Which inner tubes are best in terms of weight v durability?

[akaspin]

I use vredestein latex 50 grs.
cost 8 eur at Van Eyck Sports in Belgium.
very few punctures and I repair them with standard glue patch.

I saw that wolfpack offers 24grs TPU inner tires.
https://wolfpack-tires.com/produkt/tpu- ... ell-40-mm/
possibly the same as Tubolitos?
Perhaps nice for a ww project but I will stick to Vredestein.

Tubolitos is not only onr TPU tubes. It's Revoloop. In comparison with Tubolitos they have better valve-tube joint and normal valve color.
I'm using Revoloop.white with Vittoria Corsa G+. Absolutelly happy. I

[StanK]

supersonics don't like co2 cartridges. beware. (5 times I inflate with co2 the tube cracked and flatted again. I once had 3 flats on one ride not cause of thorns etc but cause of using co2)...

Interesting. Is that apply to tube repairing sprays too (Effetto Mariposa, Atlantic...) ?

I purchased Revoloop tubes, but only then I read that repair spray don't work with them because different material is used.
So, now I thinking to maybe go with Supersonics, but if they also don't like repair spray, there is no point too. Last two year I use Michelin A1 Ultralight, but yeah ... they are cca. 80g a piece. I want try something signifficantly lighter.

But don't talk me into latex, please I have draw the line there - don't wanna pump tires before every ride.

[jencvo]

Where do you guys buy Tubolito's in the US? Amazon?

[RocketRacing]

My issue is one of reliability of the superlight version... especially related to rim brake generated heat. I want a bit more idenpendent data before i jump.

is there a reliability issue for the superlight version?
if there is, is it only for those used bikes with rim brakes?

Here is the full quote. If we want to get i to semantics, i did not state there was good or bad reliability, just just that my issue was about reliability, in that i wanted more independant data. Maybe the reliability is great, maybe it is not. At that point i had not seen independant data.

But again, with the lighterst/fastest tubilito tube not being for rim brakes, and the regular version being slower than latex... the product is a no go for me, aside from maybe a spare.

[JoO]

supersonics don't like co2 cartridges. beware. (5 times I inflate with co2 the tube cracked and flatted again. I once had 3 flats on one ride not cause of thorns etc but cause of using co2)...

Interesting. Is that apply to tube repairing sprays too (Effetto Mariposa, Atlantic...) ?

I purchased Revoloop tubes, but only then I read that repair spray don't work with them because different material is used.
So, now I thinking to maybe go with Supersonics, but if they also don't like repair spray, there is no point too. Last two year I use Michelin A1 Ultralight, but yeah ... they are cca. 80g a piece. I want try something signifficantly lighter.

But don't talk me into latex, please I have draw the line there - don't wanna pump tires before every ride.

According to josh poertner the silca/vittoria latex inner tubes have grafine in them which limets the air loss.
might be worth a try

[RocketRacing]

I have the new tubes (vittoria latex) and they are better, but you still need to pump daily. I am ok with that though, as i adjust pressures based on my route.

Bike rolling resistance needs to do a tubes comparison. Butly vs light butyl, bs a few latex competators, vs the two new tubolito.

[gurk700]

supersonics don't like co2 cartridges. beware. (5 times I inflate with co2 the tube cracked and flatted again. I once had 3 flats on one ride not cause of thorns etc but cause of using co2)...

Interesting. Is that apply to tube repairing sprays too (Effetto Mariposa, Atlantic...) ?

I purchased Revoloop tubes, but only then I read that repair spray don't work with them because different material is used.
So, now I thinking to maybe go with Supersonics, but if they also don't like repair spray, there is no point too. Last two year I use Michelin A1 Ultralight, but yeah ... they are cca. 80g a piece. I want try something signifficantly lighter.

But don't talk me into latex, please I have draw the line there - don't wanna pump tires before every ride.

I have no experience with repair sprays. Just CO2's on supersonics. When I have a flat on the road and put the new tube and use CO2 to inflate, I'll have another flat within 30 mins or so. And it's not a slowly deflating flat. It flats like I picked up a new thorn or something.

[gurk700]

Where do you guys buy Tubolito's in the US? Amazon?

Fairwheelbikes

[IvanZg]

Do tubolitos pack smaller then latex inner tubs?

[froze]

Tubolitos are freaking expensive, I don't get flats now so what advantage are those tubes? I haven't had a flat in 6 to 7 months with butyl tubes. I'm not going to pay more than three times as much for a tube unless they can prove they'll last through 12 sets of tires or longer! As the new thing to do is to brag about it requiring less watts to run...like a 1/2 to maybe 1 watt...news flash, you can't even detect that! In addition to that expense of the tube you have to buy their patches at $15 for the kit.

All of this snake oil marketing about aero this lightweight that is pure NONSENSE! Did you know that since 1981 the average speed of the TDF has only gone up 1 1/2 to 2 Km (which is about 1.2 mph faster) per hour to 2019? And that's with far better aeroness, lighter bikes and wheels, stiffer bikes and wheels for more power, better training, better diet, and better doping! http://bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdfstats.html (for fun look at the average speed for 1971 and the early 60's) So now someone is going to tell me about the huge gain I'm going to get from using expensive tubes? LOL!!! People will buy into anything. If I bought all the stuff that claims they save 2 to 8 watts on various parts I would be saving roughly 150 watts on my bike...ok, next please.

Think you're missing the point. This is weight weenies and tubolitos weigh a fraction of regular tubes.
If you don't prioritize weight, they are not for you.
No need to get upset. If a few grams isn't worth it to you, save your money.

Who said I was mad? just stating the obvious, and how misleading marketing is in the cycling industry...fine, all industries.

[superdx]

Tubolitos don't really last. Between 3 of us, think we've gone through about 9 of them over 8 months. Punctures are one thing, but develop really slow leaks over time. Even dunking them in water, you can't see any bubbles but after 3 days they are flat.

If you use rim brakes, the valve starts to bend from the heat of braking (we live in a really hilly city).

But, they are light, can really feel it on climbs. And they have a really interesting ride quality. Not like latex but I find it more comfortable than butyl.

From an marketing angle, they are not more durable than butyl as they claim. Far from it in fact.

[gurk700]

Tubolitos don't really last. Between 3 of us, think we've gone through about 9 of them over 8 months. Punctures are one thing, but develop really slow leaks over time. Even dunking them in water, you can't see any bubbles but after 3 days they are flat.

If you use rim brakes, the valve starts to bend from the heat of braking (we live in a really hilly city).

But, they are light, can really feel it on climbs. And they have a really interesting ride quality. Not like latex but I find it more comfortable than butyl.

From an marketing angle, they are not more durable than butyl as they claim. Far from it in fact.

I suspect they can act different in different tire/rim combos. I’m on the same front for 6 months and same rear for 4 months. the first rear was just a sharp thin metal piece that punctured. No valve bending either.

[RocketRacing]

If you use rim brakes, the valve starts to bend from the heat of braking (we live in a really hilly city).

Combined with the manufacturer advising the lightest tubolitos are not for rim brakes, and your experiences (hilly area, lots of replacements), this kind of adds to my armchair logic that they do not do well with heat stress.

How many tubes might you replace otherwise in a similar time/distance span? I do admire your Commitment. If i was replacing latex almost quarterly, i would ditch them pretty fast.

And in regards to slow leaks... isn’t that called a latex tube?

[RocketRacing]

I suspect they can act different in different tire/rim combos. I’m on the same front for 6 months and same rear for 4 months. the first rear was just a sharp thin metal piece that punctured. No valve bending either.

I suspect that how stretched the tube is (inflated) is the largest determinant of reliability outside things like extremes of heat, terrible thin tires, or crappy jagged rim internals.

[superdx]

I'm surprised myself at how many we've bought. The ride quality truly is something different. I like it better even than latex. But we've had another friend tell us they felt it was really harsh (YMMV). I'm just really are happy on climbs knowing the wheel feels noticeably lighter. It could be confirmation bias though haha.

The slow leaks things is the most annoying because you can't find the hole to patch.

But patching an actual puncture is quite straightforward. I've repaired at least 7 puncture holes with a dab of E6000 (Shoe Goo) and a Park Tools transparent patch (both are cheap and easy to acquire). Wait 24 hours and good to reuse. This holds up far better than the patch that Tubolito sells, which falls off after 3 weeks. Their adhesive seems to just dry up and fall off.