Thorns, thorns, thorns....

I've tried tubeless and its a big improvement over tubes. Nevertheless, while it eliminated pinch flats it didn't entirely eliminate penetration punctures and if you have a problem trail side and lose the seal betwixt rim and bead then you're pretty bolloxed. On the plus side its a relative lightweight option if you do it with a proper tubeless rim, so if you're interested in performance its the best compromise.

But if you're interested in getting where you're going with relentless reliability then the slime tubes are worth the extra rotating mass. I do 8-9000 miles a year and have discovered that faffing about with tubeless at the roadside gets you quite literally nowhere, which isn't very helpful if you're late for work.

So it depends on your budget and priorities.

Always makes me wonder why people still get punctures?

Slime tubes are brilliant and the extra weight is only a problem if your not that fit!

The weight saving is long forgotten about when changing a muddy tube.

I run tubeless now with Stans and its brilliant, easy to seat once you have experience, i do it easily with a track pump.

If you do not have UST rims and tyres just get a couple of slime tubes and keep riding!

As mentioned before, its amazing how many thorns you will remove when next cleaning the bike, just remove them, spin the wheel and it all seals up!

Its only messy if you rip a tube/tyre.

I'm thorny. Thorny, thorny, thorny!

Good advice. When you use the gunk in your car tyres it usually directs you not to drive at more than 40 or whatever once you have it in, and only to a place of repair. Makes a total mess and the tire guys don't like it one bit. I used some on a sports bike a few years back and totally forgot I had put it in for several hundred miles of riding.

I could not believe the state of the rims on an otherwise excellent set of XT UST wheels I acquired recently to rebuild a set with knackered hubs. They looked like they had been run with no tires on them, must have had the pressure down incredibly low.

Just to report that I purchased and fitted a pair of presta Dr Sludge tubes, also whilst rummaging in the attic I came across another couple of sets of MTB tyres, namely Schwalbe Land Cruiser which I think came from an abandoned work bikeshed bike a few years ago, anyway they claim to have puncture protection but are pretty weighty. So tyres and tubes are quite a bit heavier than expected, initial inflation (using a track pump) and sorting out pressures is trickier because of the gloop affecting the valve operation. Once riding they definitely take more zap to get up to speed. At ride speed all is good & I am impressed how quiet these tyres are, yet they grip very well on tracks/dry'ish mud. Not any slower ride-wise as my av speed was higher than before with this combo I think I may reduce tyre pressures a bit next time because despite all the above positives the ride was quite harsh and wooden feeling. I was running both tyres at 50psi so I reckon dropping to 40psi or so should do the trick, any advice on this appreciated! I do think this tube/tyre combination should be good for the canal towpaths which is where I want to explore this year.

Yep, the sludge takes more effort to get up to speed - and you're carrying more weight...
But I really don't care - training-wise, it's doing me good

And my last towpath excursion was at 40psi - which seemed about right

Slime is fine if you want to stop punctures. It does what it says on the tin.
But if you want the best ride quality possible, you need tubeless. Puncture resistance is only part of the story.

Suburbanreuben speaks the truth.......