Sealant of some kind
I live in cactus country too. You have to use some kind of sealant. IMHO Slime and what is in Specialized Airloc tubes works the best as far as sealant in tubes. I have tried Tru Goo and Tube Spooge and didn't get good result with those. Specialized is now selling their proprietary sealant separately. It is pretty similar to Slime. If you are running presta tubes, some of them have removeable valve cores, no problem putting in sealant. Some of them don't have removeable valve cores but you can still but in sealant but it is more tedious. File the braded top off the valve core and unscrew the knurled nut. Grab the bottom of the valve core through the tube and pull it out of the stem. You have to be very careful not to drop it inside the tube. Squeeze sealant into the tube while holding the valve core. Push the core back into the stem and replace the nut on it. From then on any time you loosen that nut you need to use caution that you don't screw it off. Once you've done this a time or two it gets easier.
Stan's works quite well if you go tubeless.
If you start using sealant you don't need heavy duty tires or tubes just for cactus thorns.
Another tip; if you see a thorn in your tire rotate the thorn to the bottom before you pull it out let the sealant run to the bottom. That way it immediately forces sealant into the hole, they'll seal right up that way.
I live in cactus country too. You have to use some kind of sealant. IMHO Slime and what is in Specialized Airloc tubes works the best as far as sealant in tubes. I have tried Tru Goo and Tube Spooge and didn't get good result with those. Specialized is now selling their proprietary sealant separately. It is pretty similar to Slime. If you are running presta tubes, some of them have removeable valve cores, no problem putting in sealant. Some of them don't have removeable valve cores but you can still but in sealant but it is more tedious. File the braded top off the valve core and unscrew the knurled nut. Grab the bottom of the valve core through the tube and pull it out of the stem. You have to be very careful not to drop it inside the tube. Squeeze sealant into the tube while holding the valve core. Push the core back into the stem and replace the nut on it. From then on any time you loosen that nut you need to use caution that you don't screw it off. Once you've done this a time or two it gets easier.
Stan's works quite well if you go tubeless.
If you start using sealant you don't need heavy duty tires or tubes just for cactus thorns.
Another tip; if you see a thorn in your tire rotate the thorn to the bottom before you pull it out let the sealant run to the bottom. That way it immediately forces sealant into the hole, they'll seal right up that way.
