tires, slime, balancing

[Weaver, Mark]

gettin ready to buy some new tires, since pretty soon i'll be afraid to ride in the dirt with the stockers. i plan on putting them on myself, just so i can get familiar with it in the privacy of my shed, with beer handy, and a truck to take stuff to the shop in case i'm too clumsy to do it right. once i get them all mounted up, i guess i need to deal with balancing. now i'm not at all convinced that i'm properly equipped to balance wheels, since i don't own any kind of wheel stand or anything. could i jury rig something? or am i better off just letting my local experts do it? what about slime? i know about its effectiveness (good on small holes, bad on pinches and cuts), but what about the effect on tire balance? does it make balancing unnecessary, or impossible? (note the distinction between these two concepts). i do a fair amount of hwy riding, so i don't want to be bouncy. -mark weaver