RockiesDad

These are like 3-4X more expensive the the plane old tubes but was wondering if its worth it or not. How much lighter are these and can you repair them the normal way if you have a puncture? Is going tubeless a better option if you are trying to save some rotational weight?

elquesifilma

the first time i heard about them was a french dude in our ride bragging about his new tubes, and 10 minutes later had a flat.. haha, kinda funny, I think they are too expensive.

rickpaulos

The big hassle is latex tubes lose air so fast you have to inflate them nearly every day. I suppose there are riders that think that is okay but what a pain. Maybe for racing where you would check the pressure anyhow but not for commuting and certainly not for long distance touring. When I was racing, almost every tubular tire had latex tubes. It was nice to get some Panaracers with butyl tubes on the training wheels so you didn't have to pump up the tires for every training ride.

I don't remember the brand but one company used to sell "paperweight" or "paperlight" inner tubes for clincher tires. Butyl but made with a thinner layer to cut weight. All tubes are not the same. Some brands use thinner material than others. Or you could run a thinner tube and let the air pressure stretch it thinner inside the tire.

Other rotational weigh reducing techniques:
aluminum spoke nipples
lighter rims
lighter tires
thinner spokes
smaller wheels
skinnier tires
skinnier rims

IMO the only use for tubless is pro mtb racing where a flat will cost you the race and maybe your career.

Hiro11

Latex tubes are more about rolling resistance reduction than weight reduction.

Maxacceleration

My kid raced with Michelin latex tubes & Michelin Pro 2/3/4 service course tires. Great setup & never a flat.
His training wheelset used butyl tubes and same Michelin Pro tires. Never a problem there either.
The best clincher tires & latex tubes get you as close to tubulars as possible - the ultimate race tire (my kid also had a set of sewup wheels).
We/I are in the habit of checking our tire pressure every ride. Its what you do for the best ride ...and dialed in air pressure. YMMV
For touring & recreational riding there is no need for latex tubes IMO. He's done racing now and no more latex tubes lately for us.

FeltF2Tarmac

Latex and Vittoria Open Corsa CXIII's,great combination. I see people riding with 110-120psi and with this setup I can run 75f 85r and it's a smooth fast ride and I don't flat much. Seemed like higher pressures were prone to flating more. I do check pressure every ride but I do that with standard tubes as well. Not a real inconvenience. They are more money but I find it worth while for my needs.

pholuvr

This strange comment makes it sound like you don't have much real mountain biking experience.

Tubeless advantages:

- You can run much lower pressure, increasing traction and reducing rolling resistance.
- Pointy things, especially Goat Heads. Not an issue with tubeless. Buzz kill when running tubes.
- a little bit lighter

drlogik 

Latex tubes really don't do much for you unless you are riding really high quality tires and/or the "open tubular" type tires. In those cases then the biggest advantage is road feel followed by puncture resistance in my opinion. I said resistance not puncture proof. Latex will stretch around rocks and road debris better than butyl but within reason. Hit a golf ball size rock at 20 mph the tire will be your lesser worry. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? For me yes. I love the road feel and the sound they give the tires.

bikepro

Latex tubes are not lighter. The advantage of latex is that it's more puncture resistant and is more supple. If you combine a latex tube with a high quality Open Tubular, the ride quality is as good as a tubular. Even better than a cheap tubular.

The down side: More expensive, must be inflated before each ride and easier to damage when installing. I always use talc when installing them.

Since many sealants are latex based, they also work with latex tubes. I use Vittoria PitStop with good results.

pholuvr

Always amused when I read this canards.

Talcum Powder for Tubes and Tires by Jobst Brandt

Chandne

I did not realize that latex tubes were more puncture resistant. That's good to know. I do check air pressure before every ride.

T Stew

When I ordered some last year they were just a couple bucks more expensive, not really a big deal IMO. Watch the sales at places like ribble. Also I have since bought lightweight butyl tubes that were just as light as latex, so weight isn't necessarily an advantage.

I check and top off my tires pretty much every ride so don't see a big difference there either, but I suppose the daily commuter that doesn't want to have to do that early in the morning in a rush to leave for work would be a negative. And larger / lower pressure commuter setup probably does often go for a much longer time between top offs than skinnier road tires. Probably wouldn't want to use em for touring either.

CrowSeph

On my mtb i have the michelin protek max since some month , i need to admin they works good but not for too long.
I used for a while and the pression remain perfect (i belive also the tube self fixed some puncture) , when i press the head of the valve a bit of lattex came out and that make me feels the tube as working. After some month the lattex never came up anymore and the tube is loosing pressure , so that was not worthed at all.
I mean you can use in a race to prevent punctures but they are really heavy compared to normal tubes. I'm thinking to replace with a normal tube soon becouse since the lattex become dry and the tube is not effective as in the beggining. Also the valve head is a bit bended and i belive thats the main reason to the preassure leak.

That tube cost me 10€ (11$) and the try was worth, but i'll not came back and use that product again.

Clipped_in

With the above-mentioned pros and cons in mind, I race on latex and everyday train on butyl. There is a detectable road feel difference with latex tubes and good tires. However, I train on tires made for puncture resistance and durability and butyl tubes are fine for that. Plus, patching butyl tubes is more straight forward because commercially available high-quality patches are for butyl not latex.

cloozoe

I ride latex. Upside: lower rolling resistance, more comfortable, better puncture resistance. Downside: pump them up before every ride. If you can live with the latter, it's a no-brainer to me. As to expense, I can usually find them on sale for about $10 apiece, vs $5-$6 for a decent butyl. I get about 4 flats a year, so even if I don't repair them (although I do) the additional expense would be about $20 annually. I'm not made of money, but I can live with that.

T Stew

Just a quick check showed Michillen and Vittoria latex tubes for $8.15 at Ribble and I have seen them cheaper.

Sy Reene

Any thoughts on butyl vs latex relative ability to not pinch flat. Above it's been posted that latex are more puncture resistant, but I think it's also been said that they're a little more prone to flats.. or maybe not.. but that they are more susceptible to damage (how?) during installation. Kinda difficult to get a definitive read on this thread's sentiment.

One other question, as I haven't seen or handled a latex tube: do they generally take less space or more than a lighter weight butyl tube in a saddle bag/pocket?

indyfabz

Anyone using lamb skin "tubes?"

SpeshulEd 

I've used latex tubes for a few years now and find they offer better flat protection over normal tubes, roll smoother, and are lighter. For me, the cost was worth it on my "fast" bike. Downsides are they cost more (but really, you can find them for $7-$8 if you watch sales and buy in bulk), installing them is a bit more finicky, and you have to pump them up daily - but seriously, you should be checking your air before every ride anyway.

That said, I have since switched to tubeless and prefer that to tubes.

rickpaulos

yes and no. The bulk varies with brand for all tubes. The latex tubes will unspring easier than butyl given a chance which makes stuffing them back in the bag annoying.

I just tossed a bunch of latex surgical gloves that were sitting on my basement work bench for a couple of years. They were still in the factory waxed paper covered with talc and they were rotted beyond any use. Yet I often reinstall butyl inner tubes from 1960's Schwinns with no issues.

Seattle Forrest

No. That's what committed relationships are for.

KBentley57

Just to throw out a data point:

I've been running latex tubes with CGP4KS2's for about 10K miles without a flat. Same tubes, in the second set of tires. Besides, they'll save you nearly 2W! .

And, they feeeeel nice.

AlexCyclistRoch

I've just gotten back to riding with latex tubed tubulars with a new set of Challenge tires that were a great price on EBay. Excellent ride, lightweight, and so far very puncture-resistant. Yeah, they go flat in about 2 days....

Seattle Forrest

Latex tubes are not recommended for use in our clincher wheels. Latex is very inconsistent in comparison to butyl, and doesn't hold up as well in all of our internal testing.

https://enve.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ar...lincher-Wheels

SpeshulEd 

Weird, I never had any issues with latex in my enves.