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Talk to me about slime

(50 posts)
  • Started 6 years ago by sallyhinch
  • Latest reply from Snowy
  • This topic is not resolved

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  1. sallyhinch
    Member

    Some while back I formed the impression from reading things on the interwebs that slime or other inner tube sealant had some downsides to it, and that while you might suffer one or two punctures fewer, ultimately you would come to regret using it.

    Having come to the conclusion that I will never become quick at repairing punctures, and that even marathon pluses are not blackthorn proof, I am now wondering what those downsides are as I can't for the moment think of any. Perhaps slime technology has moved on?

    For info, as I'm already running marathon plus tyres, I'm not that bothered about weight. I prefer to patch tubes at least once or twice rather than replace them with every puncture but my main motivation is not being stuck out in the middle of nowhere taking half an hour to sort out a flat tyre (which is genuinely how long it takes me to get a tyre on and off a wheel), or having a very long walk home.

    So - pros and cons of slime? Who is using it?

    Posted 6 years ago #

  2. gembo
    Member

    Slime is fine @sallyhinch. Will plug the puncture so you can get home. Things then can get messy. But if careful should be ok. I had a bottle of it in a pannier that I forgot was there. The lid eventiually came off and the pannier became inundated with slime.

    Cleanable, so no biggy.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  3. sallyhinch
    Member

    So do you put it in once you get a puncture and then pump up? Is it a 'get you home' and then you need to replace/repair for the longer term?

    Posted 6 years ago #

  4. gembo
    Member

    No, you put it in beforehand then you cycle along. Any puncture self heals until home.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  5. dessert rat
    Member

    Slime is fine, rarely too messy. However I gravitated away from using it to sticking in some kevlar tape to deal with the thorns I used to collect following farmers trimming their hedges.

    Slime is fine but ...

    Posted 6 years ago #

  6. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I once got a rather intense row off an enormous reformed alcoholic mechanic with swastika tattoos for not telling him I had slime in my tyres, but that was another world.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  7. gembo
    Member

    Yes, I know one or two of the bikes I put slime in (Mrs Garto's unused red bike) and Master Gembo's but after that I forget.

    Tattoos are almost the opposite of slime? They are on the outside and indicate what is on the inside? Though With a tattoo they are sometimes done when drunk and in haste which you can then spend your life regretting. Also I prefer my nazis to have the tattoos.

    However, Trump reminds us without the tattoos that he is a nazi, every time he opens his mouth. Working on his re-election campaign already. Inshallah.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  8. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Also I prefer my nazis to have the tattoos.

    He must have been a very drunk Nazi or a very thoughtful one. I did wonder if he meant them in the Hindu way and was simply defying any other interpretation.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  9. sallyhinch
    Member

    Don't the Hindu swastikas go the other way?

    What was the mechanic's problem with slime - had he been trying to repair a puncture?

    Posted 6 years ago #

  10. neddie
    Member

    you put it in beforehand then you cycle along. Any puncture self heals until home

    So any puncture magically reveals itself as soon as you get home?

    Or does it mean that a puncture goes unnoticed and leaves you at the side of the road with no puncture kit somewhat later on?

    Posted 6 years ago #

  11. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Don't the Hindu swastikas go the other way?

    In Hinduism, the clockwise symbol is called swastika symbolizing surya (sun) and prosperity, while the counter clockwise symbol is called sauvastika symbolizing night or tantric aspects of Kali

    They're a surprisingly common decorative moulding feature of neoclassical architecture. Edinburgh's New Town is full of them. Look up next time you happen to be in the banking hall of RBS at 36 St. Andrew Square.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  12. threefromleith
    Member

    I tried Slime about 9 years ago. All that happened was that I got a flat tyre and the fun of getting covered in the Slime that was spewing out of the puncture hole in the tyre. It was such a mess that I gave up trying to deal with the puncture and pushed the bike home.

    After that experience, I binned the rest of the bottle of Slime and threw an unused Slime inner-tube in the bin.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  13. kaputnik
    Moderator

    If using slime and a screw-on pump chuck (like the Lezyne pumps have) watch out for the pump unscrewing the valve core when you remove it. Tubes meant for slime have a removable core that has 2 tiny spanner flats on it so it can be unscrewed to allow slime to be added and then re-tightened.

    Factory tightness on the core can be fairly slack and if you don't think/know to tighten up you can get caught out with an instadeflate as the core is removed.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  14. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    What was the mechanic's problem with slime - had he been trying to repair a puncture?

    Changing a tubeless tyre. You break the bead and oot spurks the slime.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  15. dessert rat
    Member

    @ IWRATS - slime in the tube, not tubeless i think.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  16. dessert rat
    Member

    PS @ IWRATS.

    front brake judder all gone now. phew.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  17. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    @Iain McR

    You can slime tyres or tubes.

    Glad to hear the judder be gone. Was it anything I suggested?

    Posted 6 years ago #

  18. stiltskin
    Member

    You don't use slime in tubeless tyres. It is for inner tubes.Ditto in the opposite way with stan's /orange sealant and tubed tyres. They are different products. Don't ask me why.
    EDIT: I see you can now get 'Slime Tubeless' but again, it isn't for use in tubes.
    https://www.slime.com/us/faq-details.php?id=2

    Posted 6 years ago #

  19. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    You don't use slime in tubeless tyres.

    I can assure you that I have done. There's tube slime and tyre slime and never the twain shall meet;

    https://www.slime.com/uk/products/bike/sealants/

    Posted 6 years ago #

  20. stiltskin
    Member

    I shall now answer your post before last :-)

    Posted 6 years ago #

  21. dessert rat
    Member

    @ IWRATS - yes, exactly as you suspected.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  22. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I've fixed some brakes and tripped over myself in the same post.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  23. sallyhinch
    Member

    I've just remembered why I hate bike maintenance. Supposedly, the bike is a beautifully simple machine which any fule can fix, but any time you try and actually do something to your bike it turns out to be far more complicated than you first thought.

    So, to recap: I can put slime in my inner tubes, as long as it is the right kind of slime and they are the right kind of inner tubes with removable valve cores and I'm careful when pumping them up and I don't mind Nazi mechanics shouting at me. They may or may not magically heal any punctures I get but things could get messy in an unspecified way afterwards.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  24. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I've just remembered why I hate bike maintenance.

    I love working on bikes and I've only ever killed one by clumsiness, though it hasn't actually died yet but it will and it will have been my fault though the person witnessing the death will think it was theirs. I'm not currently a Nazi and I won't ever shout at you or your bike. There may be a deal to be done involving my second and third favourite things; cake and dry humour.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  25. Frenchy
    Member

    EDIT: Wrang threed.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  26. sallyhinch
    Member

    Hmm, well having spent the best part of an hour failing to fix a punctured inner tube, I have broken down and bought a slime inner tube and fitted it (hopefully in time for hedge-cutting season).

    In the course of this I discovered that I have the wrong sized tyre for my back wheel (the wheel is 700x23C and the tyre is a 700x28, if that makes any sense - fortunately I had taken a photo of both the labelling on the tyre and on the wheel before I went in). This was installed by the bike mechanic who likes to cast aspersions on the bodges perpetrated by my previous bike mechanic.

    On the plus side, I've now had lots of practice taking my back wheel on and off

    Posted 6 years ago #

  27. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    the bike mechanic who likes to cast aspersions on the bodges perpetrated by my previous bike mechanic

    To be fair that covers all bike mechanics. Like the hairdressers' 'and who did this to you?'.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  28. sallyhinch
    Member

    unfortunately there are only 3 bike shops in Dumfries so once I move to the third, I'll be stuck with them as they will have thoroughly poisoned my mind against the previous two.

    Posted 6 years ago #

  29. hunnymonster
    Member

    If a 700x28 fits (and doesn't rub the frame) - it's not the wrong size and has been giving you a considerably more comfortable ride than a 23mm tyre.

    700C = nominal diameter of the wheel (including tyre)
    x28 = 28mm tyre width

    Posted 6 years ago #

  30. sallyhinch
    Member

    yeah, there's plenty of clearance (and it's been fine for a couple of years). It just means that the inner tube that fits the wheel doesn't match the inner tube size written on the tyre.

    Posted 6 years ago #

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