Tubolito road tubes - worthwhile or not?

[Stickman]

So I'm currently using standard 100g+ butyl tubes but with a long hill sportive coming up I'm looking for any help I can get for my skinny legs as I honestly think I've bitten off more than I can chew!

Are the tubolito road tubes worth trying? 38g vs ~108g for my current butyl tubes.

Or is latex at around ~75g per tube a better option? I'll be in the saddle for 10+ hours if PSI loss is an issue.

If anyone can recommend a specific make and model of their favourite tubes I'd appreciate it. I'm using 38mm rims so need >60mm stems.

I've got disc wheels so no worries about heat buildup on rims. Tyres are GP4000 if that matters. I'm 68kg and not a crazy aggressive descender. I'm already stick-thin so losing body weight isn't a realistic option

Thanks

[donald]

I have had very good luck with mine, using them for about a year now, many miles on them only a few punctures.

[velov]

Have you used the repair patches? Might try the tubes if the repair kit works.

[Stickman]

Thanks, I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of them, plus the patch kit. User reviews tend to be either "brilliant!" or "rubbish!" so fingers crossed I'm in the first category and not the latter....

I may save them for hill rides and just commute and do flat group rides on my normal tubes

[TobinHatesYou]

Tubolito's best trait is how small it packs down. At the very least it would make a decent addition to an emergency kit. Other than that, if I were still using tubes, I'd probably be using the Vittoria/Silca latex/graphene tubes that lose less air over time...has anyone actually tested this?

[desperado95219]

I bought 4 tubolitos and had two flats in two weeks. (One very dangerous on a fast downhill). I also bought a patch kit but haven't tried to patch. I think they are every bit as susceptible to punctures as butyl tubes. I believe I wasted my money.

[colagreek]

Love mine, disc carbon rims. Not sure I would use them with rum brakes though.

[Stickman]

I bought 4 tubolitos and had two flats in two weeks. (One very dangerous on a fast downhill). I also bought a patch kit but haven't tried to patch. I think they are every bit as susceptible to punctures as butyl tubes. I believe I wasted my money.

Were the flats from manufacturing faults eg split along the seams/valve, or normal road debris punctures?

[pdlpsher1]

I'm using the Silca latex tubes. However I have no way to test air leakage rate on those against a baseline. They leak between 5-15psi a day depending on temperature. When very cold (say 20F) they lose very little air, less than 10psi a day. Put the bike inside the house they leak 15-20psi a day.

To the OP. I'd focus on rolling resistance rather than weight. Weight is pretty much irrelevent when compared to RR. RR has a much bigger effect on your performance. I would recommend Conti GP5K and Vittoria latex tubes for the best performance.

[superdx]

After using these for about 2 years I'm going back to butyl or latex. Every one of the tubos I bought developed slow leaks over time, the material just seems to degrade. Soaking in water can't even find the hole. They're quite pricey and don't have the lowest RR, and while the weight savings is nice they're just not worth it to replace again and again.

[aeroisnteverything]

I think it'd be good to keep this thread alive for those with experience of using tobolitos, or also Revoloop. The weight savings is measurable, and RR (if we take their testing at face value) seems comparable to light butyl or better.

Latex is great, but to me the air leakage makes it a bit of a challenge to use on a daily basis. Also, I don't know for example how triathletes that have to set up a bike the night before in T1 would go with latex. Or in a long event/grand fondo, if you really care about setting air pressure precisely - with latex you'd need to take into account a potential 10 psi loss over the course of the event alone, which is a lot.

For practical purposes, if you are using tubes, it seems to me that light butyl (Conti race light or Specialized equivalent) is the best of all worlds - at least until revoloop or tubolito establish themselves as a realiable alternative. 70g weight, small RR penalty over latex (1w at 30 kph, according to Jarno), and reliable. YMMV obviously.

[blaugrana]

Latex is great, but to me the air leakage makes it a bit of a challenge to use on a daily basis. Also, I don't know for example how triathletes that have to set up a bike the night before in T1 would go with latex.

I suppose they just overinflate a bit, because in less than a day the pressure loss won't be massive. You could even measure the pressure loss over that time to get it where you want at the start of the race.

[WorkonSunday]

After using these for about 2 years I'm going back to butyl or latex. Every one of the tubos I bought developed slow leaks over time, the material just seems to degrade. Soaking in water can't even find the hole. They're quite pricey and don't have the lowest RR, and while the weight savings is nice they're just not worth it to replace again and again.

partially echo my experience but mine is only with the super light version. the rear wheel holds the air quite well almost butyl like, but the front wheel leaks air almost as fast a latex ones i have on other bikes.

[robertbb]

Latex is great, but to me the air leakage makes it a bit of a challenge to use on a daily basis.

For practical purposes, if you are using tubes, it seems to me that light butyl (Conti race light or Specialized equivalent) is the best of all worlds - at least until revoloop or tubolito establish themselves as a realiable alternative. 70g weight, small RR penalty over latex (1w at 30 kph, according to Jarno), and reliable. YMMV obviously.

Who's Jarno?

[Spurdo]

Latex is great, but to me the air leakage makes it a bit of a challenge to use on a daily basis.

For practical purposes, if you are using tubes, it seems to me that light butyl (Conti race light or Specialized equivalent) is the best of all worlds - at least until revoloop or tubolito establish themselves as a realiable alternative. 70g weight, small RR penalty over latex (1w at 30 kph, according to Jarno), and reliable. YMMV obviously.

Who's Jarno?

Jarno Bierman is the man behind https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/