jideta

I was a skeptic.
Changing tubes to latex makes a difference?
Really?

First of all, the Challenge Strada Bianca open tubulars are just that: a challenge to install.
I had to use all my Jedi skills plus some talc and hand sanitizer to muscle them tires on.
Take you time and take a breath.

Then the latex tubes.
Then don't want to cooperate either.

Between the tires and the tube, boy, not something I'd want to do every day.

First I installed the tires with butyl tubes.
Seemed to make a difference in rolling resistance (rr) as effort seemed to go down a bit.
I didn't think the ride was any smoother but large bumps did seem more muted.
Hard turns felt more neutral; with my Marathon Supremes I always felt a bit of oversteer when cornering.

Then the latex went in.
Again, I was a skeptic but when I started to roll out, you could feel the difference right away.
Felt like riding on carpet without the the drag.
So smooth on grass, I know now why cross folks go with latex.
Rolling resistance again felt a bit better. Almost like using a lower gear with the same amount of effort.
Tests say you pick up about 5 watts per tire and I believe it! Especially important when you are only putting out like 50w.

Is it worth it?
Not sure.
I think if you ride fairly flat free, it might be. You wouldn't worry too much about replacing tubes etc.
Will it work on all tires?
I would think that if you are on decent high thread count tires, you will feel a difference.
I looked at it this way: I got over $2k in the bicycle, so $15 bucks a tube is like chump change.
I mean your tires are the only thing separating you from the road; the only contact point.
Why skimp there?
One of my wheel sets alone is like $900 and I'm going to worry about which $50 tire to use? After thinking about it, spending $75 a wheel made more sense than any other $75 I spent on my bicycle.
In fact next time around, tires and tubes are the first thing I'm going to upgrade!
I am a latex convert.
YMMV

chas58

Nice Writeup. Looks like you found the sweet spot.
(just don't try the GP5000 tubless - that will take your resistance below 9 watts. wouldn't want that. ;-)

There are some good tire options these days, and the data to back up that seat of the pants feel!

ksryder

Nice. I have some 33mm Stradas that for some reason i've never had a problem installing, but from what I've heard from others the narrower sizes are a lot harder to install.

BTW have you measured how wide the 30mm version actually measures on your rims? I have a road bike I think I can stuff 30s on but haven't tried yet.

tiredhands 

The hype is real. I'm feeling fancy and free with these Strada Bianca tubulars. Haven't tried them on gravel yet, but I've shaved minutes off my commute. I got a big bottle of Caffelatex which should (hopefully!) keep the latex tubes rolling for a good while. Life is too short to ride harsh tires!
Edit to clarify - I've got old school tubulars, not the "open tubulars." They're made with latex tubes.

Rides4Beer

I like the latex tubes in my road race wheels, can def feel the difference. But tubeless offroad has been fantastic, not even gonna mess with tubes for gravel. And I would never run a wheel/tire combo that was that difficult to mount. I haven't had to do anything with my gravel tires yet, so I don't know how they'll be (shop mounted them when they built the bike), but I have zero issue with Conti's on all of my other wheelsets.

fronesis

You are saying you put latex tubes inside a tubular tire?

From the photo that looks like a clincher to me. But maybe I'm missing something....

ksryder

Open tubular. It's an industry/marketing term for basically a really plush clincher.

fronesis

Thanks for the clarification. I thought I was relatively up to date on tube/tire standards and nomenclature, but I'd literally never heard of that. (Sounds confusing to call a clincher a type of "tubular" but oh well..)

jideta

I was a bit apprehensive about riding these tires based upon how difficult they were to mount initially.
By the way, the tires come totally flat, they aren't molded like regular clinchers. Takes a bit of 'technique.'
After the second time (installing the latex tubes) things went a bit easier.
Definitely not your normal flat change out. I'm gonna have to take a seat to change things out even with a butyl tube.
Folks have said though that the longer the tires are mounted, the more they hold shape.
Right now I'm running them at 80psi, gonna slowly back that down to see if it makes things more plushy.

With my cheap calipers on Crostini 3.1s they measure out at 30.5mm.

Next up: I got me some Turbo Cottons for the road bike.

ksryder

Good luck with the Turbos. I've had more than a normal amount of punctures with them.

HTupolev

I've personally found the ride quality advantages of latex to be wildly exaggerated. But I do use it, on both my gravel bike and some of my road bikes. The acoustics alone are worth it.

26er latex tubes in my 2" supple slicks...



Very few still exist in the modern epoch, you can't have mine.

I can't use skinny Challenge cottons for a gravel bike around here, unless I stick to the well-groomed roads. One of my friends tried it on our double-track stuff, and he got four flats in as many miles.

It's easier to glue the tread to a cotton casing by pressing them together on a flat surface, than by trying to do it against a rounded surface or with the casing inflated.

With vulcanized tires, the layers of the tire are bonded inside of a mold, pressed in place by a silicon bladder. There's not much reason to make a flat mold, so they don't.

shoota 

Latex totally lives up to the hype. But I can't imagine using them on gravel.

I'll take my almost flat-proof tubeless setup all day long.