Thoughts on these tubes?
 

HEy,

I'm considering replacing Lola's tubes with Forte' Road Puncture Resistant Presta Tubes. Does anybody use them? Any thoughts on them? Do they add a lot of weight? I purchased them on Saturday at PB (but can return if necessary), and the guy gave me valves too, since my tires are Schraders. Not sure what that is about, does anybody know?

Thanks! Happy pedaling!

Ultra-thick butyl tube
Twice as thick as a standard tube at 1.6mm
Presta Valve is threaded and 48mm in length
Fits any tire size 700x28-32

Have never used puncture-resistant or thornproof tubes. Heavy, of course. I tend towards Kevlar-belted tires, instead.

Your tires are not Schrader but your wheel rims may have larger Schrader-sized holes. Did the PB guy give you adapters to use smaller Presta valves with those rims?

I buy puncture resistant tires for my commuter bikes, but they can be more than a little expensive.
If I was being cheap, I'd probably get tire liners, such as Mr Tuffy's but there are other makers out there. I don't have faith in flat resistant tubes, but then I've never used them and I don't live in goathead country; they just don't really make sense to me.

For a great general read about flats, from the Late, Great, Sheldon Brown: http://sheldonbrown.com/flats.html

Have you been having punctures, or do you worry about them?

We had thornproof tubes on our bikes when we were kids but we were riding around in a new desert development full of goatheads.

If you carry a bike pump, you may not already know this, but usually you can convert it from Schraeder to Presta by unscrewing the cap on the pump head, pulling out the rubber seal and the plastic bit that would push on the Schraeder valve, flipping both over, and putting it back together. One way you get the big diameter seal and the little nub to push on the Schraeder valve core, the other way you get the little diameter seal, and the Presta valve is opened by the pressure of the pump.

I've found that my riding experience is enhanced when I use the lightest tubes and supple-est tires I can get away with.

Like Darth asked, I'm curious if you are having trouble with punctures, or just want to buy some insurance.

Ran those on my commuter for a couple of years along with kevlar-belted tires. Never flatted with that combo. They are quite heavy (adds well over a half lb. to each wheel). Also slows down the loss of air so only needed to top off a couple of times a month. When my commuter was totaled and I replaced it, I opted for regular tubes and stuck with kevlar-belted tires. I've had a couple of flats but the difference in the ride is worth it IMHO.

I went through 3 of these in a few weeks. They were the only ones that my LBS had on the shelf. I had a pinch flats on the original tube that came with the bike. I got the puncture resistant tube and was surprised at how heavy they were and how large they were uninflated. So large I could not fit it into my trunk bag.

I went home with the tube and mounted it, tried to fill it but it wouldn't hold air. It was blown out around the vale. I went back to the LBS with it and they said they had never had any issues with them. They managed to find 2 more "in the back" so they traded me one for the bad tube and I bought the other one. The second one held air - for a few hundred miles then blew out in exactly the same spot - around the valve. I had to walk 1/2 a mile home, swapped out the tube for the last one and it held for 17 miles, stranding me 3 miles from home. I took them both back and they finally said that they have had a lot of returns with failures around the valve stem. No DUH!

I switched back to a normal tube, so far it's been god for a few hundred miles so far.