Bicycle Mechanics - I am not impressed with Slime

Ya know, I heard people talking about having Slime in their tires and preventing flats.

Well, I tried it and it just wasn't "all that".

I put in an full bottle just like the instructions said.

First, it is messy and difficult to get into the tire. A couple of times it would plug in the valve stem and I had to use a pin to open it up again.

Then, I noticed that it affected the balance of my tire- especially the front tire seemed to wobble.

Finally, the moment I was waiting for came today when I got a thorn puncture. My tire went as flat as a three week old road kill. "Hmm...", I thought, "maybe it will hold air if I re-inflate it." Nope, it didn't work at all. The air just hissed out.

At least with my experience, Slime was money down the (inner) tube.

Mike

Slime is not the miracle as many may think.

1 bottle? That is too much. Either way it didn't work.

There was or is tubes out there sold under the name - TrueGoo. I have seen these to really work. I was very impressed. However they are not a 100% gurantee.

Yup, one whole bottle in each tire - just as the instructions said.

Yesterday on my way home, I decided to go UP a ramp that I have gone DOWN a million times. There was a difference between going up and going down.

Schwaaaaang! I flew right into a rose bush. Oooooeeee did that scratch up my legs. Worse yet, the garden variety rose bush thorns stuck right through my tires. It was the moment I had been waiting for - the moment to experience the joy of a self-repairing tire.

I changed the flat today and noticed the thorns sticking through the tire. The holes in the tube were teeny tiny.

I tried and tried to give the Slime a chance to work, but to no avail. I smoodged the stuff around the puncture, I blew up the inner tube again and again- Phhhhhfeeeew; the air leaked out... quickly.

Save your money - spare the goop.

Mike

BETTER THAN SLIME!!!---

Try some white latex-like stuff made by the Tufo sewup makers. It comes in small tube that says "Tufo" on it,
I've used it to resurrect several old punctured sewups. You NEED to take the valve core out of the stem to get the stuff in, if your valve core doesn't come out do not try it. I made a "spout" out of some old brake housing to make it easier to get in my tubes

Pat,
Does the Tufo continue to provide flat sealing or is it more of an internal "patch" for existing punctures?
Regards,
Raymond

I agree that slime is not that great. I had the same problem that the slime kept on clogging up my valve stem. I got this hard rubber stuff that goes around the inner tire. You put it on then put your tire on. Its a pain to get it on but so far its done great on my bike. It works great not to get flats from goat heads.

I just tried some Victor brand stuff that is about the same as Slime.

It was easier to get into the inner-tube and it is a lot cheaper.

I got it in the automotive section at Walmart. It was $4.50 for 16 ounces. That is about 1/4 the price of Slime.

My rear tire had a slow leak that made the tire go flat in about 20 minutes. I put this stuff in at lunch today. Now, five hours later, the tires are still holding the air I put in at noon.

Despite my complaints about Slime, I figured it was worth a try rather than going through the head-ache of taking the tire off, changing the tube, and remounting.

So far, so good. I will let you know how it progresses.

Rainman,
In response to your question about tufo- it does both quite well. The tires, (sewups), I resurrected had flats I never bothered to repair, (from several years ago). One set gets soft after a week or two and refills just fine, the other set hasn't lost air in a couple of months. Fresh falts lose a couple of pounds if it's a puncture, just pump up. Slices don't fare so well, but you have to throw those tires away anyway.

Pat,
Can you suggest a source for this product?
Thanks,
Raymond

I Have Something Similar (Halfords Own Brand)

I've Found Them To Be Great As I Have Had Hardly Any Punctures.

Except For When I Changed A Tyre And Pinched The Tube And There Was A Slash About 4Inches Long, It Didn't Work Then. lol. It Isn't Meant To Though.

Buy An Innertube With The Gloopy Stuff In There Already.

no.... no..... no..... rehab..... no------ no slime--- it is slimey, and gloopy-- nothing like taking a
break in the sun from a flat and doing Makers shots under a tree, taking a nap -- and then
replacing the tube with my butt in the air for passing drivers.....ahhhh..................

Ya know, I heard people talking about having Slime in their tires and preventing flats.

Well, I tried it and it just wasn't "all that".

I put in an full bottle just like the instructions said.

First, it is messy and difficult to get into the tire. A couple of times it would plug in the valve stem and I had to use a pin to open it up again.

Then, I noticed that it affected the balance of my tire- especially the front tire seemed to wobble.

Finally, the moment I was waiting for came today when I got a thorn puncture. My tire went as flat as a three week old road kill. "Hmm...", I thought, "maybe it will hold air if I re-inflate it." Nope, it didn't work at all. The air just hissed out.

At least with my experience, Slime was money down the (inner) tube.

Mike

The only purpose slime has is to make a mess when you do need to change the tubes out.

I used to use it and I found it worked well... I remember one high-desert ride where four people started the ride, two of us had slime in our tubes, and the other two walked back to the car. :)

That was years ago, however... maybe they have changed the formula.

My god, an 8 year old thread? Sealant belongs in tubeless setups. If you use tubes carry extra tubes.

My god, an 8 year old thread?

New record.

My god, an 8 year old thread? Sealant belongs in tubeless setups. If you use tubes carry extra tubes.


Ya, wow, eight years ago. I can barely remember posting it. In fact, I don't remember posting it, but I do remember the goo experience.

Neat to see it resurected again.

i thought it was common knowledge among the bicycle crowd that Slime was worthless. why are they still in business? it's the most utterly useless product in the world, yet people continue to buy it.

goooooooooooo..... nooooooooooooooooooo..... goooooo. gooooo no.no.
wow, sorry, halloween is coming and i wanted to set a mood..

Does Slime (or Tufo etc.) gunk up your tire pump? Anyone ever had that happen?

I wouldn't use slime in my bike tubes but it works really good in my hand truck tires.

Yeah, slime sucks. At least the "Slime" brand does. When I was in college, I was going to school out in the country with no place to have a car tire replaced. I picked up a fencing staple somewhere and thought I would put some slime in the tire to make it into town ok.

Boy was I wrong. I followed all the directions and the best I got was a slimey sputter out of the hole. By the time I got into town, it was pretty low and the poor repair tech. had to wear protection against the slime.

I don't know though. Some of this other stuff may work pretty well. I can imagine that if it did work, you would end up with a sticky mess between the tube and tire though.

True Goo. www.truegoo.com

I like slime. I pulled one tube after a wicked snakebite. Had three holes plugged by slime on the rolling surface of the tube.

Slime? Well, some people swear by it. I think it may help with smaller things like thorns. With nails etc., I do not think it helps.
Read the labels, many of these products state they are corrosive. I know that when I spend a day handling tubes in our shop my hands burn from the various additives added to the tubes. The worst is a clear product found in imported tubes, it can make your fingers burn all day!

That said, I saw a white product "fix" an impossible flat on a vendor's local food cart, think... wheelbarrow wheel with no tube! I almost fell over when it worked! I wish I knew what he was using but there was a language barrier.

Do you want the extra rotational weight? Do you want to plug your stem, or your pump? (Seen both). What hazards do you face?

Yeah, it'll burn. I remember this stuff was difficult to get into the tire (the nozzle kept slipping off the stem and spraying me) and then soap and water wouldn't get the stuff off. Had to use baby oil to get it off.

I love Slime. I have been using it in the tires of 5 of my bikes for many years. Result - no flats! Here in goat head heaven all the mountain bikers I know and most of the roadies use it in their tires. Altho it's reputed to not work so well at over 60 psi I have had good service from it in tires pumped up to 90 psi. I also use Sticker Flickers from the 1970's on my road bike wheels. I can't even remember the last time I patched a flat bike tire.
Like was stated at the top of this thread: some like it, some hate it.

has worked fine for me in my cruiser tires, but i mainly used slime for the "goathead" epidemic all over where i live. had 3 in the rear tire of my 51' spitfire and 2 in the front. put a tube in each tire and not only did it fix two flat tires but i havent had any problems since. not swearing by the stuff, for i know a better solution is out there, but for me it worked fine.

Note also that it was resurrected by someone typing in all caps (reduced to mere title case by the forum software).

Dude, you've been around here a long time!

What about the automotive type fix-a-flat stuff? I had a friend find a POS bike in the trash that he should have left there and it had flat tires, he bought a can of it and filled them up... then droppped a chain on the way home, somehow left the chain on the road so he must have broken it. He asked me for a used chain and I told him the bike was worthless but I guess it was better than walking that day and just a little more expensive than taking the bus.

I have never used Slime for all the reasons posted above until recently... I finally broke down and had the LBS put it in my old Roadster tires... It seems to be working fine... I have pulled several thorns from the tires and no flats so far... These are 28 inch rims and to change a tube requires pulling the brake pads off etc to remove a wheel... It is hard to find puncture resistant products in that size so the Slime seemd worth the try.. So far so good...

Keep your eyes peeled folks...


At Interbike, Slime was displaying a product they were comparing to an "unnamed competitor's product"...that looked uncannily like Stan's No-Tubes. It's made specifically for tubeless tires, but guaranteed to "not dry out like the competitor".

If their claims are anywhere near what they say...it could be a nice alternative, even run inside a tube.