Is a Slime Seal (Tube) Permanent?

Tars Tarkas said:
That's not how it works in my experience. I overdose my tubes a good little bit, and another key is to ride enough to get the Slime to roll around and fill the puncture. If you didn't ride enough and you parked your bike with the puncture up, yeah, your scenario could happen, especially if you had a minimal amount of Slime in the tube.

TT
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lol, i know how to use slime, slime seals break all the time via jarring or water, i have had seals hold for 3 months only to randomly break and cause pressure loss! When i puncture a tube i repair it properly or i replace it to save myself trouble in the future.
 
ElevenAD said:
lol, i know how to use slime, slime seals break all the time via jarring or water, i have had seals hold for 3 months only to randomly break and cause pressure loss! When i puncture a tube i repair it properly or i replace it to save myself trouble in the future.
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LOL. I know how Slime works too. Your experience has been different than mine. There is absolutely nothing wrong with what you're doing, of course, but it hasn't been necessary for me. The difference is, I haven't had any flats. I attribute that to using Slime, but I suppose it's possible my tubes haven't actually suffered a puncture in the past 1500 miles or so. I imagine I've had several punctures though, that Slime has kept me blissfully unaware of. If I did have a flat that caused me to have stop and deal with it I'd probably do the same thing you do.

Who knows, but I suspect your experiences may be based on using less Slime in your tubes than I use.

TT
 
The common denominator seems to be that a slime-sealed tube is basically equivalent to any random inner tube. It might last the ride, or it might go flat on me in the middle. I'm not being flippant. That's just the reality. The thing to keep in mind here is that the inner tube is somewhat different than the other components. It would be irresponsible to ride with a known defect in a derailleur, braking system, etc. But with inner tubes, the responsible rider always anticipates the possibility of a flat. Personally, I ride with slimed tubes, a patch kit and two spares. So yes, eventually I will change this tube. But I'll change it when it goes flat. Which might be this afternoon. Or it might be six months from now. Seeing as replacement is a given, why should I replace it before I have to? (Because I could replace that tube right now, and still get a flat out on the road this afternoon. So what will I have gained? Unless it can be demonstrated that this tube is statistically more likely to fail on me, I'm happy to keep riding on it. Because my experience has shown me that there are no statistics to flats. They just happen. And we just patch/replace them and keep going...)

Thanks all, for your advice!
 
YoGe said:
The common denominator seems to be that a slime-sealed tube is basically equivalent to any random inner tube. It might last the ride, or it might go flat on me in the middle. I'm not being flippant. That's just the reality. The thing to keep in mind here is that the inner tube is somewhat different than the other components. It would be irresponsible to ride with a known defect in a derailleur, braking system, etc. But with inner tubes, the responsible rider always anticipates the possibility of a flat. Personally, I ride with slimed tubes, a patch kit and two spares. So yes, eventually I will change this tube. But I'll change it when it goes flat. Which might be this afternoon. Or it might be six months from now. Seeing as replacement is a given, why should I replace it before I have to? (Because I could replace that tube right now, and still get a flat out on the road this afternoon. So what will I have gained? Unless it can be demonstrated that this tube is statistically more likely to fail on me, I'm happy to keep riding on it. Because my experience has shown me that there are no statistics to flats. They just happen. And we just patch/replace them and keep going...)

Thanks all, for your advice!
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Break down maintenance vs. doing what you can to prevent that (preventative maintenance). It's your bike/call. Do as you like....

My only thought regarding making that call, is that doing it ahead of time, in my cozy work shop, may prevent being forced into doing it in the rain/cold/much more uncomfortable surroundings. You're right, no guarantees, but consider the odds for just a second....
 
Postscript: As I mentioned a week ago, last Wednesday, I took the bike out for a 79 mile trip. Came back and the tire was holding pressure like a rock. Funny thing though, Saturday evening, 72 hours later, I felt the tire. It was mushy. I checked it with a pressure gauge and found it at 12psi. I inspected the tire and found some sealant seeping through up at the top. I turned that spot down to the bottom, waited an hour and then re-inflated to 50psi. (Down from 60psi. Someone observed earlier that 60psi might be too much pressure for a slime seal.)

Anyway it's now Wednesday evening, four days later, and the tire is holding pressure at 50psi.

I think there is something here for everyone. Proponents of preventative maintenance will maintain that had I replaced the tube, I could have avoided this secondary rupture. However, I'm not so sure this is a secondary rupture of the original puncture. I can't identify this as the original puncture. I think this is a brand new puncture altogether. This would reinforce the position of the "wait until it bursts" group, because if this is in fact a new puncture (as I believe it to be), I'd have wasted a lot of effort replacing a brand new tube which was fated to puncture later on in the day - as tubes often do.

The one thing I am positive about is that since installing these slime tubes, I have not had a single puncture which has required a tube replacement mid-ride. I'm a big fan!
 
It makes sense that you might lose pressure from a leak at the top of a parked tire. Of course that's where the least Slime is. Riding will spread it evenly and should plug most leaks.

I think the takeaway is that there's nothing that's 100% with tires and flats. Belts and suspenders.

TT
 
Would a Slime Seal tube rated at 27.5 (650b) x 2.0-2.4 work in a 27.5 x 2.8"? Can Slime be manually installed in a tube with a Presta valve? Thanks.
 
Recycle said:
Would a Slime Seal tube rated at 27.5 (650b) x 2.0-2.4 work in a 27.5 x 2.8"? Can Slime be manually installed in a tube with a Presta valve? Thanks.
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Not a Presta fan, so I can't tell you anything about how, but it would only make sense that you CAN. Presta tubes use a smaller hole in the rim. To go with a more conventional tube, that hole would need to be bigger.
 
What I am surmising by reading this thread is that Slime-ing a tire is like wearing a life jacket. You hope you never need it, but you'll be very glad to have it on if you do. A few months ago when I was looking at various e-bikes, Lectric was offering Slimed tires as a bonus. Question: Is there any harm in Slime-ing a tire "just in case"?

I know that tire centers for cars hate working with Slimed tires because they are a mess and can cause tire balance issues. However, are there downsides to adding it to bike tires as a preventative measure?
 
procreator said:
What I am surmising by reading this thread is that Slime-ing a tire is like wearing a life jacket. You hope you never need it, but you'll be very glad to have it on if you do. A few months ago when I was looking at various e-bikes, Lectric was offering Slimed tires as a bonus. Question: Is there any harm in Slime-ing a tire "just in case"?

I know that tire centers for cars hate working with Slimed tires because they are a mess and can cause tire balance issues. However, are there downsides to adding it to bike tires as a preventative measure?
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besides mess and cost? not really. I have found most sealants don't work when PSI is about 50. our tandem at 70 psi it seldom works on my other bike at 50 psi I have found a really low tire but then would hold air so I take it its working.
 
fooferdoggie said:
besides mess and cost? not really. I have found most sealants don't work when PSI is about 50. our tandem at 70 psi it seldom works on my other bike at 50 psi I have found a really low tire but then would hold air so I take it its working.
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Slime can be a real mess in tubeless tires. That's why auto tire places don't like it. It's not really a problem when contained inside a tube. I've been using Slime for 4 years now and the only mess I've seen is around the valve stems. It can also foul valve cores but since Slime is water soluble, it's an easy cleanup. For patching a slime filled tube, I carry alcohol wipes to clean the tube before applying the patch. On the rare occasion when a Slime tube bursts, cleaning the inside of the tire with a garden hose is all that's necessary.

As @fooferdoggie says, Slime doesn't work well with higher tire pressures. After the leak reduces the pressure a bit, the Slime will usually seal before the tire goes flat.

I have several bikes and buy it in quantity to save a few $$. I give each tire a couple of shots at the beginning of the season.

Slime can build up and dry out inside a tube over time but I've never noticed any serious tire imbalance. I usually replace my tubes every 4th season anyway so it isn't an issue.

Serious weight weenies don't like the extra few grams the Slime adds but with an e-bike, IMO, the tradeoff is worth the added protection.
 
one of the biggest problems for me is I often cant find what gave me the flat. I find it when I take the tire off and its flush on the outside. this is where you get the mes the rim filled with sealant.
 
I bought a bottle of FlatOut sealant, but I have not yet found time to add it to the tubes. (Actually I have tons of time this week, but I caught a virus and have no energy.)
 
I think of it as a preventative. Cheap insurance.

And let's not loose sight of the fact it's water soluble. Worst case cleanups are just not that big a deal. Bike dealers don't like it because it costs them business.....
 
AHicks said:
I think of it as a preventative. Cheap insurance.

And let's not loose sight of the fact it's water soluble. Worst case cleanups are just not that big a deal. Bike dealers don't like it because it costs them business.....
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that must be it. remember will fat tire e bikes came out most bikes tires have too high of PSI to actually work.
 
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