Slime Tube Protector Slices Inner Tube - Again

[e-beach]

Yea throw this thread on the pile of "Tube Protector Slices Inner Tube" stories.

I think I am done with tube protectors for now. 2 of my 5 last flats were caused by tube protectors. I was unsure if the first one was due to improper installation so this time I took great care to do it right.

This time I pressed the new tube in a way to flatten it out and then put the Slime tube liner over the tube and centered it on the tube. I marked the tube with a silver Sharpe marker so when I enstalled the tube protector I would get it centered over the tube. I then continued to mark the tube where the edge of the tube protector should follow.

I then put the tube liner in a bucket of warm water and put it into the sun for a while to soften it up a bit for installation.

I put the tube on the rim and inflated it just enough to give it proper shape. After about 20 minutes I pulled the tube protector from the water, dried it and inserted it between the inside of the tire and the tube. I got it extremely well centered by using the silver line I drew on the tube.

And the result? After less then 150 miles the tire liner had sliced a hole in my new Giant extra thick inner tube.

The only fortunate thing about this story is that I was home when the tire went flat.

As you can see by the picture the slice was dead on the centering stripe I put on the side of the tube to match the side of the tube protector. (the lightish looking strip where the tube was sliced.) So this time I am very well satisfied that I did every thing right. And the tube protector malfunctioned.

 

[Ykick]

I believe very thick, good quality downhill tubes and cloth rim tape (hockey stick/grip stuff) is about the best combo for longevity on motor wheels.

Face it, if something really nasty is aligned right to poke your tire, it's gonna poke your tire. All the liners and special products in the world will never prevent that from happening.

 

[amberwolf]

I stopped using them mostly because I didn't have enough of the right size ones to put on all the tires/wheels I was using....

But that said, since I don't have moped/mc thickness tires yet, and I wear the tires really fast, I've been running doubled-up bike tires on the back of the SB Cruiser, to varied success levels; no flats from stuff in the tire, but did have one wire bead come off the inner tire and poke thru the tube's sidewall. Tire was old and dry rotted, so no big surprise. No issues with newer tires yet.

CrazyBike2 has been running quite a while now without any slime or protectors, just thicker tires and tubes, no puncture flats.

When I used thinner tubes and tires, though...only the liners (and slime in some cases) stopped the flats from thousands of thorns (not even coutning the many nails and other debris stopped by the liners).

 

[MrDude_1]

I believe very thick, good quality downhill tubes and cloth rim tape is about the best combo for longevity on motor wheels.

Face it, if something really nasty is aligned right to poke your tire, it's gonna poke your tire. All the liners and special products in the world will never prevent that from happening.

I agree with one small caveat.
Some day the cloth tape will wear though. It should take years.... but when it does, the spoke nipple WILL pop your tire.
It took my Gary Fisher 13 years for it to happen... But damn it sucked when it did. I almost ate it hard.

 

[amberwolf]

Some day the cloth tape will wear though. It should take years.... but when it does, the spoke nipple WILL pop your tire.

If you have doublewall rims that's an unlikely scenario--but on the singlewall rims, it could certainly happen if the center with the nipple holes isn't deep enough to prevent contact with the tube, and it rubs back and forth on the head lumps in the tape as pressure changes, etc.

I suppose if the doublewall rim's tube-side nipple holes were sharp-edged, a similar problem coudl still happen, but it'd be less likely (I guess), and it would be easier to prevent (by smoothing the edges).

 

[MrDude_1]

Some day the cloth tape will wear though. It should take years.... but when it does, the spoke nipple WILL pop your tire.

If you have doublewall rims that's an unlikely scenario--but on the singlewall rims, it could certainly happen if the center with the nipple holes isn't deep enough to prevent contact with the tube, and it rubs back and forth on the head lumps in the tape as pressure changes, etc.

I suppose if the doublewall rim's tube-side nipple holes were sharp-edged, a similar problem coudl still happen, but it'd be less likely (I guess), and it would be easier to prevent (by smoothing the edges).

If you're riding a Gary Fisher (or most bikes) that were made in the late 90s, you dont have double wall rims. lol.

 

[dogman dan]

I never really liked liners, since around here thorns just go in one side through the tire, through the liner, through the tube, and then back out again at the top of the tube. But just slime won't work well either, on those ones that come back out the top.

The best liners though, might be the home made ones, taking a street slick tire, cutting off the bead.

Thick tubes for the win when using slime sealant, my local bike shop carries bottranger brand ones that are pretty good. Holes plug better with the slime in a thicker tube.

 

[MadRhino]

A wider rim does let you inflate the tire at lower PSI, giving it better puncture resistance. IMO, everything that you put inside a tire is a nuisance and this should be done only as much as it is absolutely necessary.

I am riding 3'' tires on 65mm rims, PVC electric tape for a rim band, DH tubes, adding 4 Oz of slime once they are half worn thread, 17 PSI with 235 Lbs total riding weight.
They can take every obstacles and terrain around here, and most of them do wear to slick without a flat. Of course I have very few thorns here, nothing like you can find in desertic area that is an extreme situation. Yet I climb the stairs, ride hard and fast in mountain trails, and there are a lot of potholes on the streets of Montreal.

Best thing you can do for flats, is to build your bike as to take off the wheels quick and easy. Then a flat is not a drama.

 

[Chalo]

The best liners though, might be the home made ones, taking a street slick tire, cutting off the bead.

What he said. A cutoff tire is seamless, for one, and its edge is softer and wraps further around the inner tube, where the tire doesn't work so much.

Best of all is a tire that's as thick and tough as all the combined protective enhancements you were thinking of using. On my rain bike, that's Schwalbe Marathon Plus.

For bikes I'm not quite so paranoid about flatting on, Panaracer RiBMo is my first choice. In years of using it on several bikes, I've only suffered one single puncture, from a big construction staple. It's lighter, faster, cushier, grippier, and longer wearing than Marathon Plus.