punctures

i am planing on doing a lot of long distance rides this year the fear of puctures is always something to fear i was just wondering if any boby has had anything to do with that liquid **** that u put in your tyres . Is it reliable and safe ?? how much would it set me back for it ?? :

[CK & AK]

Hi Lenny, if we are touring we tend to carry fenelac (or similar) purely for an emergency.
Obviously its not the best to use, as although it doesnt have much of a prob in the tyre & keeping it up (you still need to get to an airline to re-inflate the tyre) - the tyreplaces absolutely hate it! It is very much a temporary measure tho.

Going abroad, its a good idea to start with tyres that have been bedded in (say 100 miles or so) of a popular brand, that is also available on the continent.

AA or roadside cover from another is a 'life saver' for us instead, we have found.

C

Hi mate,

I have used Ultra Seal in the past. This stuff --> http://www.ultrasealuk.biz/flashintro.html and it is brilliant especially for what you propose. One bottle does both wheels and cost just over £20 or so. Didn't notice it making the bike unbalanced or unsettled as some people have said in the past. It sits in the wheel until it gets punctured then it goes to work without you even noticing.

There is another cheaper proprietory liquid called Slime which apparently does the same job but I've never used it.

The puncture repair stuff that you put in after getting a puncture works only as a 'get you home' emergency option. It works by breaking down the rubber in the tyre so it means that you can't get the tyre repaired afterwards. Your tyre fitter will hate you for using it too as it's horribly messy.

Originally Posted by nik_the_brief

Hi mate,

I have used Ultra Seal in the past.

Would agree with Nik_the_brief. Have used Ultraseal in the last 3 bikes - forgot to put it in current one, have already had to have new tyre. Have also used one of those emergency puncture repair kits from Gerickes (a plug, some glue & little air cannisters), which also worked - even did a trackday with the plug still in.

As my husband's back tyres seem to be magnetic (the amount of metal he's picked up is ridiculous) this Ultraseal stuff has saved him a few repairs. As has been said already, you'll need to get to an airline because the tyre does still go down a bit.

Haven't tried slime, but one of our local mechanics has, prefers to use Ultraseal. Costs around £25 from Gericke, you might get it cheaper at BMF or similar. We get both bikes out of 2 bottles, usually enough left for another front tyre.

Carole

I'd tend to agree with MrsJel - the tubeless puncture kits are probably a better bet (they fit in the space under your seat), especially if you are doing a lot of miles and changing your tyres quite regularly - the liquid sealant stuff does make a mess of the rim and as has been said above, the tyre fitters hate having to clean it all up before fitting a new tyre...

I use Slime in my mountainbike, and it seems to work really well - and I understand that the Ultraseal stuff is good on motorbikes too...

The puncture kits are dead easy to use though, and you get 3 little CO2 cannisters to reinflate the tyre afterwards...

xxx

thanks for the info . thats made things clearer

I wouldn't use Slime again if you were giving it away.

We had it in our BMW tubes for the RTW trip we did, and it was useless. Any piece of metal (nails, bolts, screws) punctured the tube, and the slime just leaked out the hole making a horrendous mess to clean up before patching the hole.
Worse than Useless!
Maybe we had a bad batch or something?

I prefer the "plug and glue" system for tubeless tyres.

BTW, I had 20 Punctures on our trip and my wife had 3... Why? (We had identical bikes / tyres / pressures etc)

I always used ultra seal when I had the ZZR and it seemed to work Ok... did have a few probs with it gumming up valves though... just me maybe

Wehey... Avatars are back

sounds like ultra seal it the bollocks then . i shall i but it in both monster mine and lindas . thanks again