That may be, but every time I have purchased Forte tubes, I have found them to be of inferior quality. And I am not the only one I know of to have these experiences.

i ride Michelin Air Comps. They're non-threaded, so no stem-shredding nut, and they're super light. Only had one flat with them and it was a metal shard that would've given any tire/tube a challenge. just make sure you get the right length stem for your rims, it's in very small print on the box.

pretty cheap on amazon

Everyone is different. I've been a Performance customer for a little over 20 years and so far have not had any issues. Same with Kenda and QBP's tubes. The factory puts out a ton of product and failures tend to be on the low side - although they do exist.

My current favorite I have to admit and it's the one I stock for the team and for customers.

Never had a problem with cheap tubes... it's always user error in my oh-so-humble opinion.

:thumb:

The OP also mentioned this in his original post: " The reason I am making this post is that as I was sitting and doing some work here I heard this very loud noise. Sure enough, the rear tube has ruptured by just sitting around (only 90 PSI)"

To me that's typical not of a normal puncture but rather a blowout caused by a pinched tube.

and what about the guy (me) that has been using Forte Lunar Lite tubes for the last 3 years with a flat ever blue moon and patches the tubes that do get flats, reuses and races on them? My clinchers are conti 4000s tires or 4 seasons. Seldom a flat. Never in a race. Used Lunar Lites last year with 700x25 4 season in a race that had 2 mile gravel road sections.

Bully for you!

I for one choose to go with what works and avoid what doesn't work.
For me, cheap tubes failed. Good quality tubes haven't.
So, I will reject cheap tubes and not take chances.

:)

Tell me about it...

http://tinyurl.com/4ot77bz

I'm not denying anybody else's good experiences with them.
I just know that for me, cheap tubes have been nothing but problems.
So, for $1. or $2. more, I avoid those greater potential of failures.

When I installed Contis on my bike, I could immediately tell
the difference between the cheap Kendas I pulled out.
If they were made in the same factory, the Kendas must have
been made in the cellar and the Contis in the Penthouse!
:lol:

In my experience - the vast majority of failures immediately after installation are attributable to improper technique.

Like many here - I also have had good luck with Forte tubes.

I had a problem with Cyclepro tubes. I bought 4 of them, and they all had slow leaks. They would seemingly hold air, but be completely flat 12 hours later. I hesitate to call them "cheap tubes" because I paid $6.50 each (it was the only shop around, and I really needed tubes).

That being said, I've been quite happy with Performance tubes for years now.

I agree with this. Still, when you're on a fast group ride (or any group ride, for that matter), and trying to change your tube as fast as possible with road debris everywhere and traffic whizzing by, it's all too easy to make a small mistake that causes a cheap tube (Nashbar) to fail whereas a better tube will not.

I've had several Nashbar tubes develop 2nd punctures/tears as well as valve tears after removing the tire with a tire lever as well as using my portable hand pump. Sure I might have been a bit rougher with it on the road, but to me, that's too low a tolerance for failure for an already suboptimal situation where you might be rushed. I've changed at least 15 flats on-road in the past few years, as well as a good number more at home, so I'm pretty proficient at changing tubes/tires - I know most of the common failure spots (kinks, extrusions, hidden splinters, twists, etc) and how to avoid them, and I'd still say it can get dicey when you're moving quickly to change a tube on-road.

I've had no problems since, even with rapid change-flats, with the higher quality tubes.

I just learned to patch (can't believe it took me so long it's so friggin' easy) and after mounting 3 of my newly patched Bontrager tubes onto my trainer bike and my road bike with absolutely no problems (I removed the perfectly good tubes just to test out my patched tubes!), I'm completely sold on spending extra bucks for the better tubes, as it's so trivial to repair one if it does get punctured.

Just chiming in here, I also use forte tubes. I would say that they have a minor QC problem, maybe 1 out of 10 tubes fails at the valve stem.

Those few times it happens I just bring the defective tube back to the store and they give me a new one, no questions asked. I am lucky that there is a PB bricks/mortar store just 10 minutes from my house, so it's easy to exchange.

I am waiting for some sexy (non-performance, michelin) latex tubes to use this upcoming season, we'll see how they hold up.

they are all probably made in the same factory and you are paying extra for a different package. I've seen Kenda Tubes with a different logo on the tubes. Same with just about any other tube. I use the Lunar Lites because they are like 55grams each. Not exactly uber cheap either.

The tube of choice at the moment is Challenge Latex tubes.

I don't know what to make of all this. Of course my wheels are designed for presta and not shrader. The bike and the wheels barely have about 100 miles on them - brand new. And the cheap Schwalbe tubes that came with it did very well. My problems started when I took a shortcut through a part of a road that had some small glass pieces (I did not see) and cut right through the tire...

Why do you think my technique is so bad? Is there anything that I described that I am doing wrong? And as another member mentioned, the damage to the tube is on the outside, i.e., on the opposite side of the valve. I have not damaged the valve by overtightening it. I am thinking that maybe my problem is the combination of cheap tires (CAAD10 stock Schwalbe) and tubes, because that was an impact puncture. At this point I AM going to buy two of those damn Continental tubes that so many keep reiterating and I am also replacing my tires with Vittorias. At the same time, I am going to have the Nashbar tubes and some Vittoria tubes (over $5). This way I can use the "quality" stuff while my technique is improving.

Please keep in mind that I called several LBSs today and not one of them had Continental. They all said that the quality is the same and one guy even laughed at me! It's not that I am trying to save a few dollars on a tube, it's just that I am trying to understand whether those more expansive tubes are exactly the same, in which case it would be ignorant of me to pay even a few cents more to buy a different label. Nevertheless, I am going to give these more expensive ones a try so that if I have a question about tubes, the first BF suggestion to my question doesn't involve a seppuku due to cheap tubes.

I just called a local JensonUSA. Got 10 Bontragers for 2.49 each. Will go there to pick them up and if any of them give me issues, will take them back. This is in addition to 4 nashbar, 2 vittoria, and 2 continetal tubes I got from nashbar! So 18 tubes total. I just hope these things have a very long shelf life because I suspect that as soon as I put on another tube, I might not get a flat for a long time to come.

Sweet deal - let us know how we can get in on that!

Don't forget about the patch kit (with glue) - I don't think you'll have to buy a tube for like 5 years with a patch kit and that many tubes, even with multiple flats per season!

I been running forte tube for about 2 years now, the current tubes been running for 1 year or so without any flats.

throw in a new tube and see what happen.

I had 4 different brand cheap tubes that I excorcized myself of and I totally agree with you...all four were identical. :)
Again, I don't deny the good experiences others have with Forte tubes, but once you've been hit by a red car, red cars kind of make one flinch.

Again, if it was on the OUTSIDE, how is this a tube defect? Seems more like something was still embedded on the tire which caused it to puncture. And when you mention that it was an impact puncture (pinch flat) those typically show up as a pair of holes similar to a snake bite.

I'm still leaning towards improper technique...

Same deal with me. I had to order mine online.
A while back, I picked up 6 of their Race Lites at 6 for $38./shipped.
I notice that the LBSs around here also don't carry good tubes.
I figured that one out real quick...if they sell you good tubes,
you get less flats and they make less money having you come back.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/tinfoil-hat.jpg

Put a cheap tube on one wheel and your best tube on the other.
Watch what happens. I did. The cheap one lost almost all it's air in less than 24 hours.

The good one aired down to 80PSI after a week. Not that it matters right before a ride,
but I get to thinking, what about when I ride for more than 4 hours? At how much PSI am I riding?
How much performance do I lose as the cheaper tires loses air at a higher rate?
And how much faster does it lose that air when I have my weight on the bike?

Mucho questioins, but do the test and watch what happens. :D

Don't get me wrong, you might get a lousy expensive tube and a great cheap tube.
But let us know (FWIW, I hear that Bonty makes very good cheap tubes).

I finally got to replace my tube. Bontrager seems to be of quality, at least its thicker. Then again, I had gotten the "ultralight" Forte, so no wonder it was thinner. Maybe that combined with imperfect design is what did it.

So this time around I did find a small thorn on the inside of the tire. I removed it, but this is not where the hole for the tube was. I also discovered a very odd thing: my rim tape, which was made from cheap plastic (stock Shimano), had a damaged site in it so that there was a sharp plastic sticking out. I took it to LBS to replace with a cloth tape and the mechanic said he had no idea how that could have happened. The damage is NOT over any spokes and there is no rim damage. I think I know how it happened though: when I heard that loud noise while my bike was parked, the blow out was on the side of the rim. The pressure must have been so great that it had released the entire 110 PSI from that one spot and f'ed up the rim tape (the sound was very loud). And no, there are no "pair of holes" and no sign of damage on the tube. Thus I don't think it is a pinch flat. I am done with the Forte crap for now. For those that Forte works, you must either have a good batch of tubes or you run your tubes under conditions of minimal stress. I don't have to deal with Forte anyway since I can get Bontrager that's almost half the price. 2 tubes, 1.5 days, 4 flats.

Ok. First, YOU initially stated that you thought it was an impact puncture, in other words a pinch flat which is why I told you to look for the snake bite. Second you come out and mention NOW that you found a thorn in the inside of the tire AND an issue with the rim strip (which I think was mentioned earlier in this thread also as a possible cause of the failure). Third, you NOW mention that it was the ULTRALIGHT tube and you compare it to the REGULAR Bontrager one (not exactly apples to apples , is it?).

Now, there is ONE thing that you did get right:"I think I know how it happened though: when I heard that loud noise while my bike was parked, the blow out was on the side of the rim. The pressure must have been so great that it had released the entire 110 PSI from that one spot and f'ed up the rim tape (the sound was very loud)". ANYBODY will tell you, as I did, that that happens because of the tube was pinched between the tire and rim. And guess how this happens? Improper technique!!!!! It has nothing to do with the tube (although an ultralight one will be more susceptible to tearing than a thicker one) but rather with technique and the fact that you did not take the time to properly check that the tube wasn't pinched. Bontrager tubes (regular) at half the price of Forte tubes (regular) ???Yeah, right!!!

Resident skeptic, my definition of an impact puncture is just that - a tube getting punctured due to an impact. That's not the same as pinch flat. It also does not fit the profile from what you said (two holes). Furthermore, that hole was on the outside of the tube. And if you read what I said, I am not comparing the regular tube to the ultralight one.

The tire and the rim were tested before each tube was installed. Additionally, I had total of 4 flats. This is just one of them and the most bizarre one. Again, the thorn in the tire did not cause a failure in this case.

Even though the profile of the last flat does not fit the snake bite pattern you mentioned, you could be right that I somehow damaged the tube. I see no marks of pinching and I have seen that before when I made a mistake on the stock tubes. And if a tube is going to be damaged by the slightest movement, maybe it's not worth it, at least until I get perfect at this, if its possible to be any more careful. You could make suggestions as to how I could improve my technique. My levers never touch the tube and the tube is fully inside the rim and slightly inflated when I install the last bid of the tire. As to "properly checking" that the tube isn't pinched, exactly how am I supposed to do that?

Forte ultralight is $5.29. Regular is $3.99. These are sale prices. I got the Bontrager for $2.49 from a local JensonUSA. Do the math.