JVoigt

I tried these tubes from Performance and flatted in the first mile while on a trainer. Any recommendations on a durable long valve tube?

merlinextraligh

Uhm, you flatted in the first mile on the trainer? That is almost certainly installation error.

What did the puncture look like?

There are only a few likely causes.

1) Big rip in the tube. This would indicate that the tire wasn't properly seated on the rim, and the tube was pinched.

2) small pin hole in the tube. This would indicate that you didn't inspect the tire carefully enough to remove the debris that caused the flat you were fixing in the first place.

3) hole toward the spoke side of the tube. This would indicate a problem with rim tape.

4) tear where the valve stem meets the tube. This would indicate not getting the tube properly positioned, and the tire pulling on the tube/stem juncture.

It's possible to get a bad tube, and it just fails, but the odds favor one of the above 4 causes.

JVoigt

Maybe it was an installation error, but maybe not. If you read the reviews on the Performance website, there are many stories similar to mine. Anyway, I'm not going to take the chance, and I'm curious what tubes other folks are using and what their experiences have been.

merlinextraligh

^ I think you're going to find that like the people who wrote reviews on Performance, that for any given tube there will people who swear at them, and people that swear by them, and it's largely the result of their luck with them, which is more likely attributable to random chance, than any quality of the tube.

Basically there just isn' much difference in run of the mill butyl tubes. Find one at a decent price that has the right length valve stem for your wheels, and don't worry about what brand it is.

And it's rediculous to throw Performance under the bus without even answering the question of how the tube failed, and whether it was properly installed.

JVoigt

It split open right at the seam. About a 2" long clean looking split. Maybe this was caused by improper seating, but like I said, why take the chance on the same thing happening again when I could just as easily try a different tube. I've generally been happy with Performance. I bought my bike from them and will continue to shop there.

Shuke

User error. But, to satisfy your desire to blame the tools and not the worker: specialized makes decent tubes, I'm trying some continental tubes sometime in the near future. Granted nothing is poor-installation-proof.

Steve530

I like Michelin AirComp and Specialized Turbo tubes because they have smooth stems which do not chew up the pump head gaskets. If you don't mind the threads, Continental tubes are good. All of those are available with 60mm stems, and all have been good in my experience.

I've noticed that when you inflate a good tube outside of the tire, it is the same cross-sectional diameter for the whole circumference of the tube. Cheap tubes have bulges. I assume that is because the material thickness varies more in cheap tubes. It may not make a difference when the tube is installed in a tire. It's just an observation. Anyway, I like the more expensive tubes better.

caloso

I buy whatever's on sale at the LBS: QBP; Specialized; Bontrager, whatever. I think they're all churned out of the same giant factory in Thailand.

StanSeven

I've had good luck as well as problems with every brand. Now I buy whatever is the cheapest. I use 60 or 80's so my choices are limited. But Performance is as good as any.

inthewoods

There is a reason that everyone in my riding club calls Performance tubes "Popformance" tubes. They are the worst tubes I've ever encountered for both road and MTB. Nashbar tubes seem OK, and yes I understand that makes no sense (Performance owns Nashbar, so you'd assume the tubes would be identical) but after replacing Popformance tubes at a prodigious rate, I've learned my lesson.

wrr1020

I use 60mm Continental tubes.

DScott

Me too, and if I install them wrong, they quickly develop inconvenient disruptions in the interior-exterior interface causing rapid state change.

Otherwise, they function as well as can be expected from an inner tube.

hhnngg1

I used to try cheapo nashbar tubes and hated the experience - super flimsy, often tore even with a modest tire iron on the tire removal phase.

Went back to my Bontrager inner tubes. Tougher and more durable - might even be heavier, but I'll take it any day instead of the mess I had with cheaper tubes. Haven't had any problems with the Bontys.

I'd recommend you learn to patch if you use the Bontys - at least round here, the longer stems are about $6+, if not $7 each, but if you patch (I had to patch one when a nail went through my tire), they work great even patched. ( I patch them at home, not on the road.)

kimconyc

Specialized.

kimconyc

Some tubes have screw-in valve cores, others like Kenda, AFAIK, have a pressed in valve head, which can malfunction more easily than a screw-in design.

Stickney

Bad tube manufacturing runs happen -- I bought 4 TREK tubes a couple years ago, and 2 of those tubes came out of the box with pin-holes, 1 blew after 20 miles (had it's own pin-holes) and one has been in my tire for a couple years.

I've had good luck with Continental. They seem to be a different latex quality and patch well. But the QBP/Nashbar others have done fine as well.