How To Remove All Thorns The Inside Of My Mountain Bike Tires To Repair Flats

Bicycle Flat Prevention in Goathead Thorn Areas

spines pointing upwards on this goathead thorn are cleaved, normally there are spines in all directions

Fugitive thorns

Goathead thorns are an opportunistic species, fast to colonize and grow on disturbed ground, simply unable to compete in the long run with other plants if the expanse is left undisturbed. My feel (in the western office of the United States) is that these thorns by and large grow on vacant lots and past the sides of roads and like weedy areas in populated areas. Everyone hates goathead thorns, not just bicyclists, so they are non typically establish in well-maintained areas, specially where children or dogs might be walking barefoot. I have never seen a goathead thorn in truthful backcountry, either in forest or deserts, though I did encounter another blazon of thorn in the desert. (According to another bicycle tourist I talked to, goatheads are also common in heavily grazed ranching areas of New Mexico, even though these areas are far from civilization. Heavy grazing evidently has similar effects as mowing weeds in populated areas, in that it disturbs the native vegetation and allows opportunistic species similar goatheads to movement in.) Over fourth dimension I've learned to recognize the sort of areas where goathead thorns might be a problem, and I brand a point of staying away from these areas. Or else I dismount and button the cycle through these areas, carefully checking the tires as I become to meet if any thorns have been picked upward. Avoiding thorns is the first and simplest line of defense force.

Tires

Good modern tires include a builtin Kelvar (aka aramid) puncture protection liner, which profoundly reduces flats due to goathead thorns besides as glass and other sharp objects, compared to tires with no such liner. Currently, I run Schwalbe Marathon Mondial 55-559 size folding tires (865g each), which is what Andy Blance of Thorn Cycles recommends for expedition touring, with a Schwalbe Marathon Farthermost 50-559 size folding tire (600g each) as my spare. (The Farthermost was replaced by the Mondial and is no longer in product.) Both these tires have builtin Kelvar protection liners. I compared pushing a needle past paw through these Schwalbe tires versus a cheap Kenda tire. It is clearly much easier to button through the Kenda than the Extreme or Mondial.

Rivendell Cycle Works says folding tires (Kelvar rather than wire beads) tend to roll off instead of staying in place during mounting. My experience with Schwalbe folding tires is that they practise indeed tend to roll off during mounting, merely this presents no real difficulty in getting the tire mounted. Rivendell too warns that folding tires will flop off if the tire goes apartment and you have to walk the bike home. My experience is that this is not a problem with Schwalbe Extremes. Later on getting a flat about a half mile from home, I decided to walk the bicycle abode rather than fixing it on the side of the route. No problem with the tire rolling off.

Schwalbe also offers a Marathon Tour tire, which Schwalbe rates as having the all-time puncture protection of any of its tires. However, this tire has many disadvantages: (a) very heavy (1100g for fifty-559 version); (b) only comes with a wire bead and so a folded tire can't exist carried as a spare; (c) maximum width is 50-559, which is bereft for desert sand; (d) at that place are are reports (confirmed by Schwalbe) that this tire is extremely hard to mount, to the indicate where special mounting fluid and tools might exist required to get it on the rim. So I ruled out this tire for my use. On the other manus, this tire is probably the all-time solution to the goathead thorn problem for cyclists using road tires inflated to loftier pressures, since high pressures are incompatible with sealants. [Update 2022: Or such was the traditional view, maybe modern sealants practice work with high pressures.] Such cyclists will but have to bring forth the special mounting fluid and tools every bit part of their repair kit.

The Nomad page has a discussion of my experiences with Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tires, including photos of the eventual failure modes.

Tubes

Ordinary tubes offer essentially zip resistance to puncture protection. However, there is such a thing as a "thorn tube", which has very thick walls on the outer side. The idea is that the thorn or tacks may penetrate the tire and tube, but won't reach all the mode to the inside of the tube, due to the thick prophylactic, and and so the tube will stay inflated. The problem is that these tubes are very heavy (I measured 580g, versus 195g for the regular tubes I use), which causes the bike to feel very sluggish. The thorn tube I tested was filled with 190g of Slime sealant and thus weighed 770g initially, which would take really ruined performance. (To determine the tube weight without sealant, I removed the valve core, washed the sealant out with h2o, so immune the tube to dry.)

And even worse idea is the solid prophylactic "inner tube", though "inner torus" would probably be a more authentic term, since tube implies hollow. Solid safety is heavy, gives a harsh ride, and volition eventually destroy rims or spokes due to lack of cushioning. The only reason such junk sells is that people are desperate for a solution to the problem of goathead flats.

Though ordinary tubes offering no puncture protection, it is notwithstanding ameliorate to use quality rather than cheap tubes: (a) tube stays inflated much longer due to meliorate quality rubber; (b) less likelihood of valve stem trigger-happy off; (c) better quality control and so less likely to discover in the field that your spare tube is defective. I utilise the av13 tubes by Schwalbe (195g each). When running these tubes at 36 PSI (2.v bar), I just take to top up pressure once a month, whereas I would have to top up pressure level weekly with cheap tubes.

I prefer Schrader valves for two reasons: (a) valve less likely to be clogged with sealants, if sealants used; (b) Presta tubes with removable valve cores not widely available whereas all Schrader tubes have removable valve cores, which are required to use sealants; (c) more difficult to install sealant, considering Presta valves narrower than Schrader, unless using a special filling tube that screws onto the valve, just that is i more than thing to carry; (d) Presta valve stem more easily damaged; (e) Schrader pumps more than widely bachelor in remote areas. Andy Blance recommends Presta valves, on the grounds that the seal is ameliorate between pump and tube. Apparently, he had some bad experiences with inexpensive hand pumps, peculiarly those without a flexible tube, non being able to inflate a Schrader tube properly. With my Lezyne Pressure level Drive mitt pump, the flexible tube screws on to the valve, rather than using a flimsy locking gizmo, and this guarantees a good seal. (The flexible tube on the Lezyne pump is as well reversible, with one end for Presta and ane for Schrader, and then the pump works for both valve types—ingenious design.) Then if y'all drill your rims for Schrader, every bit I recommend for those in goathead territory, be sure to get a good hand pump. I've never had issues getting a skillful seal using even the cheapest floor pumps with Schrader valves, at least for pressures up to 45psi (3.i bar), which is the virtually I would ever use.

A more valid reason to prefer Presta valves is that they require a smaller rim pigsty, and smaller holes are less probable to weaken rims than larger holes. Somewhere on the internet, I read a report by a bike tourist who had no problems with his original rims, drilled for Presta valves, but then afterward, after he had the rims redrilled for the larger Schrader valves (considering Schader valve tubes are more widely available in that office of the world), the rims started to crack well-nigh the valve hole. This particular problem may be due to improper drilling technique, since he had other complaints virtually the bike shop that did the redrilling. Most rim failures occur at the spoke holes (overtensioning) or braking surface (wear from rim brakes) rather than from flattening or splitting near the valve hole, especially when using sturdy rims like the Ryde Andra xxx on my Nomad.

Both tubes and tires degrade over fourth dimension due to oxidation. To reduce oxidation, go on spares wrapped in plastic. An opsak (aroma-protection sack, past the aloksak corporation) is best for the spare tire if you plan to store it in a pannier with food, water or clothing, since tires frequently have an intense rubber smell which can contaminate these other items. Degradation of mounted tires will be obvious, but that of mounted tubes volition be hidden. Information technology is thus a skillful idea to inspect tube occasionally. Or just replace tubes whenever tires are replaced.

Sealants in inner tubes

The idea is that the sealant plugs the puncture while escaping under force per unit area. Sometimes it is necessary to reinflate the tire, because pressure is lost during the sealing process, merely it won't be necessary to dismount the tire and apply a patch to the tube. Sealants fail under two cases: (a) head of the thorn breaks off, leaving the thorn itself attached to the inside of the tire, so that it constantly rips open the puncture in the tube, causing all the sealant to leak away; (b) very large punctures, such every bit from nail, and blowouts.

In that location are a number of brands of sealant on the market. Slime is sold everywhere merely failed to piece of work in my test, which consisted of installing sealant, turning bike upside downwardly, spinning bike, puncturing tire 10 times with a sewing machine needle gripped in a pair of pliers, standing to spin wheel for some other two minutes to push sealant to outer surface of tire via centrifugal force, reinflating tire (in case some pressure level was lost during sealing procedure), waiting several hours to meet if tire remained inflated. Stans sealant passed this aforementioned test several times, and then that is what I use. Slime is besides heavier than Stans, at 190g per tube versus 60g. During field experiments, Stans also worked well. (I accept heard practiced things virtually TrueGoo, merely have not tested it myself.)

[Update equally of May 2022: the Slime corporation has recently introduced a new product called Slime Pro, which appears to exist a knock-off of Stans. Like Stans, Slime Pro has natural latex rubber as the primary ingredient, and weight of Slime Pro is about 60g per tube, aforementioned as Stans. I have not yet tested Slime Pro myself.]

To install sealants, you will demand removable valve cores and a valve core removal tool (which Stans sells). All Schrader tubes have removable valve cores, but but some Presta tubes. Some users complain that sealants clog valves and ruin tire pumps. These bug more often than not occur with thinner Presta valves, rather than wider Schrader valves. Every bit of January 2022, after over 25500 miles running Stans sealant on tubes with Schrader valves, only one time did I feel a clogged valve. I was able to replace this chock-full valve cadre with a spare from my repair kit, without needing to dismount tire or replace inner tube. Valve should be placed at 10 o'clock position when inflating/deflating, then that sealant will flow away from valve, reducing likelihood of clogging. Spare Schrader valve cores are inexpensive and lightweight, and so carry several in repair kit, in case clogging does occur.

Another complaint is that sealants brand a mess inside the tire and on the surface of the tube, so that patches will no longer stick (assuming the sealant doesn't work and so a patch is required). My feel is that Stans sealant can exist rinsed away with a squirt of water or wiped off with a paper towel, at to the lowest degree until it dries out, and after that a patch tin can exist applied and will adhere in the normal style. Even if the sealant did dry out, information technology could nonetheless be hands removed using the sandpaper included in most patch kits.

A more serious issue with sealants may exist that some natural latex-based sealants (such equally Stans) use ammonia every bit a solvent, which supposedly tin harm aluminium rims. I am not sure if Slime uses ammonia or other harmful solvents. CaffeLatex sealant supposedly uses synthetic rather than natural latex, and and then does not require ammonia every bit a solvent, and hence is safety for rims. Schwalbe warns that some sealants may harm tires, though they don't say whether it is the ammonia or something else that causes the amercement, and recommends their own DocBlue sealant (much more expensive and less readily bachelor than Stans sealant). There should be no issues with sealants damaging tires and rims for someone who puts the sealant in an inner tube, rather than directly in the tire (every bit is done with tubeless systems). Perhaps sealants likewise damage tubes, only then tubes are much easier and less expensive to supplant than tires and rims. I oasis't noticed whatsoever damage to my tubes from using Stans sealant in the course of 10 years and over 25000 miles of wheel touring.

Sealants will not work with high pressure tires. This is non an issue for me, since at virtually I would use 45 PSI (iii.ane bar).

[Update 2022: Schwalbe has recently introduced tubeless route racing tires (Schwalbe One line), whose minimum pressure is 5 bar (70 psi) for the 23-622 version. In the discussion of this tire on their website, Schwalbe states that these tires are intended to exist filled with sealant, which seals punctures in a fraction of a second, and they as well state that their own DocBlue sealant is actually made past Stans. I am non sure how to reconcile these statements with the traditional consensus that sealants such as Stans only work with depression-pressure tires.]

CO2 inflation may cause problems with tires/tubes containing sealant, since the cold CO2 gas may cause the latex to solidify. (The CO2 volition be common cold because gases drop in temperature as they expand, which is how refrigerators and air conditioners work. This is less of a gene with air compressors, since compression heats the air, and then that partial expansion only cools it back to near the original temperature, bold not much fourth dimension elapses betwixt pinch and expansion and the estrus is not otherwise lost.)

Adding sealant to spare tubes in advance might seem convenient, so every bit to reduce fourth dimension to install the spare tube. Still, this risks sealant drying up over time. Amend to wait until time to install tube on bicycle. Likewise, better to purchase Stans in individual 60ml bottles, even though slightly more expensive than larger sized canteen, because small bottles have factory seal and thus are less likely to dry out.

Stans sealant will somewhen dry up, leaving a lump of latex in the tube. I sliced open up a tube after several months of use to inspect. The lump shown below was nearly 3cm long and weighed about 4 grams. A lump this size should not cause cycle unbalancing, and so I don't think lumps similar this will exist a problem. Note that simply some of the sealant had solidified into a lump, and there was withal plenty of liquid sealant remaining. For someone who rides year-round, always uses sealant, and replaces the sealant every four months, there might exist 3 lumps in the tube at the end of a twelvemonth. At that point, it might be worthwhile to replace the tube with a fresh one. My experience is that if I install Stans sealant in inner tubes in July and don't add any more than sealant after that, there will still be liquid sealant in the tubes 7 months afterwards in Jan, after 4000 or more than miles of touring in the hot and dry atmospheric condition nigh likely to cause sealant to dry up. Compare with tubeless systems, where new sealant typically needs to be added monthly. So adding sealant every 4 months is probably overkill.

latex lump

For those of y'all having problems overcoming an aversion to sealant, it might aid to compare tubes without sealant to hemophilia. Untreated hemophilia has the reward that it eliminates internal blood clots which can cause ischemic strokes. Only that minor advantage is offset past the more serious disadvantage that a minor cut tin can crusade a hemophiliac to bleed to death. Analogously, a tube without sealant has the pocket-size advantage of saving a bit of weight, but with the offsetting disadvantage than even a pinhole puncture causes the tube to go apartment. Calculation sealant to tubes is analogous to giving hemophiliacs artificial clotting cistron. Slime would exist analagous to low-quality clotting cistron, which doesn't work properly and has serious side-effects (190g of added weight per tube), whereas Stans would be like modern high-quality clotting cistron, which works well and has minimal side-effects (60g of added weight) and also costs a bit more than ($3/tube vs $2/tube for Slime).

Tubeless system

It is besides possible to run tires with no inner tube, using a special rim strip with incorporated valve plus sealant to seal between tire and rim. Visit the Stans Notubes site for details. Advantages: (a) reduced weight, since no inner tube; (b) possible to run tires at very low pressure, for better traction in deep sand, without danger of pinch flats; (c) better performance during aggressive riding, since no friction between tire and tube; (d) thorns that break off and remain attached to the inside of the tire will non crusade problems, because in that location is no inner tube to tear open. Disadvantages: (a) hassle to install initially; (b) if seal breaks in the field ("burps"), probably necessary to switch dorsum to the normal system with inner tube, including removing that special rim strip with incorporated valve, because difficult to get a good seal nether field conditions. The Stans kit for converting ordinary rims to tubeless requires drilling out the inner rim to a bore somewhat larger than the standard Schrader hole, in order to get the special rim strip to seat properly. I'm not sure what effect that would have if it were necessary to revert back to ordinary rim strips with inner tubes. I accept no experience running tubeless myself, but the system is intriguing, provided the seal is long-lasting (at to the lowest degree 3 months). I have no plans to experiment with tubeless myself at this fourth dimension.

Tire liners

Supplementary tire liners (that is, inserted between tire and inner tube, as opposed to incorporated into the tire itself) have numerous problems: (a) nuisance to install because of how they flop around while putting the tire onto the rim; (b) weigh at least every bit much as sealant, if non more than; (c) less constructive than sealant at stopping flats from goathead thorns; (d) convert piece of cake-to-detect flats into slow leaks that can only be detected by putting the inner tube under water; (east) crusade flats by slicing into inner tubes. A bad idea all effectually.

I experimented with the StopFlats2 liner for 26 ten 2.25"-two.l" tires (sage model) by California Bike Gear, which weighs 155g. Compare with 60g for Stans sealant. This liner is supposedly double thickness and I was running within Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tires, which accept a builtin Kelvar liner, so in that location was effectively triple thickness of liners. I ran over a nest of goatheads (vacant lot just due south of the boondocks park in Bullhead City, Arizona, where I had to become off the sidewalk to make way for a pedestrian) and picked upward at least 30 thorns per tire. I pulled these thorns out as soon as I noticed them. The triple thickness tire liners stopped all merely 2 of the thorns, or 97%. However, the 2 thorns that did get through caused very wearisome leaks, so that I had to put the inner tubes under water to find these leaks, which is a nuisance while touring. Granted, ii patches is better than 60+ patches, only with sealant I probably wouldn't have had to employ any patches, nor would I have had to remove the wheel and tire, though I might take had to reinflate the tire somewhat. Afterward, after nigh 1200 miles (1930 km) of touring, the liner acquired one tire to become flat because of how it had sliced into the inner tube as the liner and tube shifted confronting one another. See the photo below, where the slicing is the semicircle to the right of the number 13 (the black line downward the middle of the tube is shadow). I threw abroad both liners at this point and reverted to my old system of Stans sealant inside inner tubes. Note that this StopFlats2 liner, in addition to being double thickness, had softer edges than both the Slime liner (a strip of urethane plastic weighing 65g) and Mr Tuffy's liner (I didn't accept a hazard to counterbalance this). So these other liners volition probably perform worse than the StopFlats2 liner: let more flats due to goatheads, crusade more flats due to slicing into inner tube.

inner tube damaged by tire liner

Incidentally, though this has nothing to exercise with goathead thorns, I had a similar problem with maladjusted nylon rim strip slicing into inner tube. Then I replaced with velox cotton fiber rim tape. And so I discussed with Andy Blance of Thorn Cycles and he pointed out that glue on Velox rim record can cook and allow slipping in hot weather condition. And indeed, one of my Velox rim tapes did shift, as shown below. So I resumed using nylon rim strips, just am more than conscientious virtually making sure rim strip is non maladjusted when installing tires. I also added a spare nylon rim strip into repair kit, in case rim strip on bicycle somehow gets permanently wrinkled and won't stay in place properly.

slipping velox rim strip

[Update Jan 2022: nylon rim strips appear to become potent with age, so supervene upon periodically, such equally every 13000 KM or and so, which is replacement schedule for tires and tubes.]

Conclusion

As of Jan 2022, I take completed 18 long wheel tours in the American West (17 tours with Nomad, ane with Novara), plus modest amount of urban center riding, for total of virtually 25570 miles (41142 km). About riding was with Stans sealant (65g) inside Schwalbe av13 inner tubes (195g) within Schwalbe Marathon Mondial 55-559 tires (865g), for total weight per wheel of 1120g. I encountered numerous goathead thorns and also many other precipitous objects (especially lots of broken glass at side of paved roads) when running with this organization, merely only had to dismount tire 7 times due to punctures: (a) 4 times when especially large thorn (not goathead thorn) got embedded in tire and kept ripping tube open; (b) 1 time when piece of wire (probably from disintegrated radial truck tire) got embedded in tire and kept ripping tube open; (c) two times when sealant failed to seal peculiarly big pigsty. At that place was also 1 apartment due to maladjusted rim strip cutting into inner tube, and 1 flat caused by tire liners, equally discussed above, only those 2 flats are unrelated to goathead thorns or other sharp objects puncturing tube from exterior tire.) Perchance 10 times I had to stop and reinflate tire, due to partial pressure level loss when a thorn was removed, just without having to dismount tire and install patch.

On one tour, as discussed above, I experimented with tire liners, and constitute these to exist an inferior solution compared with Stans sealant in the inner tube. On another tour, I experimented with running without sealant, but presently got flats in both tires (from goatheads), then installed sealant and thereafter had no further problems on that tour.

Whenever dismounting tires, either to patch inner tube or supplant tire/tube, I inspected and often noticed a big number of thorn fragments attached to inside wall of tire, and even so tire had remained inflated. So information technology is only sometimes that these thorn fragments on inside wall of tire cause problems. Whenever y'all dismount a tire, be certain to run your finger around inside wall to check for thorn fragments.

My repair kit includes: (a) i x Schwalbe Marathon Farthermost 50-559 folding tire, weighing 615g including OPsak wrapper to slow down oxidation; (b) ii 10 Schwalbe av13 tubes, 200g each including OPsak wrapper; (c) ii ten 60ml bottles of Stans sealant, 75g each; (d) Puncture repair kit (3 tubes of safety cement, 16 patches); (e) 2 x spare Schrader valve cores; (f) 2 x valve core removal tools; (k) two x mini-pumps; (h) 1 steel-core tire lever; (i) 2 x tire "boots" to repair torn tire sidewalls. Spare sealant is either for apply in spare tubes, or for case where sealant leaks out but I am still able to patch tube, and then take to add new sealant. Bottles of spare sealant can leak, and then I keep them within plastic pocketbook inside saddle bag, which is just used to agree tools and other items that would non exist damaged past leaking sealant. Avoid putting bottles of sealant at bottom of pannier, where they might be crushed and so leak all over everything, causing a large mess—I'm speaking from experience hither.

Links

Schwalbe tires and tubes tin can be ordered from Schwalbe North America. Some Schwalbe tires and tubes available from resellers, such as Cyclo Camping or SJS Cycles.

Stans sealant and a very nice Schrader valve core removal tool can be ordered from Stans Notubes. (Can alternatively spiral ordinary valve removal tool, which is very small, to valve stem of old tube, then put orange tape around stem to make it more conspicuous if dropped.) Stans sealant is also widely available at local bike shops throughout the western United States.