Successful Slime

Like a good boy, I gave both tires on my upside-down bike a quick
squeeze before heading off on my daily ride.

Drat! My front tire had gone flat as a pancake overnight.

Peering myopically at the tire, I soon found a broken-off goathead
thorn and dug it out with the end of a paper-clip.

After replacing the tube and pumping the tire up, I felt pleased
because the Slime tube had let me get home and fix the flat indoors,
where it was warm and comfortable, rather than by the side of the road
in the cold wind and melting snow.

I slapped the front wheel into place and thought that I might as well
pump the rear tire up, even though it was fine. The Presta valve
popped open at about 110 psi, which was where it should be, but I
still felt virtuous because I'd checked instead of riding off with a
possibly soft tire.

In fact, I felt so noble that I spun the rear tire slowly on my
upside-down bike, just to check for cuts or--

Drat!

http://i2.tinypic.com/6omzu54.jpg

http://i8.tinypic.com/86js66g.jpg

That little tuft of white fibers mixed in with green Slime makes it
hard to pretend that nothing is wrong. The whole tuft was stuck in the
tread and pulled out of the tube when I removed the deflated tube.

I decided that I was really pleased that _both_ my Slime tubes held
air through yesterday's ride, but I may not be quite as pleased
tomorrow if it happens again.

Anyway, the pictures let people see what Slime tube users mean when
they talk about the little white fibers.

Goathead thorn tip from front tire, tuft of Slime fibers from rear:

http://i13.tinypic.com/6lj0krb.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

...once again Mr. Fogel DOCUMENTS his endeavors...Sir,I always enjoy
your post's.

Best Regards - Mike Baldwin

I'm a SLIME believer!

wrote:
Like a good boy, I gave both tires on my upside-down bike a quick
squeeze before heading off on my daily ride.

Drat! My front tire had gone flat as a pancake overnight.

Peering myopically at the tire, I soon found a broken-off goathead
thorn and dug it out with the end of a paper-clip.

After replacing the tube and pumping the tire up, I felt pleased
because the Slime tube had let me get home and fix the flat indoors,
where it was warm and comfortable, rather than by the side of the road
in the cold wind and melting snow.

I slapped the front wheel into place and thought that I might as well
pump the rear tire up, even though it was fine. The Presta valve
popped open at about 110 psi, which was where it should be, but I
still felt virtuous because I'd checked instead of riding off with a
possibly soft tire.

In fact, I felt so noble that I spun the rear tire slowly on my
upside-down bike, just to check for cuts or--

Drat!

http://i2.tinypic.com/6omzu54.jpg

http://i8.tinypic.com/86js66g.jpg

That little tuft of white fibers mixed in with green Slime makes it
hard to pretend that nothing is wrong. The whole tuft was stuck in the
tread and pulled out of the tube when I removed the deflated tube.

I decided that I was really pleased that _both_ my Slime tubes held
air through yesterday's ride, but I may not be quite as pleased
tomorrow if it happens again.

Anyway, the pictures let people see what Slime tube users mean when
they talk about the little white fibers.

Goathead thorn tip from front tire, tuft of Slime fibers from rear:

http://i13.tinypic.com/6lj0krb.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Carl any sensible person knows that tires only go FLAT at the BOTTOM of
a tyre. By turning your bike upside down the slime runs to the top. No
wonder it was deflated the next morning.

Elmo

In article , Elmo
wrote:

wrote:
Like a good boy, I gave both tires on my upside-down bike a quick
squeeze before heading off on my daily ride.

Drat! My front tire had gone flat as a pancake overnight.

Peering myopically at the tire, I soon found a broken-off goathead
thorn and dug it out with the end of a paper-clip.

After replacing the tube and pumping the tire up, I felt pleased
because the Slime tube had let me get home and fix the flat indoors,
where it was warm and comfortable, rather than by the side of the road
in the cold wind and melting snow.

I slapped the front wheel into place and thought that I might as well
pump the rear tire up, even though it was fine. The Presta valve
popped open at about 110 psi, which was where it should be, but I
still felt virtuous because I'd checked instead of riding off with a
possibly soft tire.

In fact, I felt so noble that I spun the rear tire slowly on my
upside-down bike, just to check for cuts or--

Drat!

http://i2.tinypic.com/6omzu54.jpg

http://i8.tinypic.com/86js66g.jpg

That little tuft of white fibers mixed in with green Slime makes it
hard to pretend that nothing is wrong. The whole tuft was stuck in the
tread and pulled out of the tube when I removed the deflated tube.

I decided that I was really pleased that _both_ my Slime tubes held
air through yesterday's ride, but I may not be quite as pleased
tomorrow if it happens again.

Anyway, the pictures let people see what Slime tube users mean when
they talk about the little white fibers.

Goathead thorn tip from front tire, tuft of Slime fibers from rear:

http://i13.tinypic.com/6lj0krb.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Carl any sensible person knows that tires only go FLAT at the BOTTOM of
a tyre. By turning your bike upside down the slime runs to the top. No
wonder it was deflated the next morning.

Elmo

Bicycles stand upon their sidewalls. Deflation happens from the top.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"My scenarios may give the impression I could be an excellent crook.
Not true - I am a talented lawyer." - Sandy in rec.bicycles.racing

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:14:09 -0500, (Michael
Baldwin) wrote:

..once again Mr. Fogel DOCUMENTS his endeavors...Sir,I always enjoy
your posts.

Best Regards - Mike Baldwin

I'm a SLIME believer!

Dear Mike,

Thanks for the compliment.

I believe in Slime, too--

When it works.

The goathead thorn holes that I'm patching are so small that it was
hard to find them after I sandpapered the inner tube.

Slime will often seal holes that small.

On bigger holes, Slime isn't as effective (and, to be fair, isn't sold
as such).

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:22:48 -0700, carlfogel wrote:

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:14:09 -0500, (Michael Baldwin)
wrote:

..once again Mr. Fogel DOCUMENTS his endeavors...Sir,I always enjoy your
posts.

Best Regards - Mike Baldwin

I'm a SLIME believer!

Dear Mike,

Thanks for the compliment.

I believe in Slime, too--

When it works.

The goathead thorn holes that I'm patching are so small that it was hard
to find them after I sandpapered the inner tube.

Slime will often seal holes that small.

On bigger holes, Slime isn't as effective (and, to be fair, isn't sold
as such).

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

This is neither here nor there, but wouldn't it be great to work for
Slime? Just imagine the conversations:

Stranger: Hi, I work at Biege-and-Boring Inc. What do you do?

Me: I work for Slime.

Stranger: Ha, ha! Don't we all! What's the name of the company?

Me: Slime Corporation.

Stranger: Yeah, I got the joke the first time......

etc. etc.

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:58:57 -0700, wrote:

Like a good boy, I gave both tires on my upside-down bike a quick
squeeze before heading off on my daily ride.

Drat! My front tire had gone flat as a pancake overnight.

Peering myopically at the tire, I soon found a broken-off goathead
thorn and dug it out with the end of a paper-clip.

After replacing the tube and pumping the tire up, I felt pleased
because the Slime tube had let me get home and fix the flat indoors,
where it was warm and comfortable, rather than by the side of the road
in the cold wind and melting snow.

I slapped the front wheel into place and thought that I might as well
pump the rear tire up, even though it was fine. The Presta valve
popped open at about 110 psi, which was where it should be, but I
still felt virtuous because I'd checked instead of riding off with a
possibly soft tire.

In fact, I felt so noble that I spun the rear tire slowly on my
upside-down bike, just to check for cuts or--

Drat!

http://i2.tinypic.com/6omzu54.jpg

http://i8.tinypic.com/86js66g.jpg

That little tuft of white fibers mixed in with green Slime makes it
hard to pretend that nothing is wrong. The whole tuft was stuck in the
tread and pulled out of the tube when I removed the deflated tube.

I decided that I was really pleased that _both_ my Slime tubes held
air through yesterday's ride, but I may not be quite as pleased
tomorrow if it happens again.

Anyway, the pictures let people see what Slime tube users mean when
they talk about the little white fibers.

Goathead thorn tip from front tire, tuft of Slime fibers from rear:

http://i13.tinypic.com/6lj0krb.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Drat!

The tube that I put into the front tire was down about 50 psi the next
morning.

I took it out and couldn't find a leak when I looked, even when I
inflated it and ran it past my ear. I looked for any little white
tufts where the Slime fibers might have plugged a hole, but found
nothing.

So I inflated the tube and dunked it in the sink. Still no leak. I
pulled and stretched the tube under water to try to open any plugged
holes. No bubbles.

Odd, I thought hopefully, maybe the valve stuck open ever so slightly?

Annoyed, I put the tube back into the front tire, pumped it up, and
went for my ride. The tire looked fine.

Today, it was down about 50 psi again. I went through the whole
process again, looking for white tufts, dunking the tube in the sink,
pulling and twisting the tube, inflating it even more--and nothing. No
leak.

To hell with it. I put in another tube and went for my ride, leaving
the suspect tube inflated impressively so that it expanded enough to
touch the floor when hung from a vise handle.

I just looked at it again after several hours. No sign of a leak.
Somewhere on the 80 inches of black rubber must be a tiny pinhole,
plugged with Slime.

Aaargh!

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:23:20 -0700, wrote:

On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:58:57 -0700, wrote:

Like a good boy, I gave both tires on my upside-down bike a quick
squeeze before heading off on my daily ride.

Drat! My front tire had gone flat as a pancake overnight.

Peering myopically at the tire, I soon found a broken-off goathead
thorn and dug it out with the end of a paper-clip.

After replacing the tube and pumping the tire up, I felt pleased
because the Slime tube had let me get home and fix the flat indoors,
where it was warm and comfortable, rather than by the side of the road
in the cold wind and melting snow.

I slapped the front wheel into place and thought that I might as well
pump the rear tire up, even though it was fine. The Presta valve
popped open at about 110 psi, which was where it should be, but I
still felt virtuous because I'd checked instead of riding off with a
possibly soft tire.

In fact, I felt so noble that I spun the rear tire slowly on my
upside-down bike, just to check for cuts or--

Drat!

http://i2.tinypic.com/6omzu54.jpg

http://i8.tinypic.com/86js66g.jpg

That little tuft of white fibers mixed in with green Slime makes it
hard to pretend that nothing is wrong. The whole tuft was stuck in the
tread and pulled out of the tube when I removed the deflated tube.

I decided that I was really pleased that _both_ my Slime tubes held
air through yesterday's ride, but I may not be quite as pleased
tomorrow if it happens again.

Anyway, the pictures let people see what Slime tube users mean when
they talk about the little white fibers.

Goathead thorn tip from front tire, tuft of Slime fibers from rear:

http://i13.tinypic.com/6lj0krb.jpg

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Drat!

The tube that I put into the front tire was down about 50 psi the next
morning.

I took it out and couldn't find a leak when I looked, even when I
inflated it and ran it past my ear. I looked for any little white
tufts where the Slime fibers might have plugged a hole, but found
nothing.

So I inflated the tube and dunked it in the sink. Still no leak. I
pulled and stretched the tube under water to try to open any plugged
holes. No bubbles.

Odd, I thought hopefully, maybe the valve stuck open ever so slightly?

Annoyed, I put the tube back into the front tire, pumped it up, and
went for my ride. The tire looked fine.

Today, it was down about 50 psi again. I went through the whole
process again, looking for white tufts, dunking the tube in the sink,
pulling and twisting the tube, inflating it even more--and nothing. No
leak.

To hell with it. I put in another tube and went for my ride, leaving
the suspect tube inflated impressively so that it expanded enough to
touch the floor when hung from a vise handle.

I just looked at it again after several hours. No sign of a leak.
Somewhere on the 80 inches of black rubber must be a tiny pinhole,
plugged with Slime.

Aaargh!

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Aaargh! Another Slime tube got me home before it went flat. I'm
practically gritting my teeth with pleasure

At noon I noticed this damp patch on my rear ti
http://i1.tinypic.com/6o0heys.jpg

Sure enough, the tire had lost about 50 psi since Saturday.

Here's the tube from the tire, about an inch wide as inflated, showing
the little tuft of Slime fibers where a goathead lanced it:
http://i14.tinypic.com/6yph1fk.jpg

Meanwhile, the other damned Slime tube that lost 50 psi twice in two
days is still happily holding full pressure in a spare tire on a spare
wheel. Maybe motion is needed to expose the pinhole that I can't find
even in a sink.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

Carl, really why not buy thorn proof tires like any normal sane
rational person.

datakoll aka gene daniels wrote:

Carl, really why not buy thorn proof tires like any normal sane
rational person.

Would "Dear Carl" be able to post long missives about his punctures to
the group if he solved the problem?

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
POST FREE OR DIE!