Weight Weenies

I hate the Michelin Latex tubes.. they just seem way to wide and don't fit properly....... Its always a struggle for me trying to jam a Veloflex record with a michelin onto my Mavic Ksyriums or SLRs... gauranteed something gonna give..

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spytech wrote:

fdegrove wrote:Hi,

bones wrote:Latex tubes of any kind suck. They are puncture prone and give about a 0.00000001% improvement in ride quality. Anyone who claims otherwise has sniffing tubular glue.

Latex is good for one thing, and it definitely is not inner tubes.

I am sure you're very good at maths.

Ciao,

ha... i bet he designs ultra low latency trading algorithms.

Na, hes just a contrarian.
Latex tubs (assuming a reasonably high quality tire), together with tire pressure, are the ONLY things which make an appreciable difference right off the bat to ride quality imho. Do agree that you have to be super careful round the valve holes, however, as my Michelins always seem to go there eventually.

ParisCarbon wrote:I hate the Michelin Latex tubes.. they just seem way to wide and don't fit properly....... Its always a struggle for me trying to jam a Veloflex record with a michelin onto my Mavic Ksyriums or SLRs... gauranteed something gonna give..

I have the same problem with the Michelin, managed to pop two of them when mounting them on Kinlin XR200 with veloflex corsa. I never had issues with vredeinstein tubes but it's harder to find them now.

Is there any trick to install them other than use baby powder and be careful?

>Try pumping a new one up without tire and see it look like a snake ate a squash ball.

Yeah, first time I saw this I thought the same. But it's not a problem, that's why you put them inside a clincher tire.

Don't know where you get that they are discontinued. (source?) I bought a few just a few days ago.
They're not even taken offline from their site. http://www.michelin.fr/velo/michelin-la ... Value=true


From 8 or 10 Michelin latex inners I had so far only two failed. Both tiny, slow punctures I got after going off road and crashing.
No problems around the valves either. Lucky me?

Okay, two of you above mentioned this, but I have two questions:

1) trying to mount Michelin latex tubes on Mavic Open Pro rims paired with Veloflex Pave tires. They really, really don't seem to want to seat inside the tire. Partially inflated them when first installing, then deflated, then worked the tire back and forth all the way around the rim. More inflation, working to and fro, deflation.

When flat, or even partially inflated, the tube is still visible outside the tire bead. I don't know if it'll seat when I get it up to pressure but I'm worried about pinching it between the rim and tire bead and blowing the tube.

Any solutions or ideas? Some of you might have had similar experiences and think it's a Michelin tube issue.

2) Patching latex. I've read there are a few options - a) ditch them and get a new one b) patch using a regular patch kit you might use on butyl tubes c) patch them using a piece of old latex tube and rubber cement.

Anyone have success with a particular method? In terms of cost and reduce/reuse I'd like to try to patch them. If it doesn't work, okay, but at least I tried.

I have had the same issue with the mich tubes. I use a tire lever to gently tuck the tube into the tire. I use the glue out of the patch kit with a piece of old latex tube as a patch. Works great and never had one fail. After 3 patches I call it quits. If you get the mich tubes again get the 18-20 size.

Hi nickf,

Thanks for the reply! Ah, good tip on the tire levers and even better on ordered a smaller size! Very good advice, thanks!

Also, good to know about the glue/patches. Now I just need to find a pal with an old piece of latex tube...since I just started using them mine are all new or in need of a patch.

Thanks for the helpful reply!

I like the Michelin latex.

No problems at all.

To install properly:

1.) Talc the tube in talc powder or baby powder. Do this by pouring some powder into a paper bag, place deflated tube in and shake.
2.) Talc the inside casing of the tire... do so by sprinkling some to the inside of the tire and padd around with your hand
3.) partially inflate the tube to give it some volume... just several pumps, enough for it not to be limp, not so much that it starts to baloon
4.) Install one bead of the tire onto your rim with the other bead still open
5.) insert valve stem into rim hole and work the tube between the tire's casing and the rim
6.) starting from either the left or right of the valve stem, begin tucking the open bead into the rim.
7.) depending how much air you have in your tube, let some out if it is really bulging and you having trouble tucking the last 25% of the tire onto the clincher rim
8.) try your best to tuck the rest of the tire into the rim (tire levers may be necessary). It helps if your tire has been sitting in the sun and not from your ice cold garage in the middle of winter
9.) centre the tube inside the rim and tire. Do this by using yoru thumb and index finger and pinch the tire's left and right side along the whole circumfrance of the tire...
10) add in air to 60 psi and do the same pinching technique, inspect you don't have any tube bulging out
11) I like to deflate the tube again till it still has some shape and redo the thumb and index finger pinch/squeeze
12) inflate to 100 psi and inspect

done.

I do this if it is a latex, or butyl tube. For mountain or road bike tires. Never has failed me once.

Wot a performance! I feel we have an industrial engineer amongst us..

ave wrote:Don't know where you get that they are discontinued. (source?) I bought a few just a few days ago.
They're not even taken offline from their site. http://www.michelin.fr/velo/michelin-la ... route-tube?

...all depends where you are located. My MIchelin dealer indicated they are no longer imported to US...I sort of believe him because I can't source ANYWHERE in US. I've been buying last few batches from Ribble UK.

EM3

You can still get Vittoria Latex tubes, from a US seller on eBay.

I was finally able to seat and mount a new latex tube. I was putting in a little air when trying to get the last section of tire installed when the tube shot out from between the tire and rim in a big bulge. Deflated some and was able to mount the tire. Pumped it up, left overnight, the tire was flat this morning.

Pulled the tube, inflated it and...ballooned in one spot. Is this the snake that swallowed the ball effect? Can I still use this tube or is buggered?

Have yet to find the hole, will have to do that first, if I can use it.

These are Michelin tubes. Thanks.

ticou wrote:Wot a performance! I feel we have an industrial engineer amongst us..

I thought everybody did it that way.... no?

I know Vredestein latex tubes are WW favorites, so I bought a batch last winter and have had about a 50% failure rate, despite obsessively careful installation. The blow-outs are always violent rips extending about 8" on either side of the stem. I'm nearly positive they aren't caused by pinching, pricking or twisting during installation, and never by puncture. Some have occurred several minutes after pumping up to pressure but before even being ridden. Very frustrating.

BTW: for those shopping for them, BikeTiresDirect currently has them in stock for $11.89: http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/vredestein-race-latex-road-tube

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There is a recent thread on Vreds tubes:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=107616" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The valve area seems to be very common failure for these tubes.
I experienced the blow out close to the valve as well.