I grew up around there and we used the thorn proof tubes that are heavier than the tires. I’m a recent convert to tubeless with latex sealant. You can put the sealant in your tubes too and it works all right.

Slime is not quite the same thing. It’s got rubber crumbs to plug holes. But tubeless tire sealant is made with liquid latex that dries out when it leaks to make a seal. More like Fix-A-Flat. It lasts a few months in a tubeless tire but in a tube it can go a year. I just pumped up my tandem again after a long storage. The last thing I did before I put it away was put sealant in it to patch a leak, and pump it up. When I pumped it up lately nearly a year later it still had about 10 psi left and the sealant was still liquid.

i disagree with locolobo, they are freaking everywhere in Phoenix. Armor up, however you choose to, and spend your attention on something else

Sealants work in much the same way. Tubeless sealant isn’t “liquid” latex. It’s a suspension of latex in a dispersant. Latex is a bio-polymer that isn’t “liquid”. It’s the same rubber “crumbs” as Slime uses or, for that matter, the same latex material that is used in paint. Once the latex enters the hole, the dispersant leaves either through evaporation or other means and the latex agglomerates and forms the plug that seals the leak.

Secondly, even though you still may have “liquid” in the tire after a year, you may not have in agglomerated latex in the tire. That’s what “coral” formations in tubeless tires are. It’s the agglomerated latex sloshing about in the dispersant. If that latex is all agglomerated it won’t plug any holes. The carrier solvent in tubeless sealant (unlike Slime) dissolves through the rubber which is how the sealant “dries” in an airtight, watertight container. At some point, the tire becomes saturated with the sealant carrier so that the sealant doesn’t dry out any further but the latex will still agglomerate. Along with drying out, that agglomeration is why the sealant needs to be refreshed regularly.

I don’t use Slime (nor any sealant) but I had an interesting discussion with a Slime user about using the stuff. I have always left the goat head in place as it serves as kind of a plug of its own. But he said that the goat head should be removed so that the Slime can fill the hole. If the goat head is left in place, it can flex and reopen the hole constantly. Even if the major part of the dead is broken off, the spike could still flex which would lead to leakage and/or a poor seal. Remove all of the thorn and the Slime should seal.

I do, by the way, use Mr Tuffy’s but they aren’t perfect. I’ve been on rides where I’ve gotten zero flats (out of 27 for 4 people). I’ve also been on rides where I’ve stopped counting flats at 67 on only my tire. I would also add that the ride where we had 27 flats, one of the four people had tubeless and got 4 of the 27 flats. Tubeless isn’t necessarily perfect either.

I wasn’t necessarily “criticizing” as I was correcting misconceptions about mixtures...at least initially. I was sharing my experience as well, along with a sizable modicum of knowledge.

Bent rims aren’t because people are “leisurely riders”. The bent rims I’m talking about are from impacts against sharp edges that blip rims. Aggressive riders are much more likely to ride in ways that result in that kind of damage than “leisurely riders”.

And I’m not sure what you read that gave you the impression that my bicycle experience is limited. I’ve been riding bikes of all kinds for roughly 40 years. I tour, mountain bike, commute, winter ride, ride recreationally and even mountain bike tour. I’m also a highly experienced bicycle mechanic who has volunteered Saturdays at my local co-op for 8 years. I also happen to be a research chemist who knows a bit about mixtures. How much more “diversity” do you want?

I also have been using tire liners for longer than I can remember...probably close to 30 years... and haven’t found them to many disadvantages. I’ve been using them with good results since long before tubeless was even a glimmer in Stan’s eye. I may have been using them since before there even was a Stan. In fact many, if not most, tires today have an integrated belt that is just a Mr. Tuffy under the tread. That’s even on many tubeless tires.

Again, I don’t agree. My 30 years of experience with using them in mountain bike tires have been at 40 psi. That not a low as modern tubeless are run but it is no where near the max pressure. And, again, valve stems don’t get ripped off because of the tire liner. The liner may chafe the tube but it doesn’t cause cuts to valve stems. Those cuts are caused by the tire slipping on the rim and taking the tube with it.

Finally, stop with the implications about weak riders and inexperienced riders. If you don’t want to go with tubeless...which have their own limitations...tire liners are a very viable option against goat heads. As I pointed out, the same technology is place in a lot of tires including tubeless ready tires. The Mr. Tuffys just happen to not have to be thrown out when the tire wears out.