Bicycle Tire Liners
Slime Tire Liners or Flat-Away Kevlar Tape
Bicycle Tire Liners are one approach to puncture resistance. They
are designed to keep you on the road instead of in the ditch trying
to do trailside repairs. They are typically a strip of plastic or
other material that is fitted along the inside rim of your tire,
between the tire and the tube.
It has a tough outer liner that stops punctures and a soft inner
liner that won't damage the inner tube. Like anything else that
you buy, it comes in a variety of qualities, weights and ease of
installation.
Note that I suggest that bike tire liners are only one answer.
Bicycle tubes can be purchased with
chemicals that are added to the inside of the tube that will instantly
seal small holes. These chemicals can also sometimes be added to
certain types of tubes after the fact. It is mostly dependent on
the type of tube stem.
Bicycle tires themselves, can also be designed with sophisticated
kevlar strips and thicker rubber built into the tread that can serve
the same purpose, or offer another layer of protection. The use
of one or all of these options in combination, will be dependent
on the trails that you choose and your style of riding.
But back to the bicycle tire liners... here's a run down of some
of the your options. Remember that for every person that swears
by a product there are 3 other people that say it is useless so
its up to you to do your own experimentation. Here are two of the
most common products on the market:
1. Slime Tire liners are probably the most well known
and are made of a extruded polyurethane plastic. It comes in a roll
with enough material for two tires. It does not have a peel and
stick application, so a little more difficult to get proper alignment.
It does add weight, but quite cost effective.
2. Panaracer's Flat-Away Puncture Resistant Kevlar Tape is an
upgrade both in price and protection. It does come peel and stick
and of course with a kevlar composition offers protection for
the most extreme rider. It typically only adds 20 gm per tire,
but twice the price of Slime Tire Liners.
Installation:
It is important to pay attention to installation. If the bike tire
liner is not installed into the correct position at the crown of
the tire then it will do little good, when you ride over road debris,
This may be some of the reason that products get damaging reviews.
Its not the product that is at fault but rather, installation errors
that don't let it be effective. That is one reason why tire liners
that have a self adhesive strip are a little easier to align correctly
and tend to be more effective in the long run.
It is also important to make sure that the ends of the liner strip
do not overlap or the bugle that this creates can cause a puncture
itself. The splice must be taped flat, butted end to end before
insertion or the bicycle tire liners will not be effective in doing
its job.
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