Self sealing tubes, any good?

wirelessdude01

As the title asks are they are good? Have had 3 punctures over the last two spins.

Mechanic365

Never heard of such thing but if its gonna puncture theres nothing you can do about it.
Its good tyres that stop punctures,
If its a road bike you have with normal 700c wheels then maybe think about getting wider tyres if you have to go along rough roads.
I use Continental GatorHardShells and they are very hard on the road
Continental gatorskins are slightly softer but still very good
The best all round racing and training tyres are the Continental GP4000's, few lads have these on for +5000km without puncture

07Lapierre

Mechanic365 wrote: »

Never heard of such thing but if its gonna puncture theres nothing you can do about it.
Its good tyres that stop punctures,
If its a road bike you have with normal 700c wheels then maybe think about getting wider tyres if you have to go along rough roads.
I use Continental GatorHardShells and they are very hard on the road
Continental gatorskins are slightly softer but still very good
The best all round racing and training tyres are the Continental GP4000's, few lads have these on for +5000km without puncture

Good tyres and the correct tyre pressure is the best puncture prevention.

Bikerbhoy

Mechanic365 wrote: »

The best all round racing and training tyres are the Continental GP4000's, few lads have these on for +5000km without puncture

Excellent tyre and very hard wearing

humbert

I've gotten two punctures recently on them with far less than 5000km
Though of course that's a combination of rubbish in the road and bad luck.

Found gatorskins to be very hairy on wet roads whereas gp4000s are absolutely brilliant in the wet.

I'd be impressed if any self sealing tube worked at road bike tyre pressure.

reallyunique

TLDR;
If you're racing then just get whatever tyre the guys who don't get punctures have. If you're commuting then wider, puncture resistant tyres are the way to go. Slime filled tubes are for backup only, though definitely useful.


I've used Dr Sludge tubes (a self-sealing tube) on my MTB for about six years. On the rare occasion I get a puncture the tyre goes flat-ish then I pump it up and it gets me home. Not perfect but pretty good. On thorns or tacks it might do a better job but I only seem to get glass or bigger chunks of metal causing punctures. YMMV.
They have saved me from fixing a puncture in the rain, which is nice, and they're relatively cheap and nowhere near heavy enough to notice. So a positive review from me but try one yourself.
They are not a replacement for a decent tyre. If you're getting a lot of pinch flats then pump harder or get wider tyres, or both. Loads of puncture resistant tyres around.

Wishbone Ash

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

As the title asks are they are good? Have had 3 punctures over the last two spins.

I don't mean to sound facetious but how would a rider know? Does the tube indicate that it has punctured prior to self sealing?

...and sometimes punctures arrive together. I went from Jan to Nov without getting one and then got 6 in 2 weeks!

the.red.baron

New tyres needed or just bad luck? Were they all from road debris?

The self healing tubes and the cans of sealant are pretty useless for road tyres at least. The size of puncture they can handle is just too small.

The sealant works well on cars and thick tubeless MTB tyres as they are thick enough to almost push the hole closed and pinch the sealant once you pull out the offending object.

You still need to pump up if you got for the tubes rather than the can.

the.red.baron

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I don't mean to sound facetious but how would a rider know? Does the tube indicate that it has punctured prior to self sealing?

...and sometimes punctures arrive together. I went from Jan to Nov without getting one and then got 6 in 2 weeks!

Typically some sealant will escape when the puncture occurs.

butterworth

The month running up to the Festive500 I was getting 2 or 3 punctures a week on GP4000s, and it was driving me crazy.

During the actual week I didn't get a single puncture over the 500km. It might be partially luck, but I also made a point of picking all of the glass out of my tires after every ride. Just this week I installed these kevlar-based liners, although it hasn't been long enough for me to give them a decent review. No punctures so far, anyway.