Goatheads and Sliming a Presta Valve

 Took a 16 mile ride early last Sunday morning in order to enjoy some cooler temps and get some exercise in that didn't include my normal commuting.  It always amazes me how often over the last 10 years of riding I have returned home only to find some type of pointy object in one of the tires which ends up flat a couple of hours later.  Many of these incidents have turned out to be Goathead thorns which I never see while riding and I consider myself a pretty alert fellow that watches what I'm riding over on a constant basis.  Anyway, I had a punctured tube on my 20" front wheel and was scheduled to commute for work again the next morning.  I was out of spare tubes and had been planning on ordering a couple more Schwalbe tubes from Amazon but hadn't gotten around to it yet.  I had also patched the current tube several times and was out of my Park Tool vulcanizing compound.  After making several calls I determined there were no local shops in my general vicinity that carried the tube I was looking for and decided to try out some Slime until my tubes arrived from Amazon.


My current tube was not a Schwalbe and as such did not have a removable valve core in the Presta stem.  I did some research on the Slime website and found a brief document that gave some instructions on adding the tube sealant to a tube that had a Presta valve.  It was not something they recommended but the site states "however, if you happen to have a bottle of Slime and you are determined to get the product into your presta tube click here".  I followed the directions and after 15 minutes of coaxing the bright green liquid through the valve I replaced the tube, inflated to my normal 100psi and observed for leaks.  For the first few minutes I could detect some air leaking and spun the wheel to help distribute the Slime.  Shortly after the fibers in the Slime must have done their job and all leaking stopped.  A week and several rides later everything is holding up well.  I haven't noticed any difference in the ride or had any vibrations out of the front wheel.  I received my new tubes from Amazon and will keep them in reserve for now.