Tire Sealants and Slime Tubes
Tire sealants are liquids that are put inside a bike tube which, ideally, can seal small punctures. When a puncture occurs, the compressed air inside the tire forces the sealant through the hole at high velocity. When it contacts the low-pressure air, it coagulates to form a seal. For holes up to 2mm or so, which is most punctures due to glass, thorns, wire and small tacks, the sealant is very effective.
In our experience, sealant filled tubes don't necessarily prevent all punctures. But, if punctured a sealant filled tube can simply be reinflated. Of course, it is important to remove the piece of glass, thorn or whatever caused the puncture first. This makes flat repair very fast and simple. Just remove the cause of the flat, reinflate and you're riding again. No detaching the wheel or wrestling with tires. Slime tubes are ideal for commuters, who don't have time to stand on the side of the road and fix flats.
Slime Self-Sealing Tubes are sealant filled tubes. Slime Tire Sealant allows you to fill your own tubes. Tufo Sealant isintended for tubular tire repair.
Slime sealant is optimized for standard butyl tubes. Unfortunately, it can't be inserted through a presta valve stem because it gums up the valve. To solve this problem, Slime Self-Sealing Tubes are tubes that have Slime sealant pre-installed. It is also possible to insert Slime into your tube by cutting a small hole in the tube, inserting the Slime material, then sealing the hole with a normal tube patch.
Tufo sealant can also be used in any tubular tires. While traditional tubular tires can be disassembled and repaired, Tufo tires cannot. Sealant is the only way to save them from the recycling bin. Tufo sealant can be used with any tubular tire, and is much easier than unstitching and repairing a traditionally made tubular. With Tufo sealant, just remove the valve core add some sealant, replace valve core, pump it up to make sure it's sealed. That's it.
Questions about tire sealant? Contact us at (800)479-9350 or sales@bicycletires.com.