Self-sealing inner tubes

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 supersteve 07 Apr 2023

Worth giving a go or a bit of a gimmick? I like the idea of not having to worry about brambles or similar spoiling my day.

 Rampart 07 Apr 2023
In reply to supersteve:

If they're anything like my tubeless tyres, they're generally great until something particularly drastic happens, then they're a bit of a pain.

OP supersteve 07 Apr 2023
In reply to Rampart:

I run tubeless on my gravel with the road / gravel tyres, but run with tubes for cyclocross. For my mountain bike I've always felt more comfortable running with tubes - just thought these might stop some of the little slow punctures - appreciate it won't stop a big split. I always carry a spare tubs and a patch kit anyway. 

 Dave B 07 Apr 2023
In reply to supersteve:

Road or gravel or mtb. 

Generally useless at road pressures. ... And make puncture repair harder, and clog up valves. 

In reply to supersteve:

Been using for some 8 yrs, originally in a mt bike, now on a hybrid. They work.

However, ime, firstly, they are heavier (tyre/self heal tube combo - tube rubber is thicker and weight of sealant) than both normal tubes in tyres or tubeless tyres set up and the sealant is thicker than tubeless sealant. Maybe psychological but the rolling resistance seems more when using self heal tubes.

Also, when they puncture they can, depending on what caused the puncture, lead to quite a lot of sealant ending up within the tyre before it seals to give a sticky gunge and cause problems and extra time in removing tube and cleaning up if patch repair needed later or when changing tyres, etc. Sometimes even the sealant sticks to the rim where the tyre beds onto the rim and this has to be cleaned to get tyres to seat properly after changing.

Valves can get gummed up, though rare, and inflating or just checking pressure seems to always lead to some sealant coming out of the valve and more so than I ever get coming out of a tubeless setup.

I only now use on a hybrid for convenience - I like to change tyres often on that bike depending on season/circumstances. When not punctured with the self heal tubes, changing tyres is so much quicker, easier and less mess not to mention waste of sealant c/w tubeless.

The plus of course is thorn like punctures repair themselves before you actually were aware you had a puncture so no stoppage on an outing. Tubeless though are the same for simple punctures so it really depends on whether the downsides suit or not. I have had at least 3 punctures in a self heal tube without knowing until I remove tyre so they do work in my experience.

Are they better than tubes - no active intervention generally as self repairs for simple puncture. Are they better than tubeless - not if set up right and you know how to repair larger cuts with threads.

Personally, I prefer tubeless on my bikes including mtb (don’t have a road though so can’t comment on that). Just my view.

OP supersteve 07 Apr 2023
In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Thanks for this. I have 500k MTB event at the end of the month which I thought they could be good for. A little extra weight versus the high probability of a flatty or two seems to balance out. Will grab a couple from Decathlon this weekend to try out. Tubeless would be the ideal but a big split is messy and after a couple of days of riding I like the idea of just changing a tube and carrying on....

 Yanis Nayu 08 Apr 2023
In reply to supersteve:

Latex tubes are worth a look (except for carbon wheel rim brake set-ups). I use these on my ‘cross bike and as well as being fast and supple they are far more puncture resistant that butyl (plus v easily and effectively patched with piece of old latex tubes if they do puncture). 

 TheGeneralist 08 Apr 2023
In reply to supersteve:

I'd not heard of self healing tubes before. They sound a bit like the worst of both worlds to me, sloppy sealant faff and extra weight.

All our MTBs are now running tubeless apart from the wife's. Took me two years to discover my Giant Anthem was tubeless as that's how long it was till my first puncture

For a lot of the riding we do tubeless is essential to avoid pinch flats.  We had 8 punctures running tubes on two rides, and would have had more if I hadn't given up and walked/run the last section due to midgie attack...

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/midgie-and-waterbarmageddon-on-cai...

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/chalamain-gap-family-cycle-good-or...

Tubeless is brilliant in my opinion

 GrahamD 08 Apr 2023
In reply to supersteve:

I have used Slime inner tubes on my MTB for years.  When I changed my outer tyre last year, I realised just how many thorn punctures had sealed up - the inside of my tyre was like a pin cushion !

 TobyA 08 Apr 2023
In reply to TheGeneralist:

> Took me two years to discover my Giant Anthem was tubeless as that's how long it was till my first puncture

More I suspect it took you two years to notice that you had had a puncture! :⁠-⁠) Although you should add sealant more regularly than that, so that might account for noticing the the puncture that you did!

 TheGeneralist 08 Apr 2023
In reply to TobyA:

> More I suspect it took you two years to notice that you had had a puncture! :⁠-⁠) Although you should add sealant more regularly than that, so that might account for noticing the the puncture that you did!

Agree on both counts.  The bike shop just chucked some more gunk in and all was well. Well, OK, he pumped the tyre up too.

 crayefish 09 Apr 2023
In reply to supersteve:

Ahem... tubeless

OP supersteve 09 Apr 2023
In reply to crayefish:

Not got tubeless ready rims, and although I could seal them up and pop tubeless tyres on, a multi-day race is probably not the best time to be testing it. And I'm too tight to buy suitable rims when I don't have to - LOL. Maybe later in the summer. 


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