The last time I had trouble with one of the ebike’s tires, Big Brother sent me a bottle of this puncture-plugging slime you’re supposed to pump into the tubes. I didn’t use it, because I’ve seen balance trouble with car tires that used something similar. But the more I thought about it the less it seemed to matter, and even if there were some balance issues they surely can’t be as bad as a deflation five miles from home, caused by one tiny goathead thorn.
So this last time, I squirted the goop into the tubes…
…and this morning I learned that at least my worries about balance were unfounded. The wheels work as well as ever. Hopefully the goop will have an effect on the frequency of my tube replacements, but I think I’m also going to end up investing in one of those anti-puncture liners.
Went to town to pick up some goodies I’d ordered. Among which…
I don’t think I mentioned this on the blog but Tobie started having issues with gooey discharge in one of his ears. At first I thought it was a bad infection but apparently it’s just earwax. Bless his heart, it turned out he didn’t really mind me sticking my finger deep in his earhole with a wet rag or we’d have had difficulties. There kind of was the matter of “It’s too hot” or “It’s too cold,” though, and since apparently this is going to be a regular item of dog maintenance I did some research on whether there’s a product for this sort of thing. Never had the problem with any of the other dogs.
And yes, of course there’s a product for this sort of thing. In fact there are all manner of products for it. Tobie is turning into quite an opportunity for education. So now he’s got his very own tub of ‘ear wipes for dogs,’ which certainly seem to pick up the goo. Little Bear and Ghost would have fought me to the death over this sort of intrusion but Tobie seems to like it. No accounting for taste.
If his ears itch, then having you gently deal with them may indeed be a pleasant sensation for him. When I Q-tip the itchy crap out of my own ears, my wife accuses me of having an “eargasm”.
Mutual grooming is a fairly common behavior in social animals, so that’s probably why he’s ok with this.
Soon he will be giving you the old flea biting you so richly deserve . Just lay there and take it .
My Pyrenees loves getting his ears cleaned. He’ll literally moan out loud
How do you think Terso boy would have reacted?
You have discovered the trouble with fat tire bikes. there are no thorn resistant tubes for them. But there is Mr Tuffy XL liners. I put on the size above recommended so it protects my sidewalls better. I put them on my Rad Rover and knock on wood, since then no issues. BTW, be careful with Slime it can gum up and ruin tire pressure gauges. Don’t use one you don’t want to throw away. I had to throw away a outstanding accurate NAPA gauge that my dad gave to me decades ago due to that crap.
I’m in a couple of online bicycle groups. A big thing these days is tubeless wheels and tires and using “slime” type sealants. Some folks claim its the best thing since sliced bread, others see it as more work than its worth but I haven’t seen anyone complain about wheel balance issues. Me, personally, I just bought liners for my tires for my florida bike- we have some serious thorns down there. When I replace my tires I’m going to buy the tires with the barriers in them.
Hard to be certain, of course. But if it was like everything else he’d have reacted with alarm at first and then decided he was okay with it.
Hey – don’t forget to check your mailbox. The stuff I sent should be there by now.