Originally Posted by
Bamicus
I gone thru 4 tubes now, mine always fail around the valve, just a few mil away from the stem. Anyone have this problem, or better yet, know a fix? I have old Mavic 622-13 rims, could that be the problem? Thanks
Yup, once, with my first latex tube after a year of use.
It's because I ignored the recommendations for installation from Silca/Vittoria.
In a tutorial video on their website (hosted on YouTube) Silca strongly recommends using tubeless tape. This includes punching or cutting a minimal hole to accommodate the Presta valve stem.
I didn't do that. I already had some stiff plastic rim strips (Schwalbe high pressure, and some other brand), so I wasn't concerned about the tubes extruding into the spoke holes. But the pre-punched hole in the rim strip for the valve stem was a bit oversized. And that's where the hole occurred after about a year. Gradually the latex extruded into that tiny space between the hole and valve stem, slowly weakening until it developed a slightly elongated tear and slowly leaked out.
So when I installed a new set of Vittoria skinny latex tubes (they make the 700x25-30 latex tubes rebranded by Silca), I used Gorilla tape. I used an ice pick to punch a minimal hole. I needed to apply a bit of pressure to squeeze the valve stem through but it should hold better. It's only been a couple of weeks so we'll see. It took the first set a year for one to go bad.
And if it happens again, okay, yeah, fine, I'll use tubeless tape. But some folks have already reported good results using Gorilla tape for tubeless, so I'm betting this installation will be fine.
BTW, if this sounds like a lot of hassle, it's not really a big deal. Latex seems to be more puncture resistant than butyl, and certainly rides better. I don't notice any significant difference in speed, but it's much more comfortable on our increasingly rough coarse chipseal roads. Even at near-maximum pressure in 700x23 tires, it's comfortable compared with butyl.
Regarding repairing that damaged latex tube, I wouldn't. I've patched the one puncture I've had using a Lezyne self adhesive patch, no problems, it held for a year. But I don't see any way to properly patch the irregular surface at the base of the valve stem where the latex material is overlapped and glued. But I've heard other latex tube users say they've successfully cut up old latex tubes to make patches with Rema adhesive. So I'll save my one latex tube that failed at the valve base.