Re: [CR]Slime

At 08:37 AM 19/11/2008 -0600, John Wood wrote:
>I haven't used slime in tubulars, but I frequently ride my mountain bike in
>a desert area where cactus are unaviodable, and all who ride there quickly
>learn that they must use either slime tubes or tubeless with sealant or you
>will have 2 flat tires (minimum) guaranteed. Works great for small
>punctures! The downside is it does add weight and can seal the valve
>itself. And not sure if slime will work on latex tubes, if your tubies are
>so equipped.
>
>John
>
>On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 11:54 PM, Jack Gabus <jgabus@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Anybody out there used slime to repair or prevent punctures in their
>> tubulars? What were you're results? Inquiring minds want to know.
>>
>> JG

I have not had any experience using sealant in bicycle tires, only in a car tire, and it really didn't work that well. However, Tufo has a sealant for tubular tires: http://www.tufotires.com/tufo_sealant.htm I believe Tufo uses construction and adhesives in their tubulars that are not "user servicable", so the only way to fix flats is the sealant or replacement.

I've also been following a thread on Bike Forums where somebody is trying to diagnose a bike that is "slow and hard to ride" for no obvious reason. http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=486661 One person relates a story of how his wife's bike was a slug because it had thorn proof tubes and was transformed when the tubes were replaced with regular ones. This would make me wonder whether it would be wise to put any kind of gunk inside tubulars except in an emergency. After all, they are known for their speed and responsiveness, so if you're going to use sealant to make repairs easier, why not just run clinchers?

John Betmanis
Woodstock, Ontario
Canada