banzo

I bought a boxtop bike from WalMart; a GMC Denali by Kent. It has Kenda tires with pretty yellow stripes on the sides. There is actually some tread on them. I want to commute to/from work. I don't like flats. I bought some Slime tire liners to try to get some wear out of the Kenda 700c tires while avoiding flats. While installing the first one, I took my veteran diaper clip and stuck it through the Slime liner 2x. No problem. Am I just stupid or is this a gimmick for-which I paid 14.50/pr.?

GiantDefyGuy

LOL!

As long as you avoid those wackos that hide in the bushes and jump out and stab at your tires with safety pins, you should be fine.

That's about what to expect from a tire liner. You're not trying to protect from giant safety pins sticking straight up in the road as much as you're adding protection from all the little things that CAN'T penetrate that thing. Like those little metal pieces of car tires, little rocks, little pieces of glass, etc. The liners definitely help with that stuff.

The tires that came on your Denali are pretty cheap though, and they aren't going to have any flat protection built-in. I'd think about replacing them with something more robust if I was going to commute on that bike. You can get tires with a kevlar layer around the bottom that acts as a built-in tire liner. With a tire like that AND a tire liner, you're pretty much set. (Maxxis Re-Fuse is one example)

Besides the Slime liners from walmart, you can also try to find "Mr Tuffy's" liners from your bike shop or the internet. I believe they are a little beefier than the picture you posted, but you could still shove a pin through them.

DieselDan

You set out to prove a point and succeed. Nice way to start a troll post.

LesterOfPuppets

I've never tried Slime brand, but no liners are completely impenetrable. I go with standard Mr. Tuffies and they hold up to a lot. I have Mr. Tuffies Lite, also and they seem to offer less protection than regular Mr. Tuffies, so I'll stick with the regular, personally.

Also check your tires often, dig chunks of glass, thorns, metal wire, etc from your tire as they can often work their way through the liner if left there.

sternzeit

Goat heads around here will laugh at that safety pin.

danmc

Well, it seems like you just ruined $7.25 worth of tire liner! And please don't test your condoms that way...

DieselDan

The liners work as a second layer behind the tire, not your first line of defense, as they support the tire and aren't made to take a large pin being pushed by a grown man at 4X the pressure the tire pushes on the road. You ruined it, don't be a jerk and try to return them to the store now.

LesterOfPuppets

The liner isn't exactly ruined just because it has two perforations in it.

danmc

He's not done testing them yet. He has them pinned to the wall and is firing a gun at them to see if they can take a bullet.

Jamesw2

use a metal tape measure as a liner

GrandaddyBiker

I got a better idea, switch to these and never have a flat again.

danmc

Flip it!

banzo

Thanks GiantDefyGuy. I like your answer best. First though, I'm going to give one of my 20" Kevlar-belted tires the pin-test to see if they have any more puncture-resistance? If not. I'll just wear out the Kenda's and then buy some quality tires; that shouldn't take long given that their most-expensive feature is probably their bright yellow sidewall stripes! BTW: The Kendas are less puncture-resistant than the Slime belt, though minimally. I know they make bullet-proof vests. Why can't someone put that fabric in a tire belt? Then you could get flat protection without spending $$$ for fancy-explanation, designer-brand tires?

To those who think I've ruined my tire liner by puncturing it: Do you really think there's any statistical chance some road challenge will match-up with those precise areas on the belts? If so, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like to sell you...

DieselDan

I can take that pin and puncture a Kevlar belted tire, as my arms can put more pressure through the pin then the weight of my tires rolling over a puncture hazard. Next time take your oversized gas-guzzling SUV and run over the frame of your bike and declare the frame unsafe since it can't withstand 100X the tested weight capacity.

Canada Panda

FYI bullet-proof vests aren't stab-proof.

I'm currently running a cheap Cheng Shin front tire with a Mr. Tuffy liner on my commuter. I've picked up glass, sharp rocks, even the side of a nail where the head - not the sharp end - embedded into the tire. No flats yet. My average cruising speed is 30 km/h (~20 MPH) so I'm not gently rolling over these objects, either.

Whiteknight

In 2005 I started running Tuffy liners in both of our Trek Navigators. I had talked to one of our bicycle mounted police officers about puncture protection. All of the police bikes had Tuffy liners in the tires to deal with broken glass, nails, etc. in back alleys in the city. I have run Tuffy or Slime liners in all four of our bikes since that time. When I wear out a set of tires I simply switch the liners to the new tires. With the liners we have had only one puncture flat in about 15,000 miles of riding. That was a raspberry bush thorn through a sidewall above the position of the liner.
When I pull the liners out of a worn set of tires I look at the surface of the liner against the tire. You would be amazed at what they protect against in the way of punctures.

I have been running Kevlar belted or Kevlar casing tires for several years. While puncture resistant they are not 100% puncture proof. I still run liners in them for added protection. When we are 25 to 30 miles from the car I don't want to be troubled with flats.

Several years ago we were riding through Williamsport, PA. A box store had a big shoe sale sign out. The wife's shopping gene kicked in and across the parking lot we went. As I rounded the rear of a parked car I did not see the broken beer bottle until it was too late to avoid it. The glass cut the Conti Town & Country straight across the tread and right through the casing. I stopped and looked into the cut. There was the Tuffy liner bulged up into the cut keeping the tube out of the cut which would have caused the tube to fail.

I have had flats from valve stem failures when I did not deburr the valve stem holes in rims. I had had flats when the factory rubber rim tape failed. But only one puncture flat in 7 years with the raspberry bush thorn through the sidewall.

I would point out that steel belted auto tires are not 100% puncture proof when it comes to sharp pointed objects. The early adds for the steel belted radials showed them being run over railroad tracks and axe blades but none would show them going over roofing nails.

E. Ogre

banzo

Thank you for all of your replies. Some were funny and most informative. BTW: I was able to puncture my Kevlar tire easily in the depth of a tread groove, just as I read DieselDan related. Whiteknight's info about police riders and liners was most-interesting. Based on your collective advice, I've retired my diaper pin and will ride my Slime liners until my Kenda's treads are bare--barring repeat flats of-course!