The scene was set, rife with broken glass, nails, and jagged screws strewn about. It sounded like a description of the scene of a horrific accident involving a hardware delivery truck but it's not...
We had approached SLIME Tubes and Tires some months ago about testing their new line of roadie tubes. They were more then happy to oblige and they gave us a quick demo what to expect and how the tubes work to protect your tires and keep you riding instead of fixing a flat. Inside SLIME Tubes is a small amount of a strange neon green fluid which is a mild adhesive that carries a mix of fibers. In the event that a puncture occurs, the pressure inside the tire and the centripetal force of the tire's rotation squeeze a small amount of the SLIME fluid out through the hole. Instantaneously, the hole is plugged by the SLIME which clots similarly to the way your body's platelets clot to seal an open wound.
Now, back to the seen of the "crime"...
In order to give the SLIME tubes a fair, complete and factual test, we rode the tubes for several months to see how they performed. During that time period, they hadn't flatted even once. In the conditions we rode them in, that fact is actually reasonably impressive in its own right. With conditions including utility cutaways in the road, and treacherous potholes that come with a mix of roadway detritus, including metallic debris, broken glass and busted taillights... flats are to be expected.
Once we deemed the real world road test to be sufficient, (about three to four months of riding) we subjected them to the ultimate torture test. The Torture Zone we designed was certain to not allow any tire/tube combo to survive. So, the game here was not "if" the tires or tubes would survive but, rather, how much brutality they could withstand. To imbue a certain amount of control into an inexact test, we did one trip through the Torture Zone with a regular tube in place. We outfitted our bike with a front wheel with a regular tube and the rear wheel with a SLIME tube. On the control run, the regular tube was shredded and rendered useless within seconds while the SLIME tube was punctured but remained largely unharmed, still holding air. The next phase of the test series was to do as many runs as it would take the defeat the SLIME tubes with the Torture Zone. Amazingly, they lasted for three runs, with each trip across the nails doing more and more noticeable damage. Finally the SLIME tubes went completely flat and we weren't able to refill them to operating pressures. Thus ended the torture test.
The Final Word:
During the initial road testing, we never experienced a flat. This fact says a lot about the benefit of using SLIME tubes. Now, as you would expect, because these tubes have SLIME sealant in them, they weigh slightly more then your average tube. Your average roadie tubes weigh in at about 75-90 grams, the SLIME tubes are around 117 grams. So, there is a slight cost in terms of added weight on a rotating part. Is it noticeable? Yes, you do notice the slight addition of weight. Is it a bad thing? Well, you may not to want to race on these tubes but, they are absolutely perfect for a commuter or someone training during the winter months. Commuters need reliability and they certainly don't want to be fixing a flat in their suit on the way to the big meeting. In the course of winter training, you definitely don't want to have to stop in frigid conditions to fix a flat. Being all sweaty, standing on the roadside on a 20 degrees day is a good way to get yourself in trouble. Besides, the slight extra weight of the tube makes for better training anyway, so you get a double bonus in your prep for the season. One last con... If you do manage to hit something really nasty and completely flatten your SLIME tube, patching it on the road could be difficult because the tube would be covered in.... SLIME. One last pro... remember that the SLIME tubes took some serious abuse in our tests, more abuse than even the most brutal riders would deliver so, I am sure they would work well for you.
The scene was set, rife with broken glass, nails, and jagged screws strewn about. It sounded like a description of the scene of a horrific accident involving a hardware delivery truck but it's not...
We had approached SLIME Tubes and Tires some months ago about testing their new line of roadie tubes. They were more then happy to oblige and they gave us a quick demo what to expect and how the tubes work to protect your tires and keep you riding instead of fixing a flat. Inside SLIME Tubes is a small amount of a strange neon green fluid which is a mild adhesive that carries a mix of fibers. In the event that a puncture occurs, the pressure inside the tire and the centripetal force of the tire's rotation squeeze a small amount of the SLIME fluid out through the hole. Instantaneously, the hole is plugged by the SLIME which clots similarly to the way your body's platelets clot to seal an open wound.
Now, back to the seen of the "crime"...
In order to give the SLIME tubes a fair, complete and factual test, we rode the tubes for several months to see how they performed. During that time period, they hadn't flatted even once. In the conditions we rode them in, that fact is actually reasonably impressive in its own right. With conditions including utility cutaways in the road, and treacherous potholes that come with a mix of roadway detritus, including metallic debris, broken glass and busted taillights... flats are to be expected.
Once we deemed the real world road test to be sufficient, (about three to four months of riding) we subjected them to the ultimate torture test. The Torture Zone we designed was certain to not allow any tire/tube combo to survive. So, the game here was not "if" the tires or tubes would survive but, rather, how much brutality they could withstand. To imbue a certain amount of control into an inexact test, we did one trip through the Torture Zone with a regular tube in place. We outfitted our bike with a front wheel with a regular tube and the rear wheel with a SLIME tube. On the control run, the regular tube was shredded and rendered useless within seconds while the SLIME tube was punctured but remained largely unharmed, still holding air. The next phase of the test series was to do as many runs as it would take the defeat the SLIME tubes with the Torture Zone. Amazingly, they lasted for three runs, with each trip across the nails doing more and more noticeable damage. Finally the SLIME tubes went completely flat and we weren't able to refill them to operating pressures. Thus ended the torture test.
The Final Word:
During the initial road testing, we never experienced a flat. This fact says a lot about the benefit of using SLIME tubes. Now, as you would expect, because these tubes have SLIME sealant in them, they weigh slightly more then your average tube. Your average roadie tubes weigh in at about 75-90 grams, the SLIME tubes are around 117 grams. So, there is a slight cost in terms of added weight on a rotating part. Is it noticeable? Yes, you do notice the slight addition of weight. Is it a bad thing? Well, you may not to want to race on these tubes but, they are absolutely perfect for a commuter or someone training during the winter months. Commuters need reliability and they certainly don't want to be fixing a flat in their suit on the way to the big meeting. In the course of winter training, you definitely don't want to have to stop in frigid conditions to fix a flat. Being all sweaty, standing on the roadside on a 20 degrees day is a good way to get yourself in trouble. Besides, the slight extra weight of the tube makes for better training anyway, so you get a double bonus in your prep for the season. One last con... If you do manage to hit something really nasty and completely flatten your SLIME tube, patching it on the road could be difficult because the tube would be covered in.... SLIME. One last pro... remember that the SLIME tubes took some serious abuse in our tests, more abuse than even the most brutal riders would deliver so, I am sure they would work well for you.
