Latex Tubes vs Ultra Light Butyl Tubes?

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VamP
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by VamP

HammerTime2 wrote:Maybe because you're a wheel guru and have the magic touch.


I am not a wheel guru, and I definitely don't have the magic touch, but my experience is similar. 15k miles all year round including commuting in winter on latex tubes with lightweight clinchers (Open Corsas, GP4000s, Ultremo ZX) and only two punctures in that time.

I don't even think of the need to pump up daily as a bad thing. It forces me to think about the pressure on a daily basis.

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rmerka
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by rmerka

fdegrove wrote:Personally I view the entire experience as a transition. A taster if you like.
After which you either move on to tubulars or revert to clinchers and butyl inner tubes.


Or take the third less traveled road and ditch the tubes altogether... 8)

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WMW
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by WMW

fdegrove wrote:These Pana's are very similar to the original Air-B butylized latex inner tubes.


Don't think so. No mention anywhere of a dual layer like the Air-Bs. The R-Airs look like just butyl to me, maybe with a special formulation but still butyl. Panaracer only states "The R’Air tube gives you all the ride advantages of latex with all the functionality of butyl." Doesn't say there actually is latex... and the tube says "air flex light butyl".
formerly rruff...

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

I quite like my clincher latex tube combo. No real issues but I have noticed when I did get a puncture on veloflex tyres in the wet (what a surprise did not get even 0.5 miles from my house) and given the tyres are such a tight fit on Pacenti rims I did put a couple more holes in it when removing it. I have also noticed when swapping tyres a similar situation so no more tyre swapping. Other wise I have not found any particular issues.

I do wonder how much difference they make though. Also been using them in one of my MTB's for a year and no issues there either although I did get a puncture recently it was bound to happen at some point on conti X-king supersonic tyres in fact I am surprised it took so long.

jpanspac
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by jpanspac

WMW is right. There's no latex in Panaracer R-Airs. It's just marketing fluff.
My favorite components are the ones I never have to think about.

Marin
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by Marin

The R'Airs look like butyl tubes, but they do feel more elastic / springy.

RedRacer
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by RedRacer

I purchased Vittoria latex tubes and noticed the reinforced circular area around the valve stem is very thick, to the point where it seems like it might interfere with the tube seating properly inside the rim and/or even cause the tire to bulge slightly above the stem. Has anyone else noticed this?

What is the WW fave go-to latex tube that is sub-80g and is safe for 25c tires?

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WMW
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by WMW

They don't cause any problems, and mine weigh less than 80g.

Vredestein tubes are the lightest, but the light tubes are more fragile. I have some really thick Vreds I bought 7 years ago that I'm still using. They are very tough and I've verified that the thick ones have no more rolling resistance than the thin ones.
formerly rruff...

ToffieBoi
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by ToffieBoi

After tired Latex inner tubes on my road bike, I really liked the ride and want to keep them. They are 20 gram heavier than my old butly tubes but ride is better so I can just ignore this.

But here is a problem;
I am planning to buy some carbon clincher wheels and I heard many times that latex tubes can not survive under that heat generated by brake tracks.
So I wonder if there is anyone here, who can give me some numbers about latex tubes and carbon clinchers. I am looking for data like; carbon clincher rims easily go up to X°C and latex tubes can survive on to Y°C.


I also want to add my experience about tubes;
One of them failed near the valve after one month or something. It happened when I wanted to mount the pump head. I patched it with some glueless patch and left it clamped. A few days later I will check if they will fixed or not.

I checked the other tire and has similar wear near the valve stem. I patched both sides of the stem with my glueless patches, so the friction will be zero there. I hope they will protect the tubes long. I also did the same for the new tube I installed. After a some time, I will check the tube if patching them works or not.

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