

Thanks, I finally understand what a pinch flat is. I thought it had something to do with the tire bead pinching the tube between the rim. But it is actually the tube getting pinched between an obstacle in the road and the rim. That explains why someone told me you get pinch flats when people undeinflate tires for a softer ride. I am going to have to watch my inflation more closely, I have been a little lax on that.

You brought up some interesting ideas. All of my tires are tube tires so I don't think the rubber insert would work. But I do not see how a good sealant used to seal tubeless tires wouldn't work inside of the tube. But like "alcphil" said maybe it won't work on narrow high pressure tires. I don't know...Thanks,mjac

What's it like down under?

mjac

If it was just a matter of fixing the flat, no problem. But here, on the Rec. rides I take everyday, a flat tire can get you killed.

alo

I am planning to use it soon. I have not used it yet. My concern when using it in tubes is, it may set when exposed to air. It may not be as effective in a tube which is inside a tire. I think it will definitely be an improvement. I know, it is exposed to the leaking air.

Why don't you try some.

After using it, both you and I can decide if it is something we want to continue using.

I experiment with a lot of things. Some things are not as good as I hoped. Some things are good, and I continue using them. If you don't try it you will never know.

mjac

You have a point. You can't do everything by the book. The trick might be getting the best product possible. I wonder how you could tell if it has actually worked and sealed a leak. I guess you could pull the tube periodically and check for sealant. But will it work on narrow high pressure tires? The guy said earlier tubes designed to seal do not work well on narrow high pressure tires. So I do not know...mjac

AnkleWork

No-Mo-Flats, no sealant, no air, no pinch flats:

mjac

Those don't look like 700 X 23s.

veganbikes

Any of these anti flat gimmicks are silly and usually cause more problems than they purport to solve. The best way to prevent flats is run the widest tire you can and use a good tire that has a good casing and run them at a proper pressure. If you really have flat issues you can run tubeless which eliminates the pinch flats or if you are really wanting to use tubes and don't care about weight you can run sealant in your tubes. That method is slightly less messy and terrible then those awful slime tubes but not totally without mess.

ThermionicScott 

More often because people don’t check their tires before every ride and don’t notice that they’re low.

mjac

Okay, the factory advertised self sealing tubes do not work. You mentioned possibly running sealant in your tubes but it is messy, I assume leaking sealant onto the tire casing. So, bottom line, is it worth the trouble for for how effective it is? Or are you better off just running a tire with a good casing, run one of those protective strips inside the tire casing and maintain good pressure? I have a collection of tires from a COOP that I get for next to nothing that are all tubed tires so I am stuck with that. But I have a few Bontreger Triple flat protection tires in there and those are the ones I am running now. I assume those are descent.

mjac

Guilty...have to do better.

veganbikes

If you are running really excellent tires, properly inflated and are still getting tons of flats then maybe the sealant is good way to go for you but if you aren't then a good puncture protectant tire at proper pressure is just fine. Do not add anything else any of those tire liners are part of the anti flat gimmicks, those can easily come loose and cause flats of their own.

If you are buying used tires or cheap tires from the Co-op that could be part of the reason you are getting flats. Worn out tires or tires with cheaper rubber might not be all that protectant. I don't have much experience with Bontrager tires but my guess would be they are a decent enough tire but nothing super to write home about assuming they are new and not the lowest end of their range.

Now if you are pulling a lot of tires with two small holes close together like a snakebite then maybe tubeless is the way to go or just pumping up your tires before each ride (or at least checking them)

Also a good note check your Di2 shifters the night before your intended ride if you haven't ridden that bike in a while and also didn't remember to charge it. I heard this story from a friend of a friend and certainly did not happen to me at all.

Le Mechanic

Most commercial "self-sealing tubes" are not great. The best thing I've found so far is injecting tubeless sealant into regular tubes with removable valve cores. I've been a bicycle mechanic in flat prone areas of the US for over 35 years and a daily commuter for over 20. I've seen or tried pretty much every method out there, but the sealant method works the best in my opinion.

ThermionicScott 

I’ve had one pinch flat in my life... learned my lesson.

Racing Dan

Get better tyres. There are many options out there that are highly puncture resistant.

mjac

The tires from the COOP are surprisingly good. I slung them over a 2X4 under a light and pulled the tires around and inspected all the casings. All have good heavy casings that are fresh, not dryed out and most are new with the lips from the mold still intact including two Bontragers, a Cheng Shin and one called Road Sport. So, the factory self sealing tubes don't work and the tire liners are a marketing gimmick, both of which I thought were legitamate, so the best thing to do is use a quality tire and maintain its inflation. It is not that I get a lot of flats, but where my rec ride is everyday can be dangerous if you are not moving so I wanted as much protection as I can. But there is not much I can do except invest in some high end puncture resistant tires (Gators?) and be more careful with my inflation. That's it. Good to know...Thanks,mjac

mjac

Okay, two points, someone earlier said injecting sealant into the tube is messy, is it and I believe the best way for this to work is to use the best sealant available, what is the best sealant. In the end, if you wanted to go as far as you could with this flat protection, are you better off with tubeless tire sealant in your tube or going tubeless and using the sealant? It seams if you are going that route just get tubeless tires and run sealant and you eliminate pinch flats.

mjac

K

Still learning. I check my tires sometimes and there are 40 lbs in them.

mjac

If you go that route,what are the best or better puncture resistant tires?

alo

If you go tubeless, when you change the tire, you may have the sealant spill and make a mess.

If you use a tube, the sealant is contained in the tube. When you change the tire, there should not be a mess.

mjac

Alo, I never thought of that. I assumed sealant with a tubeless tire would be automatically better. But just like you said, several guys have suggested using the tubeless tire sealant in your tubes if you are flat prone. So there must be something to it. No one has suggested a top brand yet though.