rosefarts

Among the aficionados, the former mechanics, the home mechanics who do a good job, the people who regularly maintain their bikes, and those that generally take pride in their bikes, slime is despised.

Its green and messy. It’s cheap, it can be purchased almost anywhere. If a puncture happens, it’s a mess.

Here is the thing about it though, it’s not designed for any of our fancy pants bikes. Used for slow and heavy applications, I think it works better than any sealant out there. Stuff where you absolutely are not worried about a little extra weight and a flat would be a giant hassle.

Kids bikes, bike trailers, and my cargo bike this stuff is the best. I even put it in my wife’s road bike since she’s not so handy and not so careful. Things like pinch flats are still possible, it’s not a tank tread.

Its not for everything. Including kids bikes, there are 9 in my garage. 2 are slimed, 1 more is about to be slimed, 3 are tubeless, and the rest have tubes.

Just throwing that out there.

Broctoon

+1 on everything above.

I used Slime tubes a lot over the years in my kids' bikes, and they saved me a lot of trouble in flat repairs. I also buy bulk quantities of the slime for my lawn tractor tires. It's not the best choice for many of my bikes, but it has its place.

rooster3323

I used to use slime in all my bike tires when I was younger that stuff saved me a lot of time and money.

PeteHski

Slime is currently making a big comeback as a kids' fidget toy. So when my 10 year old daughter gets bored with it (probably by the end of the week) I can put it in her bike tyres.

Troul 

Didn't work out well in the 1 wheel for the double wheeled wheeled barrel.

HelpSingularity 

I stayed in Bakersfield, CA (I know,) for a couple of years.
After wrestling with goathead thorns for a while I purchased "Slime" and put it in my tubes (removable presta valve core).
What a relief, no more flats from those needle-like thorns.
Nothing wrong with that stuff as far as I was able to ascertain.

Since then I have moved away from goathead thorn country.
I replaced the tires and tubes with Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires on my townie/commuter/tourer, sans "Slime".
That is working pretty good as well in terms of no flats.

urbanknight

I definitely find it amusing and ironic that I used to curse and swear under my breath every time a customer had me install slime in their tubes, yet here I am today squirting goo into all of my tires and happily keeping a shop towel nearby to clean up the inevitable spillage.

Edit: Still better than those tire liners!

CAT7RDR

Same here. The Marathon Green Guards are heavy but no flats in over a year.
Seems like more trouble to put sealant into a tube or tire rather than just having the right tire for the job at hand.

Polaris OBark

I just did the same thing, but with Orange Seal endurance. I had even bought her nice Peaty's valve stems, but then I decided to do the experiment...

These are new Rene Herse Barlow Pass ELs. I've run them with and without tubes. Jan suggests putting sealant in tubes if you don't want the hassle of setting up tubeless. (On her rims, and with those tires, it is a hassle.)

georges1

I am going to install slime tubes in all my road bikes projects.

Chuck M 

I think Slime is like a lot of bicycle things. Whatever one does to their bike doesn't need defending. I have some 23s on my Raleigh that flat if I ride it within earshot of a sharp word, and if I get a wild hair to put Slime in them I don't ask for the blessings of random people on the Internet.

RCMoeur 

If it wouldn't consider the valve a hole in the tube and do all it could to plug it, I'd be happier with the stuff.

When I patch tubes for nonprofits, I consider Slime (or any sealant) a "first strike" against the tube, as I've had a number of situations where I patch the detectable hole(s), but then when fully repressurized several more holes slowly reveal themselves. Plus it's a 75% probability I have to replace the valve too. So if there's only one hole, I'll probably patch it, but two or more and it's tossed.

rosefarts

I would never consider patching a slimed tube. I can't imagine that it would stay on.

RCMoeur 

Patch adhesion hasn't been an issue with proper preparation, even if the tube has slime in it. Just don't squeeze the tube while roughing up the area or applying the vulcanizing fluid.

CrimsonEclipse

I just purchased good tires instead.

rosefarts

Now you’re getting away from the whole idea.

Slime goes in kids bikes, Burley trailers, cargo bikes, and in the tubes on your heavier road wheels- commuting and training type of setups, typically with Gatorskins or similar.

This is where the slime haters come in. “My GP5000’s with latex tubes almost never get flats, you guys are just making a mess”.

I trust that most people have enough common sense to understand when slime is appropriate or not.

CAT7RDR

So we have the robust tire crowd, and the Slimey tube teasers.
Who will triumph in this battle for the ages?

t2p

Slime is good stuff

sealed a tractor tire with a significant gash - enough to get the tractor back to the house

CrimsonEclipse

Totally agree. Slime was designed for slow moving vehicles.
But on a commuting bike, they were worthless. (I have the same opinion on basic tire liners)
(note: I haven't tried the Tanis super liners or whatever they are called)
If you are an adult and biking for a living or biking remotely, good tires. Even on a Burley trailer.

Kids' bike: Yeah, I get it. $100 of quality tires on a $50 kid's bike is probably overkill.

Been stranded by Slime, not by a good tire.

Polaris OBark

Based on one data point, I now consider this a failed experiment.

rosefarts

Worthless as in couldn’t keep you on the road and were giving you maintenance headaches?

Or worthless because the tires ride like a rock and accelerate like a sloth on Xanax?

If it’s the second, I don’t really notice since the bike is 70ish lbs, carrying 70-90lbs worth of kids and crap, plus skinny me.

I wouldn’t set up my real bikes this way.

CrimsonEclipse

For me, it never sealed when it needed to and just made the flat more messy, coating my fenders and leaving me stranded anyway.

Same goes for tire liners.

Just go with an armored tire, skip the slime, skip the liners, skip the gimmics.

They've never been worth the effort.

gringomojado

Anybody ever tried it on an auto tire?

gm

rsbob 

Yeah, were Mr Tuffys a scam? I tried them for several years and repaired many a tire on the road with Tuffys. Not to mention adding a bit of weight X2.

urbanknight

The trick was getting them to stay in place (beneath the tread of the tire) long enough to inflate the tube to hold it there. There was always a part (or parts) that slipped to the side, and those unprotected sections of the tire eventually found a thorn. I never used them (or slime) myself, but worked in a shop and got to hear the customers complain when their investment didn't protect them.