How do I beat the thorns?
March 5th, 2007 by Tim GrahlI recently purchased a 29er and have greatly enjoyed the ride. One thing I did not know was how difficult (impossible so far) it would be to find thornproof tubes. Do such tubes exist? If so, where can I purchase them?– Jon
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I know of no thorn proof tube, but I have good luck with the WTB 29er tubes. Maybe you could run some slime in your tubes.
You can buy 29er slime tubes from Bontrager.
You can also use standard 26 inch tubes in a 29″er. Just match the width and you are golden. I use 26 inch tubes and 700c hybrid bike tubes almost exclusively.
There are more choices in pre-slimed tubes in 26 inch sizes, so that’s what I would look for.
I live in NM where we have killer thorns. I use a presta tube w/removeable
valve injected w/sealant & a Mr. Tuffy Gold 700c liner. The liner is not as wide
as I would like, but hopefully they will see the light & make a 29er liner.
Jerry: Not all tubes have removable core presta valves. Do you have any tips for us on brands that do? I understand Continental presta valve tubes have removeable valve cores. Any others that anyone is aware of?
I see that Slime tubes come in a 700×28-35. These should work I think. Does anyone know or have experience with these?
Continentals are the ones I use. I know others who take a regular 29er tube,
cut a tiny hole in it, fill it with sealant & patch. crude but it works. I find that
sealant is only secondary to the liner. the liner stops really long thorns from
below & the sealant repairs small holes from the sides. (cactus) I have found
that sealant can’t stop up all the holes if several goatheads strike at once.
I am anxously awaiting 29er aramid belted tires. I have 26″ ones from specialized and love them.
I recently purchased some Conti 29er tubes expecting to be able to seperate the stem and inject some slime. Tubes arrived and the stems do not unscrew. I found that I could remove the small presta nut, tie on a 4 lb piece of monofilimet fishing line, and push the core into the tube. Inject the sealant and the mono line will allow you to pull the core back up through the valve stem.
I’m using 26″ Bell tubes from WalMart on my Monocog 29er here in the Arzona desert. I drilled out the wheel and put 6-8 ounce of slime in them. Run them at 25-30 lbs on sand and rock and cactus. Only one temporary leak I’ve noticed so far in the last 300 miles or so.