The 'Slime' experience

[jimboalee]

After having two punctures last week, I filled the tubes with slime ( Bike Doctor X actually ) and carried on riding to work.

Before lunchtime, I check my tyres and today.... front tyre softer than rear!

Inspected the tyre and found ANOTHER peice of glass from the broken bottle by the bus stop. Warwickshire council - do your job!

Got the tyre off and pumped the tube up to find the hole... ??? nothing.
Pumped it up a lot more and where I found the glass, I gave the tube a hard squeeze to see the hole. Out squeezed a small bubble of Bike Doctor X.

Marked the hole and applied repair patch as normal.

In normal riding, this puncture would have deflated the tube within seconds, but thanks to Bike Doctor X, it took till lunchtime to show a measureable deflation.
In other words, I would have got home in the rain.

OH ps. I sanded and applied the patch with the tube INFLATED ! No leakage past Bike Doctor X.

 

[roadiewill]

I have that stuff on my giant... just for peace of mind

 

[Randochap]

Yuk!

 

[fossyant]

Makes your wheels loads heavier.... stuff it.....

 

[jimboalee]

The bike is a Halford's own Apollo 'County' gents Sturmey Archer 3 speed ALL steel of 34 lbs weight. The tyres are Raleigh Record 26 x 1 3/8" on chromed steel rims. The tubes are 26 x 1.75 Schrader.

I am dressed up in four layers with Adidas shell training trousers, running shoes, wooly hat and gloves.
I have a back-pack with my PRK, a few tools; a bagfull of money, phone, car keys, etc.

The bike is loaded with two rear LED lamps and a Ring Cybalite 4 x C 5 Watt LED torch ( with a Garmin Edge 605 strapped to it).

The extra 8 ounces of slime doesn't seem to make a lot of difference to my 12 mile commute. I'm still riding it in about 55 minutes.

In fact, my wristwatch weights more than the slime in my tyres

I use this bike in the wet weather because the steel rims don't make any mess and I don't mind it getting soaked. The Sturmey is simple and reliable and there are no derailleurs to worry about. It is re-geared a full step lower than standard, but I hardly use the 39" 1st. 2nd is 54" and cruising is 68". Its a REAL commuter.

If I can have something that delays the deflation of a punctured tyre, all the better.