Sealer for tire flats-Green Slime, Flat Attack, Zefal or Fix A Flat for Bikes?

ebikemom said:
...
I ordered new slime tubes to keep in stock in the garage that are the heavy duty type (they call them "super thick" which made it a bit hard for me to find them online, since I was using "heavy duty" as a search term. I don't have any loaded on a bike yet, so it will be a while before I can give an update of any kind about the heavy duty slime tubes....
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The super thick slime tubes (and you can get non-slime super thick tubes as well) are certainly awesome for preventing flats. The downside is that they are enormously heavy. I experimented with them last year and finally decided that the extra flat protection was not worth the extra weight which dramatically worsened both handling of the bike and range. This was on a 2017 Pedego Interceptor.

A better way to get nearly as much flat protection is to install a good tire liner like a Mister Tuffy or a Rhinodillo.
 
Interesting. I ordered one, and will give it a try. The tech did recommend a tire liner. He recycles the sidewalls of blown tires to use as tire liners. Is a tire liner lighter weight than a heavy duty tube?
 
ebikemom said:
...The tech did recommend a tire liner. He recycles the sidewalls of blown tires to use as tire liners. Is a tire liner lighter weight than a heavy duty tube?
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Much lighter.

The thing about tire liners is you need to be fussy about keeping the tire properly inflated because a tire liner can actually increase the risk of a pinch flat (aka "snakebite"). But if you end up riding through debris on the shoulder of the road a lot a tire liner will save you nine times out of ten.
 
Was interested to see the mention of an LBS warning of failure around the valve stem when using sealants in the tube. We used to use sealants in our tubes, as we have run into goathead thorns - besides the normal road hazards.

I have since decided I did not like using the sealants, as they can make a mess if you do get a flat and it is too large to seal. I also noticed that over time, the sealant can gum up the valves (especially on Presta) causing the valve to loose its seal.

Then recently two of our bikes blew a tire violently with a failure at the inner tube's seam for the valve stem. Both tires had sealant in the tubes for a year or so. Over tens of thousands of miles, I had never before seen that kind of failure of a tube. Hmm, I may now know the reason. Perhaps the sealant ate the glue at the seam.

In any event, I will not bother with sealants in the tube any more, and will instead put all my money into topnotch puncture resistant tires.
 
I have the Schwalbe Energizer Pro, 700 x 38c on my Haibike Xduro SRX Trekking with 3,723 miles riding in Seattle bike lanes full of debris. I have to say I am quite impressed with the "Green Guard" lining for extra puncture protection. I have had two punctures, both with in two weeks of each other around 1,800 miles. One was a self-tapping screw and the other a piece of broken porcelain. I'm not sure anything can protect against those two items. I have heard also sorts of crunching noises in the bike lane and often thought oh no, but behold no issue. My local bike mechanic was quite impressed when I said I only had two punctures. I keep them at 80 psi and weigh 155 lbs.

For me, a better tire rather than sealant would be my preference. But then I don't have goat thorns to deal with, just needles disposed of by some of our residents. Welcome to Seattle! Most of them have caps on them.

I've learnt some lessons over these miles in addition to carrying a puncture repair kit and a spare tube:
  1. Carry latex gloves! My lesson learnt after puncture one.
  2. Download a video on changing a tire to your phone. It is so in frequent that it is good to take a moment to breath at the side of the road and watch how it is done, especially getting the tire back on the rim.
  3. Get a saddle cover so when you put the bike upside down, it does not destroy the saddle.
At 3,723 miles I would say my rear tire is good for may be another 1,000 miles. The tread is quite low at this time. I will be replacing it with the same tire brand/make. The front tire has tones of tread left on it.
 
currypotter said:
I have the Schwalbe Energizer Pro, 700 x 38c on my Haibike Xduro SRX Trekking with 3,723 miles riding in Seattle bike lanes full of debris. I have to say I am quite impressed with the "Green Guard" lining for extra puncture protection. I have had two punctures, both with in two weeks of each other around 1,800 miles. One was a self-tapping screw and the other a piece of broken porcelain. I'm not sure anything can protect against those two items. I have heard also sorts of crunching noises in the bike lane and often thought oh no, but behold no issue. My local bike mechanic was quite impressed when I said I only had two punctures. I keep them at 80 psi and weigh 155 lbs.

For me, a better tire rather than sealant would be my preference. But then I don't have goat thorns to deal with, just needles disposed of by some of our residents. Welcome to Seattle! Most of them have caps on them.

I've learnt some lessons over these miles in addition to carrying a puncture repair kit and a spare tube:
  1. Carry latex gloves! My lesson learnt after puncture one.
  2. Download a video on changing a tire to your phone. It is so in frequent that it is good to take a moment to breath at the side of the road and watch how it is done, especially getting the tire back on the rim.
  3. Get a saddle cover so when you put the bike upside down, it does not destroy the saddle.
At 3,723 miles I would say my rear tire is good for may be another 1,000 miles. The tread is quite low at this time. I will be replacing it with the same tire brand/make. The front tire has tones of tread left on it.
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Haha, we have many thousands of miles under our belts riding on Seattle's streets (we are in Tucson, AZ now). I've had every kind of flat; shards of metal and glass, screws and nails, etc. I think the wet can help cause a flat by lubricating the sharp object to aid cutting into the tire. So yes, sometimes you will get a flat no matter what.

That said, I have about 4,500 miles on a bike with Schwalbe Mondails - with 2 flats total. I have another bike with about 4,000 miles on Schwalbe Marathon Plus, with only one flat so far. Both tires do very well handling normal road hazards.
 
Is there any consensus on the best aftermarket protection for tubed tires? I carry a patch kit, pump and the tools needed to repair a flat on our dino bikes but never had to use them (knock on wood). I'm anticipating getting much further from home with ebikes and because they weigh so much, the ability to repair a flat trailside will be a must. Next to that, I'd like to add some protection to avoid a flat to begin with.
 
DDBB said:
Is there any consensus on the best aftermarket protection for tubed tires? I carry a patch kit, pump and the tools needed to repair a flat on our dino bikes but never had to use them (knock on wood). I'm anticipating getting much further from home with ebikes and because they weigh so much, the ability to repair a flat trailside will be a must. Next to that, I'd like to add some protection to avoid a flat to begin with.
Click to expand...

Someone in the Rattan Owners group on FB mentioned this product might work better than Slime: https://armor-dilloz.com/collections/tire-sealant/products/armor-dillo-tire-sealant
 
jazz said:
One reason is the Kenda tires. They are probably the lightest (and cheapest) fat tire available. The problem with this is that it also makes them very thin which offers little puncture resistance.
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I have only been able to find the Kenda, With K shield30 TPI casing from rad. Just bought another pair, they have held up well And with slime, or tube armor,Have not had flats, knock on wood. Pulled a large piece of glass out of the tire after I got home, and the slime sealed it and has been fine .When itComes time to replace the tube, I will cut the valve stem off and line the tire with the old tube before replacing the new tube for extra protection.
 
DDBB said:
Is there any consensus on the best aftermarket protection for tubed tires? I carry a patch kit, pump and the tools needed to repair a flat on our dino bikes but never had to use them (knock on wood). I'm anticipating getting much further from home with ebikes and because they weigh so much, the ability to repair a flat trailside will be a must. Next to that, I'd like to add some protection to avoid a flat to begin with.
Click to expand...

From the FAQs section:

Can I use this in my bicycle?
Yes, our product is compatible with tube and tubeless tires. We recommend the Green 'Dillo for this.
 
I run Schwalbe Super Moto X with Tannus Armor. No flats in 10,000 miles.
tannusamerica.com

Tannus Armour Inserts

Tannus Armour protects your tube against 90% of common bike flats using 15mm of multi-cell foam. Say goodbye to pinch and puncture flats.
tannusamerica.com tannusamerica.com
 
mrgold35 said:
I've used Stans sealant in my 700X40C pedal bike for +4 years and never changed it out. I added a 2oz bottle to my old pedal bike when I got my first flat from a goathead thorn and it has been working ever since.

I've use Stans with my 4" fat tires on my Radrover since Sept/2016 with about 3000 miles between them now (two 2oz bottles per tire, Mr. Tuffy liner, Kenda tubes, Vee8 120tpi tires). My current set-up work very well for goathead thorns (usually picking out 1-8 from tires after every ride). I leave the thorns in the tires until I get home. If the tire starts to leak when removed, I just rotate the tire down until Stans does it job and check the PSI.

The combo let me down twice when I ran over road debris of metal or glass that put a 1/8" slash in my tires and when I ran over a 4" wood screw with about 3 1/2" in the rear tire.

Over time, I now keep all the tools I need from patching to replacing the tube in my flat kit:
- hand pump
- tire gauge
- tools to remove rear hub tire
- zip ties
- 2oz bottle of Stans
- knife
- latex gloves
- handy wipe package (for hands and cleaning tire for patch kit)
- spare tube
- flat kit with valve stem remover
- a couple shop towels (4oz of Stans makes a hell of a mess inside the tire if the hole is too big to seal)
- 4 velcro straps (used to wrap around the 120tpi tire to keep the soft bead in place when airing up)
- cell phone handy to call wife to pick me up if I just don't feel like dealing with the flat right then (used this option twice already)
Click to expand...
Do yo have a trailer to put all of this stuff in?
 
Yup, running Slime tubes in my Marathons - from Walmart. Needed a tube, saw them on the shelf, and decided to give them a try. That was about 9 months ago. So far so good! -Al
 
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