Forum

[jenks]

Good morning
Does any one use a
sealant in spoked wheels to prevent punctures and what are the results
Cheers

[PeteF]

Trouble is, they don't prevent punctures. They just seal them up so you don't notice and you can be riding with a nail in the tyre until there is a more serious sudden deflation. They only seal up relatively slow punctures and I'd rather know I had one.

[Mark B]

I was going to refer Jenks to the Tyres thread below, but he's probably read that! To say again what I posted there, agreeing with PeteF, in my experience I suspect that using the stuff can hide small punctures, leading to a more catastrophic bang. Luckily that happened to me on my pushbike at about 10mph...

[jefrs]

My car comes with an "inflator" full of goo for emergency use, and no spare tyre. It comes with very strict instructions and warnings - low speed and only for getting you to the garage to change the tyre. On a motorbike, having the goo let go could be serious.

[jefrs]

To prevent a puncture from the spoke ends, the spokes are cut so they don't protrude through the nuts and a rim tape is laid into the well of the rim. One of the biggest causes of punctures with an inner tubes is running with the tyre pressure too low and getting a "snake bite" where the tube is nipped against the rims hitting a pothole.

[PeteF]

Not only are spokes cut so they don't protrude through the nipples, they should be ground off smooth. It's a good idea to replace the rim tape with the tube/tyre but they often get left. I paid extra for a proper spare wheel on the car (and have needed it)

[jefrs]

PeteF, there's a special tool called, unsurprisingly, a 'spoke cutter' that looks like a cross between a set of bolt cutters and a pair of scissors, they make a very clean cut without deforming the thread. On bicycles we don't generally bother grinding the ends since it is inside the spoke nipple (a nut). For a motorbike, spokes are generally supplied cut to length; in fact if they're too long and protrude through the rim into the well, you cant get them into position to lace up the wheel. I can true up a wheel and replace the odd spoke but I haven't quite mastered the art of building a wheel, you have to get the sequence and pattern right. I have watched a skilled chap lace up a new rim in about ten minutes.

[devon john]

theres also heavy duty inner tubes and extra heavy ,, 4mm thick ,

i have replaced mine with them as and when changing tyres

john

[PeteF]

I've seen plenty of spokes protruding through nipples over the years. Possibly wrong spokes but it's certainly worth looking while you have the tyre off.
I didn't know about extra thick tapes John, that's for me next time.

[Spannerman]

I have filled my tubed tyres with something called Slime which is a flourescent green goo with fibres in it. It says it is for motorcycles but advises not to use it for tubed tyres. It did not seem to do any harm on a slow speed machine like an Enfield and when there was a puncture it certainly slowed the leak and made it show up by coverering the area with green dye.
I eventually gave up on it though and now carry an aerosol inflator with a sealant in it (again not recommended for tube tyres for some reason). Having suggested it though I would only for use in an emergency for limping slowly onto the nearest garage but fortunately I never had to try it - yet. Alternatively join the AA ( other breakdown services are available!)