shibbyonline

Just missed the slime!

I’ve been trying to put some miles under my belt the last few weeks yet everytime I get going I end up with a flat tyre. I have been running some slicks at the moment so that might have some to do with it, but then I was only running on tarmac.
I looked into the idea of some ‘Slime’ or some other forms of puncture prevention but after reading some stories of how messing the gunk in the tyre thing can be I opted to just keep with the repair kit. But then I saw a nice little invention from Slime, the Slime Liner! This is a liner that sits inside your tyre and protects the inner tube from unwanted visitors through the rubber. May as well give these a try as a few riders had recommended them. So Friday afternoon I trundle down and pick up some liners with the plan of switching to the knobblies on Saturday morning and hitting a trial.
After a few fiddly minutes I had a nice set of wheels with added protection and the intent of hitting the local bridleways. Lucy was in lead as she planned a little route and off we went. First signs are good and we open onto a small bit of tarmac between the tracks. Hold on as the speed picks up I’m feeling a little wobbly on the back end, came to the next corner and the rear tyre gave way in a wonderful screeching noise and I ended up sideways to the road. Puncture heaven!
Now I’m a little pissed to say the least until I get the tyre off, it turns out a thorn about 2 inch’s long had gone through the corner of the tyre missing the liner by about 5mm and repeated to put nice little holes in my tube.
I guess the Slime liners might work, I’ve not really had much positive feedback yet but as they can not cover the whole rim I think the idea is a sound one. Only time will tell.