Tire Sealant Clot = Weird Steering?

[Mr Scott]

Ok, guys. Been riding our M2S bikes for months now. Right off, not wanting to deal with flats if possible, I gave a good dose of Flat Attack to all the tires--26x4" for me, 24x4" for my wife's. At first, no problems, rode great. We sometimes don't get on the bikes for a week, occasionally longer as we have other bikes, hike, etc. So they sit for a while. Now, when we take the bikes out, it REALLY feels like we've got a big solid weight in there that is throwing off the steering in a weird way. Anyone else experienced something like this? What is the best sealant to use? I guess I'm going to have to pull and toss these tubes, which is a bummer, but the steering is really annoying at this point. I guess Stan's dries out over time, but maybe it won't clot like this? Dunno. Any advice/experience appreciated. Should we just go with some sort of monster protection slips, if they exist? Main threat around here is goat heads. Thanks!

 

[Gordon71]

I put slime in my 26X4s two years ago with no problems. 16oz bottle did two tires. The bike sat in the garage from Nov. to April last winter. I remember slime had different product for tube vs tubeless. Any chance the same is true for Flat Attack and you used the wrong one? If you rode the bike right after applying I would think it would have been well distributed.

 

[harryS]

I have a tube that came pre-slimed on my bike. Last August, the valve core got gummed up with slime, so I had to put in a new one. This week, the second core did the same thing. If it wasn't cold now, I'd take the tube off and scrap it.

As far as Slime collecting in the bottom of the tire when cold and causing unbalance, I had a wheel do that, and that was also with a pre-slimed tube. I never proved it. It was a motor wheel, and a lot of trouble to take off and experiment, I just took that tube/tire off and got rid of it in the Spring. So I only have the one slimed tube above, and if it wasn't also on a back wheel, I'd change it.

 

[George S.]

I put some Flat Out in a tire this morning, a 3" fat tire on an XP. Bike #2 I built, a commuter with a BBS02. It has Schwalbe Marathons. I've never had a flat with the Marathons, many before. I went with Flat Out over Slime because it supposedly will last 'forever'. The super tough choices for fat tires are limited or none. The Slime seems to thicken and clog the valves, over time. But I carry a small bottle of Slime in the repair bag for the commuter. I don't put it in the tire, any tire, but I figure with a good valve core tool and 5 minutes, I can try the Slime AFTER a flat. Is there any downside to just carrying the bottle, rather than filling the tube? I guess you'd have to try to inflate the tire, to get the Slime moving around and push through the hole. I might trash the Slime in the bottle and put Flat Out in the bottle, to carry.

 

[Mr Scott]

Thanks, everyone. I'll check into Flat Out. Looks like the stuff I need.

 

[AHicks]

Lucky I guess. I've been using Slime for quite a while now. Maybe 10 years. I've never experienced a plugged valve. To be honest, when the stuff first goes in, I may get that surging/out of balance feeling, but that disappears in just a few miles.