[MikeDee]

Where can I find (or make) a lightweight Slime filled tube?

Is there a trick to mounting a 26" tube on a 29er? It took me too long to mount the tires. I'm not sure the weight savings of ~8.5" of tube length is worth the bother.

 

[mtnbiker72]

Mounting a 26" tube on a 29er doesn't take any longer than a regular tube. Inflate it just enough to give it shape, mount one side of the tire on the rim, start at the valve hole and simply stretch the tube around the rim, mount the other side of the tire...inflate.

Lightweight slime tubes are available at most online retailers and some LBS. I know Performance carries them.

 

[MikeDee]

I'm thinking of a Slime Light 26" tube. It's supposed to weigh 219 g (which is pretty light for a Slimed tube; normal unslimed Bontrager thin 29er tubes weigh 197 g, according to Weight Weenies). Will Slime Light tube hold up when stretched inside a 29er tire?

 

[mwarner57]

I tried the Slime Light tubes on my 26er a few years ago, and wasn't too impressed. The only difference was when I pinch flatted, I got a nice neon green spray on the inside of the tire. No help at all Might help if you have issues with thorns, though...

 

[mtnbiker72]

Well...its like any lightweight tube...it will not be as durable as a standard weight tube. A slime light tube is a thinner tube and stretched to a 29er size will be even thinner. When I was using tubes, I mostly used 26" tubes but standard weight ones. I have consistently had pinch flat issues with lightweight tubes (which is really my main attraction to tubeless) so I myself would be more inclined to use a standard 26" slime tube and take the 90 gram penalty

 

[Dial Tone]

I have Slime Lites in my 26er and have had great results with it. Pulled over 14 goatheads (stopped counting after 14) and didnt go flat.

I also have regular Slime tubes in my 29er--in 29 x 2.125 size. Slime doesn't make Lites in that size yet.

 

[fos'l]

I have Slime Lites in my 26er and have had great results with it. Pulled over 14 goatheads (stopped counting after 14) and didnt go flat.

I also have regular Slime tubes in my 29er--in 29 x 2.125 size. Slime doesn't make Lites in that size yet.

Interesting and curious that you've had success with Slime tubes. I've used several of the light variety (they warrantied the first pair a couple of times) and they were "defeated" by goat head thorns. The hole, while almost imperceptibly small, wasn't plugged by the goo.

 

[jh_on_the_cape]

I use slime lite 26er tubes in my 29er. it's a bit of a pain to mount them, but not impossible.

a better bet: put stans sealant inside a tube. a guy at the LBS does this for me. i think it would be a pain to do it, but he is all set up. giant bottle of stans with pump dispenser - clear tubing of the correct size, and a case of tubes with removeable valve cores. he just unscrews the core, connects the tube, pump pump, then puts the core back in and gives them to me for the price of a tube.

that mechanic has since left, and i am almost out of those tubes...

 

[Dial Tone]

Interesting and curious that you've had success with Slime tubes. I've used several of the light variety (they warrantied the first pair a couple of times) and they were "defeated" by goat head thorns. The hole, while almost imperceptibly small, wasn't plugged by the goo.

Maybe the sealant was old? I thought I read it somewhere that the sealant has a limited lifespan.

I pulled out the thorn, green slime oozed out, spun the wheel until the hissing stopped. Repeated 13+ times more. And though the tire did not go flat, I did have to pump a little bit of air back in. I continued to use the same tube until I replaced it last month. I tweaked the valve a bit and air would slowly leak out. To be on the safe side I just bought a new tube just in case the sealant had dried/aired out. Tube was used from June '08 to Aug '09.

So far no pinch flats--though I always inflate somewhere inbetween the min and max PSI. And I always carry spare tubes anyway. You never know you might run into someone who might need one.

 

[Pivvay]

I've had terrible luck with lightweight 26" slime tubes in a 26er or a 29er. I've given up on them actually.

 

[Ken2]

Flat Attack

Flat Attack makes a line of tubes with their sealant that includes 29er tubes.
Or you can buy Flat Attack goo sealant and add it to any tube, provided it has a removeable core (Q-tubes have them, not sure about others). They include a rubber hose that fits perfectly so there's no mess.

 

[Natalie Portman]

a better bet: put stans sealant inside a tube.

I concur.

 

[Jay P]

I've had terrible luck with lightweight 26" slime tubes in a 26er or a 29er. I've given up on them actually.

I rode 3000 miles on Slime 26" tubes on my tandem 29er! No kiddin, even next to you for some .

And you tubeless lovers should really look into the Slime Pro Tubeless.

-JayP

 

[Pivvay]

I rode 3000 miles on Slime 26" tubes on my tandem 29er! No kiddin, even next to you for some .
-JayP

I know Jay and that's partially why I'd been stubbornly trying them as my "backup" tubes. But on the rare occasion that I've flatted my Stansed tires or ran out of sealant, the slime lite tube in my seatbag was either already failed despite being wrapped up protectively or it failed within the next couple hours.

The non-lite version seems to work fine, but the lite version just has not worked to for me and I've bought at least 6 of them at full retail over the past 2 years thinking I was just getting unlucky.

 

[Guitar Ted]

I have no idea if my tubes are Slime Lites or regular Slime tubes. (I am guessing they are Lites, because I got them handed down to me by endurance racer Jeff Kerkove) Anyway, they have to be four years old now and have been swapped from wheel set to wheelset and used on several different bikes. Still going strong with zero flats. These are 26"er tubes, by the way. easy to mount if you take your time.

I have also had good success with injecting CaffeLatex right through a Presta valve stem.

YMMV.

 

[Boyonabyke]

Kenda now makes presta valved tubes with removeable cores so you can slimes or stans them yourself. I don't like Stans in a tube... it takes 2 months for it to turn into lumpy asteroids inside the tube, with no way to get them out of the tube. Goat head season around here is from mid August through mid October, so I'll slime up a tube and run it for 3 months, and when the rear tire wears out, I'll just put in a new tube with a new tire, and not haul all that sloshing mess around.


http://www.kendausa.com/_DOWNLOADS/PDFS/2009BCcatalogLR.pdf


Page 22 has the goods.

 

[MikeDee]

I have no idea if my tubes are Slime Lites or regular Slime tubes. (I am guessing they are Lites, because I got them handed down to me by endurance racer Jeff Kerkove) Anyway, they have to be four years old now and have been swapped from wheel set to wheelset and used on several different bikes. Still going strong with zero flats. These are 26"er tubes, by the way. easy to mount if you take your time.

I have also had good success with injecting CaffeLatex right through a Presta valve stem.

YMMV.

There's a discussion on the Flat Attack website that says that lightweight tubes don't work well with sealants (something about needing to have a certain wall thickness through the hole for the sealing particles/fibers to cling to). This would indicate that Slime Lite tubes don't work as well as regular Slime tubes do.

Does CaffeLatex rely on particles/fibers to do the sealing? If not, then it may work well with a lightweight tube. How much is needed for a tube? Do you have to have a removable presta valve to get it in?

 

[MikeDee]

I have Bontrager tubes with removable presta valves. Also, I hear that Continental tubes have removable presta alves.

 

[Guitar Ted]

There's a discussion on the Flat Attack website that says that lightweight tubes don't work well with sealants (something about needing to have a certain wall thickness through the hole for the sealing particles/fibers to cling to). This would indicate that Slime Lite tubes don't work as well as regular Slime tubes do.

Does CaffeLatex rely on particles/fibers to do the sealing? If not, then it may work well with a lightweight tube. How much is needed for a tube? Do you have to have a removable presta valve to get it in?

CaffeLatex is a synthetic latex with no ammonia. It seals up punctures in a similar way to Stan's, so no "fibrous" stuff here. That's why you can inject it right past a valve core. They have an injector kit that makes this a snap to do, but I think you could make something with a small baster (kitchen tool) and a length of shrink tubing as well.

 

[eyescream]

What a waste of $$ the "Slime Lite" 26"er tube was...lasted all of 30 minutes into a ride.