Fix-A-Flat......Is JUNK!! Do not buy it for your C5, or anything else. I come from the motorcycle world, where there is no road service. Tire sealer, years ago, bailed me out a few times in the middle of the night on toll roads far from any service plaza. ANYWAY, I carried some in the C5 for a few years. Dont know how old it was. Now that I have State Farm road service, and pay nothing up front, I decided to use it in our Chinesium bicycle tires, which hold air for a month, maybe. So I hooked it up, pushed the button, and the crap went everywhere except into the tires, ruining my clothes in the process. It all came out the push button area, and none went in the tire. My fault, I thought, for using a several years old product. So today I bought a new can of Fix-A-Flat. Same DAMN THING!!! NOT my fault this time. They've shortened the fill hose to tightly fit around the top of the can. My theory is bending it on such a tight radius puts a side load strain on the seal. First time you use it, POW-Ruined more clothes. Only thing that makes it "sensor safe" is none of it goes into the leaking tire!! My suggestion is to find a can of this stuff that has a hose taped down the side of the can, no matter the brand name. I'll try Slime, or some other brand, since it is only for the bicycles. Amazing how terrible the Chinesium tires and tubes are. But I'll never buy Fix-A-Flat again.....

 

Many many moons ago, Rider magazine did a serious evaluation of Ride-On tire sealant. Read like it was better than sliced bread. A few years later and a small screw in my ‘protected’ front tire leaked sealant for a couple hundred miles. Gent who changed my front tire was vocally less than pleased at the presence of sealant. I stopped investing in liquid sealant, and instead carry a sticky string kit with a CO2 inflater and a box of cartridges. New sticky strings every year, but the CO2s never seem to leak.

 

This summer I used some fix-a-flat in three tires on my lawn tractor that would lose air in a few days. I mowed my lawn last Saturday and the tires were still inflated 3 or 4 months later. So the stuff works. But I too had a bit of an issue with back pressure and got that sticky ***** all over my hands.

If you use "Slime" be sure you have a valve removal tool handy. The slime doesn't go in under pressure. So you need to remove the valve before you screw the hose on to the tire stem.

 

We used to get tires in with this and if there was nothing visibility in the tread you could not fix it if it was sealed.

drop it in the water tank and no bubbles.

Never use it.

Small compressors are cheap and generally what ever is leaking is slow. You can drive it to a repair shop.

 

Sealer would be great for my purpose, because the Chinese can't figure out how to make innertubes that don't leak. As a kid, with bikes and tubes made in the USA, they would sit all Winter and need no air in the Spring. I was mainly trying to convey the Fix a Flat product is junk. A small leak in a bike tire (I've had them checked TWICE for leaks in a tub of water, and nothing) is worse than a car, due to such a small volume.

 

I draw the line at garden machines and bicycles. I'd never intentionally use the stuff unless stranded and it's my only way out. For your bike just order a few new tubes and get your bike wrench to work. Just like the good old...old...old...days. Throw a playing card in your spokes or a crushed soda can between the rear fork and tire and rev it up!

 

I should have said the Fix a Flat BRAND is junk, not necessarily the product. Cards and clothespins......LMAO!!! Yup I remember those, and the generator headlights!!

 

Seems like just spending 5 minutes to check the air in your bike tires before a ride is a lot less messy.

 

True. Checking is one thing. Running the air compressor every week just for 4 bike tires is noisy (retirement community) is another. It's not any fun filling the bike tires up 20+ times in 5 or 6 months.......

 

Just get a manual pump or use a quieter compressor like one made to carry in your car.

 

Remember how to use one of these ?

 

I remember. So does my back...

 

On my sidewalks and roads a 60psi pre-ride pressure can be defeated in 30 minutes by long thorns or broken glass. And 30 minutes out by bicycle is a lot longer than 30 minutes pushing same said bike back to the garage.

 

I totally agree with you. Also, to be clear, I'm talking about new Chinesium innertubes that won't hold proper air pressure for more than 3-5 days. However, spending time every week adding air to your bike tires is time well spent in some members eyes?? If this was happening on their C5s, they'd be unhappy campers. Also, they'd take the car to a tire shop to fix the leak, at least I would. But there's no chinesium tubes that hold air-None. So you can't fix them. Only alternative is trying to seal them from within, because China has run the domestic innertube market out of business. Apparently, wanting your new bicycle tires to hold air is an unreasonable concept in some members opinion. Imagine that!!!