Bicycle Mechanics - Good quality tubes

I keep having flats on my bike with little tinnie tiny hole. I have checked the tire for objectes every way I know how, cotton ball, rubbing a knife blade against the inside of the casing everything.

Are my tubes just poor quality? They are bontrager ultra light tubes, I think wrench force makes these. What is a good quality tube if these are bad?

everytime I buy a tube I ask the LBS to inflate it(just a little bit so it expands).. I do this so I can check if there are material/workmanship defects...

i usually use x-mart specials. tire changes aren't something that i usually worry about tho.

I use Torelli tube's, they work great for me. I actually just purchased two bontrager ultra light tubes two days ago on a recommendation of a shop employee. I'll make sure to keep a spare torelli when i use those. ;)

Sometimes you just get a bad batch of tubes. I had the same problem with a dozen very recognizable brand name tubes that I bought from Performance in 1999. I had pin hole flats in 3 of the 12 tubes before I realized the holes were all at the same place along a seam in the tubes. Of course, this all occured while we were doing a 7 mile climb up a hill with an 8% average grade. We ended up borrowing a tube from someone else after our 2nd spare flatted and when we got home I sent them all back for a refund.

Haven't personally had any more problems and I now use Performance's el cheapo house brand of tubes (hey, $1/ea is hard to pass up) and I've had fewer flats (knock on wood) since I started using them than with any other brand of tube.

I've been pretty happy with the Michelin HLs. They've been patched several times but I've never had them fail due to manufacturing defect. I don't think they're made anymore (shows you how old my tubes are) but there are successors to them that should be even better.

One thing I'm really picky about is the design of the stems. I usually take my pump and CO2 inflator inside to make sure they'll fit nicely with any new tubes I buy.

I think any top tube manufacture makes good tubes, such as Conti, Mich, Torelli, Specialize and Vitt's. I use Specialize ultralight because it weighs only 65 grams which is one of the lightest on the market and only cost about $5, Mich has a 70grm tube for $5 and Conti has a race 50grm tube for about $10; and all of these are butyl tubes so they hold air longer then latex.

And I never had an issue with my pump not fitting a decent tube properly.

Originally posted by froze

And I never had an issue with my pump not fitting a decent tube properly.

Actually it was Specialized tubes that I had a problem with. I carried them as spares on rides and my last puncture on my Michelins forced me to swap to one since I was too lazy to patch on the spot. My inflator (SKS AirGun) did not seat properly with the fully threaded stem.

Another vote for the Michelin lightweights. They come lightly talced, and the presta stem is unthreaded... you won't damage or tear out your stem trying to get the pump off. They don't lose pressure any faster than a heavier tube, and in my riding, they hold up as long or longer than the tires if you don't puncture or damage them (snakebite, glass, things no tube could survive).

I, too, got a couple of Specialized tubes that both failed quickly. Not typical, but as Mark mentioned, seems like sometimes there's just a bad batch.

I saw some senthetic tubes listed in Performance. Does anyone have any experence with these?

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/categoryproducts.cfm?Category_ID=22&Store=24&TS=33&Sort=

I don't see the Performance in-house tubes for $1, only the above which is 3 for $6, i.e. $2.

Ive been using the cheapest tubes I can find, fromMEC (http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=581249&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=12759&bmUID=1055511218520) because they are cheap, heavy and thick, I think that they are more durable. But thas my two cents.

Oh uciflylow, did you check that your rim strip is not punctured by a spoke? or that your rim has a burr? Just a thought.

Scoob

No burs, removed old tape, wiped with alcohol and cotton ball, replaced with new rim tape, no long spokes.

The performace lunarlight PV tubes are the ones I have been looking at. Has anyone used these before?

i think the wheel on my new mongoose dont use tubes. at least thats what the guy that sold me the bike siad