tubes
 

does the tube you use affect the tire's performance and the ride? or any cheap tube will do? if it does, what's a good tube brand? thanks!

Apparently, latex tubes will reduce rolling resistance. Aside from that, they're all about the same in speed, but thicker ones are harder to puncture and the really really cheap ones get leaks easily in my experience. I am not too particular, and happily run Michelin, Specialized, Continental, and Performance brand tubes.

According to these tests, latex tubes cut rolling resistance anywhere from about 1.5 to 3.3 watts per wheel, depending on the tyre. That's quite a bit, when you consider a pair of Zipp 404s cut not much more than that in aero drag, assuming the figures cross over. Many of the same clinchers are tested with both butyl and latex tubes.

http://www.biketechreview.com/tires/AFM_tire_crr.htm

I've been meaning to get some for ages, but I keep forgetting. Not many shops around here have them, and they're a bit expensive. They're also meant to be harder to repair, but I dunno if that's a myth or not.

'Some' say that latex tubes is a big part of why tubulars are so nice to ride.

-They do give a very nice soft ride, even at the same pressure.

-They weight more than a light butyl tube

-I still like really light butyl rubber tubes better

-But they decentigrate after like 400 miles

-Any tubes less that 70g isn't going to be reliable.

Do they? I've never had any. How does this effect tubulars with latex inners?

I agree about light tubes being a total disaster, and a joke, and a big fat waste of time. :thumb:

I had a shocking run of flats with Continental Race 28s (~53g) and the light Tiogas (about 70g).
Most of the flats I was getting weren't even punctures, but the tubes were tearing tiny little holes. They'd get scuff marks, near the middle of which were the teeny, pinhole tears. No joke, at one stage I was getting 3 flats a week, which is when I obviously got fed up with them.

No I wasn't talking about Latex. I was talking about 50- 60g butly rubber tubes.

Oh, sorry. Yeah, total junk.

Also, I had some tear holes at the seams.

Obviously, some of them are meant to be 'race only', but ya need a certain level of reliability in a race, not just blingness :)

Michelin Ultra Lights weight about 74g (claimed 70) and are about the best tubes around. Then I use Latex Michelin's too.

Buying latex tubes for performance? Save your cash. I am highly skeptical of any measurable power savings, but even so, you are going to kick yourself when you go through 3-4 at a time as is known to happen.

Stick with standard Continental or Michelin tubes. Tube weight won't make a lick of difference at our level, so go for cheap (relatively) and reliable (think valves). I bought 20 or 25 conti tubes from PBK about 6 months back when they were ~$3.50 a pop. They're great tubes for the money, so I'll pick up another batch if a similar opportunity presents itself.

I just grabbed up my cheap tubes after finding this post and noticed that there's:

"WARNING: This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm."

Wtf? What's in these?

They're cheap Sunlite 700x18-23's.

I like 'regular' Schawlbe long valves, coz they're reliable, and the stems are about 1cm longer than other brands. This is handy with 50mm-deep rims, coz, depending on the pump I use, I don't always need valve extenders

They're 107g without the cap or stem nut.