I'm fixing up a 95 Giant CFM-4 and it has 26" tires. The tires are good but I'm going to change the tubes since they haven't had air in them for 10+ years. I see some Bell self sealing tubes for around $7 on Amazon. Are these any good or should I stick with standard?

Thanks.

Depends.

Do you have a lot of flats? I don't. So I feel regular tubes are best for me.

Self sealing tubes (the Slime brand being the big name) can work on the smaller bits that get past your tire casing's belts. But they do tend to let the rider believe their tires won't go flat and also tend to make the rider not do best maintenance and periodically examine the tires and remove those bits before they enter the tube. The other issue we have seen is when the flat causing object is not know of (as in the tire doesn't look or feel flat) but has still penetrated the tube. That object can continue to chew up the tube if you don't know to stop and remove it. Given enough pokes the sealant won't do it's job any longer. Whatever you do don't see self sealing tubes as a reason to leave the flat fixing kit home (and know that slime covered tubes make for a poor bonding with patch glue, so carry a spare tube). Andy

Thanks everyone, I don't see me getting a lot of flats with the mostly paved trail riding I'll be doing with this bike but thought for an extra $6is total for two over standard tubes that the added protection wouldn't hurt? What's everyone's favorite tube brand? I have Schwalbes on my other three bikes but what do I know? Oh, I do want Presta valves.

Continental hands down.

I tried those slime tubes on my MTB thinking wow! no more flats. Not true. And every time I tried to check tire pressures I got a S..T load of slime in my tire gauge. Then one day I was unable to check the pressures because the valve cores were solid as a rock and there wasn't going to be any air going in or out of them-NOT GOOD. I hit a patch of goat heads in a county park when I went off trail and no longer have or will ever have slime tubes again. My opinion and experience. Other people's may be different.

most sealant in self sealing tubes are most often used in tubes that are not made using the most durable material when compared to a well known reliable & trusted brand. IMO, it'd be better to add sealant to a better quality & fitting tube. I also would not plan on most patch work to adhere to a sealant filled tube during a roadside repair.
I've worn enough T-Shirts to determine what is likely my experience when dealing with sealant, patches, tubes.


YMMV

I've had variable luck with self-sealing tubes. They're heavier than standard tubes, which may or may not be a concern in your case. The sealant works best with small punctures, and becomes less effective at cold temperatures and with age as it hardens in the tube. It can be replenished, but again at the expense of increasing the weight even more. Large cuts can get downright messy, spewing sticky sealant all over the bike and anything nearby in the dispersal plume. These days I use it with bikes I ride in bad weather, where not having to stop to fix a small puncture can be an advantage. I've also used it with tubular tires, to avoid having to open the casing to fix a puncture.

Thanks again everyone. I've decided to skip them and am now looking for some good 26" standard tubes.

Have you checked to see if the tubes in the tires hold air? If they do, you don't have to spend a cent

Any tube that isn't a standard tube is not worth the time. If the tube comes with goo inside you really don't want it. The only thing that should have goo inside of it is a lava lamp or a jelly doughnut. (ok a few other things but not tubes) The only time to go with a fancy tube is if you are running open tubular tires and want to maximize things by using a latex tube or a lightweight rubber to save a touch of weight but I don't. A normal butyl tube is just fine.

If the tubes do hold air you can stick with them but it is never a bad thing for a refresh after a period of time.

I tried them as well because I ride with goat heads. They will self-seal enough to get you home, but not more than that. The flex between the tire & tube means that the sealant can't properly seal, so you have a slow leak anytime you ride after the initial puncture. The goat head usually resulted in a slow leak anyway, so no real advantage. I switched to properly tubeless and it's a much different experience, because the sealant seals the tire.

But for the average rider on good roads, standard tubes. My commuter bike has standard tubes, road and mountain bikes are both tubeless.

I have to use Slime where I live. The only alternative is kevlar tyres.

Its water soluble so adding water to the tube makes it more effective. Of course, you can't do that with Presta valves.

You have to pump the tyre with the valve at the 12 o'çlock position otherwise it will block the valve.

Where do you live that you need to use goo in your tubes? Some place where pumping tires is banned on Tuesdays or are high quality tires not allowed or are your roads literally paved with broken glass and tacks? A thick heavy tire like a Schwalbe Marathon Plus would certainly do the trick if I was getting flats along with making sure I am properly inflating my tires and using the widest tires I can fit in my frame would work wonders even in some really nasty conditions. People tour the world on those tires and do pretty darn well. We have a lot of folks riding heavy e-bikes on them with few issues.

Are the tires 25yo? I would replace them no matter what they look like.

Someone forgot to add in the blacklight posters with the lava lamps.

pump the tires at any position you like, as the incoming air will clear the valve barrel of any residual sealant, but if you’re checking the pressure sometime thereafter, I would have the valves at 6 o’clock to allow residual sealant to drain out - otherwise the brief air release will blow the sealant right into the gauge.

I will sheepishly admit I added slime to a set of my tires for long distance rides.

The combination of Ambrosio rims and Continental tires makes it extremely difficult to remove the tire in case of need for repair.
I need 3-4 high quality tire levers to get the tire off, and then at least 4 to remount it. At the end I’m sweaty and exhausted.
Can’t imagine doing that on a ride, so I’m willing to take the trade offs.

It didn't seem to matter where I had the valve positioned, there was always some residual slime in the core and it eventually dried up and caked up and no more air passed into or out of the valve. We're talking about Presta valves, not Shrader's. I never had any problems with slime and Shrader valves.

I once bought a so-called self-sealing tube -and same brand- at Walmart and no joke within 2 hours of riding I had a flat. Took it off the wheel, put it back in its box and took it back to Walmart and just bought a regular tube.