Road Cycling - light tubes

Has any one used Lightweight tubes? Do you have more flats? is it worth the expence?

I want to get some Panaracer green lites. Bicycling magazine said they were good.

Light tubes, those under 100gms, are expensive, fragile and offer only modest performance improvements. Inner tubes are probably the lowest quality controlled item on your bike and have lots of ways to fail. I would not use them in any 'critical' riding: races, time trials, long rides away from home, or rides like centuries where you are driving a long way to get there. Very thin tubes in my experience are too frustrating to consider. Steve

Originally posted by sch
Light tubes, those under 100gms, are expensive, fragile and offer only modest performance improvements. I would not use them in any 'critical' riding: races, time trials, long rides away from home, or rides like centuries where you are driving a long way to get there.

Gosh I sure hope you are wrong on this point as I just put on two superlight tubes on my bike for a very important time trial I have this coming Wed.:eek:

One of the problems with the light tubes is that they don't hold air very well. You need to refill them on an almost daily basis.

L J Horton, I'll give you that, but I find that now that I'm a grown up it seems like my tires are allways in need of air. I don't ever recall pumping my tires as a kid, now I do it before every ride; Light tubes or not.

Reg tubes are under 100g and lites are 35-70g.Thats what i have seen and not much price diff.

I got a Bontrager tube that weighs 56grams in my seat pack...The reason i bought it was becuase it was small...and it cost the same as the continetals, which were 25g heavier.

Just my personal opinion, but the times I've tried light tubes, whatever minute gain in speed from the lowered weight was more than blanked out by the large number of flats.

Paul

Races are not won on the side of the road fixing a flat. The performance increase does in no way outway the dependability of a butyl tube.

Like lots of other things pick the right equipment for the right job. If you are running on clean well kept roads then the risk of puncture may well be worth it in the end. Face it, anything can happen out there on the road, even on a "closed course" setting.

If you really want lightweight and keep good puncture resistance, switch to tubulars :D

Andrew

most of these light tubes are butyl.

I used 3 vittoria ultra-light latex tubes on one ride and ended up riding home w/ a friends butyl tube in the tire. I will not use them again. Way too many flats for a single ride! From now on I am sticking to butyl tubes.

I've been using Continental Race 700 Lights lately and they have performed just fine. ...including on century+ rides and the whole deal. ..they're fine. BTW: there is no particular brand fetish here or anything, this is what the LBS stocks.

My two bits - - -> get the light tubes and don't worry about it. If you get a couple bad tubes .....then you can start worrying :)

Now, (as Freddy Mercury used to say).. "GET on your bike and ride!!"

Salud :beer: