americanlt2

I was having trouble with flats. Usually small tiny pieces of glass and remembered I used tire liners a long time ago and it helped. Si I bought some Slime tire liners and bought some Slime green goo and it has helped 95%. The bike employees told me they didn't work and actually caused flats?? They also told me they added a lot of weight?? Anyways I was just wondering why so many people dislike them.

pallen

I think weight is the main reason. That, and puncture resistant tires seem to do the job well enough without liners.

hubcap

What tires have you been using?

bcubed

Well, one reason bike mechanics dislike Slime is that, eventually, you get a puncture that exceeds the capacity of Slime to fix it. When that happens, the Slime creates a sticky mess that has to be cleaned up when the tube's replaced.

Frankly, I like the stuff, as well as puncture-resistant tires. They do add weight, though, in the worst possible area: the outer edge of a rotating mass.

SactoDoug

I have kevlar lined tires and I kept getting flats on my rear tire. I added a liner to it and no flats since.

When someone asks me about the weight, I ask them which would slow you down more: taking 10 minutes to change a flat or the extra 3 oz that the tire liner weighs?

tjspiel

Sometimes tire liners can cause flats due to the friction of the edges wearing the tubes thin.

Slime gets mixed reviews. It can plug a small hole but isn't fool proof. It can also cause valves to get stuck slightly open allowing air to escape. And as others have said, it makes a mess.

Personally I've had good luck just getting tires with decent flat protection so I don't bother with them.

Jimi77

Too many goats heads on the trails I ride. Slime has done the trick for me.

LesterOfPuppets

I run with Mr. Tuffy in all my clincher tires.

I reckon people hate them because of misuse, bad luck or horror stories they've heard.

I killed a $50 Armadillo with just a couple hundred miles on it so I subsequently stopped going with tires with built-in protection. A $25 tire with a $13 liner rolls about the same, weighs just a little more and is much cheaper to replace.

I used Slime in my MTB tubes when I lived in goathead country. It's no good for skinny road tires, though. I haven't gotten my Mr. Tuffy equipped tires on goathead trails much but they seem to work OK for them also.

nashcommguy

Personally, I don't have a like or dislike for them. When I was commuting urban I used them for about 5 years w/very good results. Of course I was riding an mtb w/26x1.95 tires. Then I went a little smaller w/1.75. Had 2 or 3 flats over the 5 years. 55-65 psi.

When I started commuting long rural distances I needed a faster bike w/more narrow tires. The higher psi of the rb tires caused more problems than the liners helped. 90-110 psi. In frustration I went to Nu-Teck airless w/flawless results though they were much slower. Rode them for about 2.5-3 years. Finally, after much study and comparison(s) I decided to get a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus for my primary commuter. No liners and the rolling resistance was very acceptable for a touring, utility or commuting rig. It's my belief that bicycle tire construction has improved to the point that liners aren't needed, anymore.

People will tout different brands/makes including Specialized Armadillos, Continental Gatorskins, Vittoria Randonneur, Bontragers, Michelins, etc. They're all highly regarded for the most part. I've gotten almost 20,000 combined miles out of 3 different bikes using SMPs exclusively w/1 slow leak and 2 flats. Same tires purchased over 3 years ago. One flat was a blowout caused by a faulty tube. The other was a 2" self-starting screw that nothing would've stopped. Never did figure out the slow leak.

FunkyStickman

Love mine, they are fantastic. I use Mr. Tuffy Silver liners in 26x1.5 Kenda Kwest tires.

jdswitters

Love my mr tuffys. But I also enjoyed my bontrager hardcases I had on last year. Just didn't want to buy 80 more dollars worth of tires for a brand new bike when I could just pay 20 and get roughly the same flat protection.

Having said that, I don't really like the tioga city grippers I have on right now after 400 miles and next spring when the nokia studs come off I will probably try the highly recommended SMPs then.

Locally, the people I have talked to who hate tire liners have installed them themselves, those who like tire liners had a professional do the install.

peterw_diy

"Hate" is a strong term. I stopped putting Mr. Tuffy liners on my bikes after I got a pinch flat on the rear of my fully loaded tourer thanks to one. Might have been misuse -- there was a piece of liner that the factory had not fully cut off and that I did not notice or remove. Still, my touring tires never had punctures, even off road, so in effect I paid extra for that flat. At least it wasn't raining . :-)

Sundance89

Ha, that's funny. That's what my father used to tell us as we weren't allowed to use that word as kids. To this day as an adult I say "Hate is a strong word".

AlmostGreenGuy

I love Mr. Tuffys. They rock. Never had a problem with them on my mountain bikes.

I'm not a fan of Slime tire liners though. Even after smoothing the edges of them, they still wore holes in the inner tubes on my mountain bikes.

I did try Slime inner tubes on my mountain bikes, and they worked to prevent flats. Unfortunately, the added weight drove me crazy. It always felt like I was riding through beach sand.

I'm now trying Armadillos on my street bike. I haven't yet decided if I prefer them or not. No flats yet though.

bluefoxicy

I ditched my stock Kwest tires for Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tires. It's a hell of an upgrade.

Ira B

Don't like them for the above mentioned reasons and because IMHO they make for a "dead" feeling ride.
If I got more flats I'd probably use them anyways but I seem to only get one or two a year and swapping out a tube is only a 5 min job.

FunkyStickman

I know, I keep saying I'm going to get a set, just haven't done it yet.

sojournseth

Been riding with Vittorio Raconteurs 35c for about 3 years; cracky roads, broken glass on bike paths, occasional hardpack dirt, etc. Maybe one flat and it was a slow leak. Did use liners before i switched and they were useful also. I think most of the time flats are luck'o'the draw

hueyhoolihan

mr. tuffy in all five bikes. 20mm to 32mm tires. 70-110psi range. nothing has gotten through yet and i'm in bigtime goathead country.

BTW using the new and improved "ultra lite"'s and a super light forte "lunar lite" tube combo there is zero weight penalty compared to standard forte tube alone. and i have not detected any loss of feel either.

tarwheel 

I get about 1-2 flats per year on my commuter bike, and about half of those are valve failures. On the other hand, my route has a bunch of hills that I have to climb day after day after day. Why would I want to lug more weight up the hills, in the worst possible place (wheels), just to avoid about 1 flat per year at the most?

Doohickie

I used tire liners for a while. Why did I get away from them?

1. Hassle when changing a tire
2. Flats from the end of the liner rubbing on the tube (I think this only happened once to me).
3. No sidewall protection.

Weight never entered into it.

Igo

7 flats in 35 days on OEM Kendra tires. Switched to Continental Gaterskins (5 grams lighter than the Kendras) and no flats in 15 days.

fietsbob

Personal History.. Internal abrasion of the liner into the tube.

now i use Schwalbe Marathon + tires,
on my daily rider bikes, the tire liner is under the tread , on those,
outside the casing.

the road bike , goes out rarely , for sport, I just mend the occasional puncture ..

Seattle Forrest

It's heavy and unnecessary with good tires. Plus, it can mess up your valve.

El Duderino X

Ditto. I kept getting punctures in my rear tire (Schwalbe Big Apples) until I installed a Mr. Tuffy strip. No more flats. Now I put a liner in every rear tire. Currently using a Mr. Tuffy liner in my rear Conti Ultra Gatorskin and having no problems with it, 3+ months along.