Help! Punctures! Please give me your advice!

[Moosey Moose]

Evening & Merry New Year!
I need some advice from you good fellows. My evening ride with my two four legged companions has become a bit of a chore, well run actually. The farmer has decided to smash the hedge to bits (2 months ago) all over my only off-road route out of the village, which usually results in a flat at some point during my ride. I have considered the slime filled inner tubes but are they any good & are there any other alternatives besides not ridding my bike or solid tyres. Your advice is most welcome :|
Rachael

 

[girlonbike]

What's giving you flats? Thorns? I have some schwalbe marathon tires that seem to hold up well on my glass-ridden city. Heavy as heck but once rolling, they do okay. I had slime filled tires once - even heavier and rolled unevenly. I usually toss them when I pick up a bike that's filled with it.

 

[cherrybomb]

Slime tubes are great. Not suffered a flat on the two bikes that have them since I fitted them. I changed the tyres on one and found four or five thorns in one and it had still stayed inflated.

They add a bit of weight, but more than make up for it in convenience.

 

[girlonbike]

or you make like it!

 

[cherrybomb]

?

 

[Moosey Moose]

Great, thanks cherrybomb, is there any particular brand of Slime inner tube that is best do you think? Does the tyre deflate slightly when it picks up a thorn until the slime fills the hole, so you need to re-inflate it a bit?
Not too worried about the weight, just can't take the hassle of changing tyres that are covered in cack in the freezing cold, & dark any more!

 

[Moosey Moose]

Hey girlonbike,
Thorns, don't do glass here.
Thanks for the advice on the tyres.

 

[cherrybomb]

I have only used the Slime self healers that come in the green box. You don't lose enough air to notice, but might find that the pressure will drop a little.

I try to give the wheel a good spin when I first inflate them after fitting to try to spread the gunk around the tube evenly- not sure it makes any difference, and I guess it should all settle to the bottom of the tube when parked up- but it makes me feel better.

 

[legrandefromage]

I keep my tyres at around 60psi which seems to crush pointy stuff

 

[Moosey Moose]

Fantastic,
Thanks for your help, think they are definitely worth a try, will let you know how things progress.
legrandefromage, have tried different tyre pressures but with the current weather conditions & steepness & ground conditions I can't have the tyres up to 60 psi, just not enough traction. :|