Latex tubes
 

About a year ago I was trying to find the most cost effective method of losing weight on my bikes. Tubes topped the list.

I started using latex tubes. They worked fine in my smooth rim bed modern Campagnolo Zonda wheelset. I exploded 3 in my carbon rims until I changed the rim tape and haven't had issues until this weekend when the stem interface decided to let loose. Then a new tube exploded (pinch flat?). I patched it and it seems to be ok overnight.

I just tried to inflate two latex tubes in my Sun M13II rims with velox cloth rim tape. Both exploded a few minutes after inflation.

I think I am over latex tubes. I have inflated and changed butyl tubes on hundreds of different wheels without issue and now I am blowing tires off rims with the latex and spending $10-20/tube for the pleasure. Inflating them is like Russian roulette.

I think I am going to revert back to lightweight butyl tubes and call it a day.

This sounds like my adventure with now-defunct Performance Lunar-Light butyl tubes! I tried and gave up on them perhaps 25 years ago. The attractive thing about them was road tubes weighing something like 30 grams each.

Sorry about your bad luck with the latex tubes. Like you, I first started using them last year. I blew one multiple times during initial installation on my Velocity A23 rims with Velox rim tape and some tight fitting tires. I trashed only one tube outright due to a large gash. The other punctures I was actually able to repair using a normal butyl tube Rema Tip Top patches. The A23’S are now clad with 25mm Challenge Criterium open tubulars and have a tubular like ride - they really seem to improve the ride of my aluminum Flyte SRS-3.

Once I got them installed finally, they have run well for me. I have a second set of latex tubes on Mavic Open Pro rims with Velox rim tape and Tufo Calibra clincher tires in 23mm width. They have been running well too! These are on my titanium Veritas bike.

Probably now I will be jinxed now that I have bragged about my latex tube success with these 2 wheelsets. For the A23 wheels I did switch out the Velox rim tape for 2 thin layers of “Kapton” tubeless rim tape. This made mounting the tight Challenge tires less pinchy, allowing me to shift one bead into the middle rim channel during mounting. Getting the 2nd bead on is quite a challenge but all the practice I got did teach me some important mounting tips.

One tip is to use some thick leather gloves and try to roll the bead on sans tire levers if possible. Or, if you must - use one or 2 tire levers, use the leather gloves for the final popping on of the bad. Also, I found some Schwalbe flat tire levers that are flat and wide, much more confidence inspiring and user friendly to slide one under a tight bead with less chance of pinching. Also, it goes without saying that you always want to inspect the bead carefully on both sides before inflation to ensure that no pink flaps of latex tube are poking through. I also use a generous amount of talcum powder and do the preliminary inflation in steps - soft inflation to 25 psi or so, deflate, re-inflate to 50, deflate, mount on bike then inflate to final pressure (and say a little prayer to saint Vittoria -LoL).

On you Campagnolo Zonda rims have you inspected the valve leak to see why it failed? Just curious. I am extra gentle when I lock my Topeak foot pump locking chuck onto my presta valves.

Weird, I've been using them for years with no issues in a multitude of bikes with various wheel types. Do you partially inflate the new tube and then push the bead off the rim all the way around to make sure nothing is pinched? Do you make sure not to have any of the inner tube in the way as you initially set the bead? Do you do all the mounting by handing using lubricant on the last bit of the tire if tight?

I will say that I only use Vittoria latex tubes and have no real issues with them.

I have had mixed results with them. Use latex in front only. Yes they are very light and have a lively feel.

is it possible to repair / patch small leaks and pin holes in a latex tube ?

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA USA

I put latex tubes in when i got a set of Corsa G.......road for 100 miles....then the front blewup and knocked the tire of the rim. I was going slow at the time so no problems, but if would have been a big crash is i was going fast.... so i have gone to light butly tubes.


https://biketubebrand.com/road-tubes/road-tube

I suggest you sell all your bikes but the cheapest, slowest one, then ride alot, hard.:innocent:

Latex Tubes......
 

They are very unforgiving of being stretched out to a tire larger than their intended diameter..So make sure you match their Diameter with the intended tire to use.. As always they loose pressure overnight so reinflation BEFORE each ride is required,
.
I've been using them in my Carbon Fiber BOYDS Racing for a number of years and have yet to have them "Blown Up" !

enjoy the ride !!

The easiest, cheapest way to not have to work too hard and actually get fitter to ride faster.

I saw some really ultra-light tubes recently. They were orange in color. They were expensive, as far as tubes go (~$35 each).

ETA - I found them: Tubolito, 23 g in 700C road tire size (disk brake only) and 38 g for rim brakes, as opposed to ~100 g for thin butyl and 62 g for latex.

Try a tire bead jack like the Kool Stop instead of tire levers to mount tight fitting tires. Practically eliminates the risk of pinching tubes while mounting.

Schwalbe and Conti road bike tires fit so tightly on my rims that I can't mount them by hand. No amount of lube tricks will help. After pinching a couple of new tubes while trying to use plastic tire levers I ordered the Kool Stop bead jack. Never had another pinched tube. I even carry the bead jack in my jersey pocket on rides. Doesn't weigh much, just a little bulky, but no worse than the Topeak RaceRocket HP I also carry in the same middle jersey pocket. And it saves a lot of aggravation if I flat on the road. That's happened a couple of times and the KS bead jack earned it's place in my pocket.

Some users will modify the Kool Stop bead jack to be a little smaller -- cutting off part of the handle, or using a moto tool to grind down some of the material. I'd rather have the full tool for the easy leverage. Especially in winter with cold hands and arthritis aches in my thumbs and wrists.

And I doubt I'd bother with latex tubes unless I was running tubular tires. Probably won't do that either. Decent clinchers and ordinary butyl tubes probably get me as fast as I'm gonna get with this engine. I did buy a couple of Conti Race Light tubes but user reviews are pretty negative -- many reports of immediate tube failures, usually around the stem. I'll try 'em before deciding whether to buy more.