Tubes

I am looking for the best tubes available. I rode my bike for the first
time, and came home with a flat, we have alot of puncture weeds. I put some
slime in the tire, was great until I rode again the next day, tires went
flat again, I filled them up and they held air, I noticed the slime on the
outside of the tire. Went for another ride, came back and the tires were
flat again.

Anyone have any ideas on what to use?

Thanks

Shane

"Snowboard3r" wrote in
:
I am looking for the best tubes available. I rode my bike for the first
time, and came home with a flat, we have alot of puncture weeds.

Have you tried puncture resistant tires? Several brands make good ones.
Specialized Armadillo and Continental Gatorskin are probably the most
popular.

Did you make sure to run your hand (carefully) around the inside of the tire
to remove whatever may have punctured the tube in the first place?


"Snowboard3r" wrote in message
...
I am looking for the best tubes available. I rode my bike for the first
time, and came home with a flat, we have alot of puncture weeds. I put
some
slime in the tire, was great until I rode again the next day, tires went
flat again, I filled them up and they held air, I noticed the slime on the
outside of the tire. Went for another ride, came back and the tires were
flat again.

Anyone have any ideas on what to use?

Thanks

Shane

Get thorn resistant tubes that are extra thick on the outside. Also be sure
to use tires with Kevlar linings, and/or add a kevlar lining yourself
between the tire and tube. If you do this latter precaution, you need the
thicker tube or the liner could cause a flat.

This combination had reduced my number of flats dramatically. But it
doesn't eliminate them. The thick tubes are perhaps more susceptible to
stem failures, if my experience is any guide. Plus once I ran over a screw
that punctured through everything.


"Snowboard3r" wrote in message
...
I am looking for the best tubes available. I rode my bike for the first
time, and came home with a flat, we have alot of puncture weeds. I put
some
slime in the tire, was great until I rode again the next day, tires went
flat again, I filled them up and they held air, I noticed the slime on the
outside of the tire. Went for another ride, came back and the tires were
flat again.

Anyone have any ideas on what to use?

Thanks

Shane

On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:53:07 -0700, "Snowboard3r"
may have said:

I am looking for the best tubes available. I rode my bike for the first
time, and came home with a flat, we have alot of puncture weeds. I put some
slime in the tire, was great until I rode again the next day, tires went
flat again, I filled them up and they held air, I noticed the slime on the
outside of the tire. Went for another ride, came back and the tires were
flat again.

Anyone have any ideas on what to use?

You didn't say if this was a road bike or an mtb; tactics vary
accordingly. On mountain bikes, in places where goatheads are
common, some people report nearly tolerable (IMO) results with a
combination of a puncture-resistant tire, a puncture-resistant tire
liner, and either a thick tube or Slime, or both. In my limited
experience with this hazard, however, the only real defense is to ride
where they aren't. If that's not an option, resign yourself to
becoming adept with patches.

Bear in mind that if you adopt Slime as part of the approach, you'll
have more work to do when patching the tubes...and you'll still have
to patch or replace them eventually.

Someone will doubtless mention the foam-filled "airless" tire and tube
conversions that are available. For a variety of reasons (centering
around their inherent inability to distribute point loads in the same
way as a pneumatic tire can), these are generally disparaged by
experienced riders. Yes, an "airless" tire setup is immune to going
flat. It's also immune to providing the same level of ride comfort
and operational efficiency as an average pneumatic. Whether its
shortcomings are counterbalanced when comparing to a
puncture-resistant setup is a matter of opinion, needs, conditions and
priorities.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:53:07 -0700, Snowboard3r wrote:

I am looking for the best tubes available. I rode my bike for the first
time, and came home with a flat, we have alot of puncture weeds. I put some
slime in the tire, was great until I rode again the next day, tires went
flat again, I filled them up and they held air, I noticed the slime on the
outside of the tire. Went for another ride, came back and the tires were
flat again.

The first thing would be to repair the tubes, instead of just sliming
them. That also means getting the thorns out of the tire casing, so they
don't continually cause more flats.

It's not really a question of the tubes. Any tube will be punctured by a
long thorn, or sliver of glass. When you get the flat, change the tube
and make sure you get the sharp thing out of the tire, or it will cause
another flat.

You can get thicker, tougher tires. Others will recommend those. You can
also get liners between the tire and the tube, which might help some. I
don't do either of these things. You should also learn to spot those
hazardous weeds and avoid them.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Accept risk. Accept responsibility. Put a lawyer out of
_`\(,_ | business.
(_)/ (_) |

Yea I did that. There wasn't anything left in the tire, we have alot of
puncture (goat head) weeds around here.

Thanks

Shane

"NY Rides" wrote in message
...
Did you make sure to run your hand (carefully) around the inside of the
tire
to remove whatever may have punctured the tube in the first place?


"Snowboard3r" wrote in message
...
I am looking for the best tubes available. I rode my bike for the first
time, and came home with a flat, we have alot of puncture weeds. I put
some
slime in the tire, was great until I rode again the next day, tires went
flat again, I filled them up and they held air, I noticed the slime on
the
outside of the tire. Went for another ride, came back and the tires
were
flat again.

Anyone have any ideas on what to use?

Thanks

Shane

Sorry...yea it is a Mountain Bike, we have a S$#t load of those goat head
puncture weeds up here in Utah. They are very annoying. I don't like the
"airless" tubes mainly for the comfort reason. I guess I will look at the
strips that go the tire to prevent the puncture weeds from poking through.
Have you heard any thing good about the thicker tubes (puncture resistance)?

"Werehatrack" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:53:07 -0700, "Snowboard3r"
may have said:

I am looking for the best tubes available. I rode my bike for the first
time, and came home with a flat, we have alot of puncture weeds. I put
some
slime in the tire, was great until I rode again the next day, tires went
flat again, I filled them up and they held air, I noticed the slime on
the
outside of the tire. Went for another ride, came back and the tires were
flat again.

Anyone have any ideas on what to use?

You didn't say if this was a road bike or an mtb; tactics vary
accordingly. On mountain bikes, in places where goatheads are
common, some people report nearly tolerable (IMO) results with a
combination of a puncture-resistant tire, a puncture-resistant tire
liner, and either a thick tube or Slime, or both. In my limited
experience with this hazard, however, the only real defense is to ride
where they aren't. If that's not an option, resign yourself to
becoming adept with patches.

Bear in mind that if you adopt Slime as part of the approach, you'll
have more work to do when patching the tubes...and you'll still have
to patch or replace them eventually.

Someone will doubtless mention the foam-filled "airless" tire and tube
conversions that are available. For a variety of reasons (centering
around their inherent inability to distribute point loads in the same
way as a pneumatic tire can), these are generally disparaged by
experienced riders. Yes, an "airless" tire setup is immune to going
flat. It's also immune to providing the same level of ride comfort
and operational efficiency as an average pneumatic. Whether its
shortcomings are counterbalanced when comparing to a
puncture-resistant setup is a matter of opinion, needs, conditions and
priorities.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Mon, 28 Feb 2005 09:56:38 -0700, Snowboard3r wrote:

Sorry...yea it is a Mountain Bike, we have a S$#t load of those goat head
puncture weeds up here in Utah. They are very annoying. I don't like the
"airless" tubes mainly for the comfort reason. I guess I will look at the
strips that go the tire to prevent the puncture weeds from poking through.
Have you heard any thing good about the thicker tubes (puncture resistance)?

The problem with that is that the thicker tubes are at most 1/8" thicker.
You already have, I'm sure knobbies with quite thick tread on the knobs,
but also pretty thick in between. If that won't stop the thorns from
getting through, another bit of thickness on the tube won't do it, either.
Maybe a liner might help some, but mostly it's watchfulness to not ride
on the darn things.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "What am I on? I'm on my bike, six hours a day, busting my ass.
_`\(,_ | What are you on?" --Lance Armstrong
(_)/ (_) |

Snowboard3r wrote:
Sorry...yea it is a Mountain Bike, we have a S$#t load of those goat head
puncture weeds up here in Utah. They are very annoying. I don't like the
"airless" tubes mainly for the comfort reason. I guess I will look at the
strips that go the tire to prevent the puncture weeds from poking through.
Have you heard any thing good about the th

I've use puncture resistant tubes on my mt bike in Colorado for the last
8 years or so and have gotten very few flats with them (maybe one a
year, but I'm just an occasional rider). Before using them I got flats
all the time (I only did that for one summer, then I got smart)

Rich