Need some advice

I've used Slime before on my garden tractor. Can you provide some guidance on using it in bike tires? Thanks!
 
Generec answer would be to deflate, add 4oz (or maybe more depending on tire size) through the valve stem (with core removed), reinstall core, inflate (making sure tire is centered on rim), and go for a ride to distribute inside the tube.
 
Barkfire said:
So of course I got my first flat tire, I was expecting one sooner than later because we have a lot of goat heads and I have been doing single track right through them. What is the best tire armor? I have never been a big fan of slime but I have used it on my lawnmowers with success. What do you guys use?
Click to expand...
I'm on the east coast, where we don't have goat heads. But I've conversed with western bicyclists enough in on-line forums to know that the one and only true way to deal with the goat head problem is the Tubeless tire set up.

I run tannus armour in my tubed fatbike tires and have had enough thorns penetrate them to tell you that they will not do the job against a goathead thorn. Neither will slime.

When you do eventually bite the bullet and go tubeless, arm yourself with a good tire pump as well as a good plugging system such as the ones offered by DynaPlug. Expensive, yes, but they work. And any tubeless rider will still have to carry a tube with them in case of a catastrophic tire blow out that can't be fixed via a tire plug system.
 
Mike TowpathTraveler said:
I'm on the east coast, where we don't have goat heads. But I've conversed with western bicyclists enough in on-line forums to know that the one and only true way to deal with the goat head problem is the Tubeless tire set up.

I run tannus armour in my tubed fatbike tires and have had enough thorns penetrate them to tell you that they will not do the job against a goathead thorn. Neither will slime.

When you do eventually bite the bullet and go tubeless, arm yourself with a good tire pump as well as a good plugging system such as the ones offered by DynaPlug. Expensive, yes, but they work. And any tubeless rider will still have to carry a tube with them in case of a catastrophic tire blow out that can't be fixed via a tire plug system.
Click to expand...
Although the goat heads are a real pain to deal with they leave a really small puncture and unless you have several at once it creates a slow leak. I only had one small puncture this time but I have had my tire full of goat heads before with multiple punctures. It can generally be taken care of with slime or something equal. I have this problem with my yard equipment and after slimming everything my tires all stay up. I will see how this FlatOut works out and may end up going to the Tannus Armour if I still have issues.
 
Barkfire said:
Although the goat heads are a real pain to deal with they leave a really small puncture and unless you have several at once it creates a slow leak. I only had one small puncture this time but I have had my tire full of goat heads before with multiple punctures. It can generally be taken care of with slime or something equal. I have this problem with my yard equipment and after slimming everything my tires all stay up. I will see how this FlatOut works out and may end up going to the Tannus Armour if I still have issues.
Click to expand...
I've been riding a fatbike exclusively since 2016; first a Fatboy and now a Haibike Full FatSix. I have a Master's Degree in Flat Tires, suffered, er, earned at the University of Hard Knocks. By a rough estimate, over 25,000 miles of fat bike riding, on pavement, trail, sand trail, snow. I've done it all. Just tubes. Tubes with Mr Tuffy liners. Tubeless. Tannus Armour and finally, in an act of temporary insanity, a rear tire with a tube, followed by the Tannus Armour and capped off with the Mr Tuffy liner. I've had one particular stretch of 3 consecutive days with a flattened tire. Multiple days of back to back flats. So with that, I think I can safely tell you that the tubeless setup is the one and only method that is going to seal your tire and allow you to roll onto your next goathead. And the next. And the next after that. And I offer that advice by running today with just tubes and tannus armours.

I was a Slime adherent since the mid to late 1990's and still have factory slime-filled presta valved tubes down the cellar for my old Trek 9000 dual suspension mtb. It's okay and fine and all, but Slime just does not have the sealing properties that an engineered latex-based sealant like Orange Seal has. The only turn off I had to tubeless was that when I did have a leak at speed, the sealant that blew out of the tire prior to the tire sealing back up; then collected on the bottom of my rack and the adjacent frame tubes.......just like Chewing Gum. It's a pain in the rear cleaning up/ That and the fact that if you had a big enough hole in the tire, multiple plugs may not fit (that's where carrying the extra tube with you comes into play.

So, I've been around the block a few times and now know what works and what does not work. For me. You're just going to have to go down that road as well, to find out what works and what doesn't. For yourself!

Lt Columbo moment: "Oh, one more thing........." After all of these years of riding and fixing flats on the side of the road, I forgot the most important thing in this discussion about what the best anti-flattening agent is...........

An open pair of eyes to the road ahead. Over the past couple years, I've really made an effort to scan the road before me, at speed, at crawling speed. That turned out to be the best anti-flat sealant I have ever found! :)
 
Damn Mike, I'm sorry you have had such a hard time with your flats. I don't think I have 25,000 miles on all my bikes put together but good on you! I do live in goat head country and have been riding MTB since the early 90s, I have done century rides as well as very rural mountain rides, the ones you basically die on lol, I still ride my 30-year-old Marin MTB, or at least I use too before the Specter, and I have not really had many issues with flats. I guess I'm lucky, sealant in the tubes will tackle the goat head issues for me. If I find that I need something else I may take your advice and look into tubeless. Thanks for the feedback.

Shane
 
Last edited:
Just curious... Can someone posts a picture of these goatheads? I don't spend too much time on trails (yet).

Thanks
 
procreator said:
Just curious... Can someone posts a picture of these goatheads? I don't spend too much time on trails (yet).

Thanks
Click to expand...

Goathead, there are several, but a common one…​


Evil bastards..

8B505588-942C-4E40-B22F-2A72B9DCB068.jpeg
 
There are many different varieties, these are the ones they got their name from
Goat head.jpg
the ones common around me look more like this
Goat.jpg
 
Thanks for sharing these pics. They look nasty. If I had to choose, I'd rather hit them with a bike tire than bare feet.
 
Last edited:
They are like a Medieval weapon called a caltrop. The worst though is a type of invasive star thistle. Recipe: Tube, Tire liner, Tubeless goo, such as Stan's.
1669510377345.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Cybersnow
E-Bike Computer?
2 3
Replies
49
Views
2K
jabberwocky
jabberwocky
B
USA to UK - ebike flight options.... your thoughts?I Swytch 90wh plane approved.
Replies
1
Views
349
harryS
harryS
S
need help on purchasing ebike asap
Replies
12
Views
822
scottsdalecommuter
S
C
First E-Bike: Ride1Up Turris?
2
Replies
36
Views
4K
BigNerd
BigNerd
bobwatts
Longest lasting tire recommendation
2
Replies
33
Views
3K
PedalUma
PedalUma
Back