Bike Tyre Slime - advice please

Goodadvice75

Hi,

New biker alert - sorry for silly questions!

I have a bike which has "Schwalbe" tyres. It is a folding bike.

Thinking about adding Slime to the tyres (in case I get a puncture) but I'm not sure if they are compatible and have never used it before.

Does the slime go inside the tyre or the tube and how do I get it in?

I vaguely remember I was told when I bought the bike that they are "run flat" type of tyres, but I'm not certain of this - how do I tell. If so, do I even need the Slime for this type of tyre?

Is Slime a good or bad thing? Just googling throws up quite a bit of criticism about its effects.

Any general advice very welcomed! Thx in advance.

Lorian

Schwable marathons? what's it say on the tyre?

esuhl

I used Slime once, but never again!

You have to deflate the tyres completely, remove the valve from the inner tube, squeeze in the Slime, then reinflate. Getting it in isn't a problem.

Maybe it stopped a few punctures, but one day I got a slow puncture that, I guess was too big for the Slime to fix (or maybe the Slime had dried out).

I tried to top up the tyre with air, and as I connected the pump, I got covered in Slime. You also can't deflate the tyre to use it with a puncture-repair kit (without getting covered). And the Slime gunks up the valve itself.

I can fix a puncture in 10 minutes, so I'd much rather do that. Or just carry a spare inner tube, and throw out the old one. An inner tube costs about the same as the Slime for a tube.

And the Slime increases the rolling-resistance of the tyres, so it's (a little bit) more effort to cycle.

So, I'm not a fan, but each to their own.

Norman_Castle

These http://www.schwalbetires.com/flat-less are described as flat less.

Retrogamer

That's the tyres i run. Heavy, but no punctures so far.

daivid

Another vote against I'm afraid, tried it once in mtb inner tubes. 1st puncture resulted in the slime spraying through every time I re-inflated the tyre. Slime also makes the wheels heavier and therefore increases the effort needed to peddle. Much better to use a good quality tyre and carry spare inner tubes.

fred246

I have tried:
Normal tyre with slime
Schwalbe Marathon plus without slime
Scwalbe Marathon plus with slime
Slime can get you out of a mess, the problem is you never know when you have had a puncture and you can't ride forever on a chemical plug.
If I used slime now I think I would carry it with me and use it if I got a puncture.
However after years of trying all combinations I just use Marathon plus tyres and carry a spare tube and a tiny puncture repair kit.
The Marathon Plus's are so good I've not had a puncture for ages. I did have a problem a few years ago when a big piece of glass cut a large hole in a brand new marathon plus (they're not cheap). The only other thing I've had go through Marathon plus are natural thorns.

Keep_pedalling

Never use this stuff in tubed wheels. It's crucial in tubeless systems but is more trouble than it's worth with tubes. The crucial thing is to learn how deal with and fix punctures (even if you are running "bullet proof" M+s)

T914

Slime is useless. I used silicon sealent on the inside of my tyres. They have not had a puncture in over 600 miles. You can buy it cheap in Poundland.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

No. Tried it once and the stuff squirts all over the place.

molerat

If you are really worried about getting punctures http://www.greentyre.co.uk/bicycle-tyres.php