Gramercy

I just bought Vuelta Corsa Light wheels and am going to buy Conti GP 4000 tires, but need tubes as well. My LBS sells them for like 10 bucks. I've read that some are a good amount lighter than others, but I've also read some people on here buy them in bulk for like 3 bucks a piece. Is there any specific one I should look for or where to get them online? I used the search function and couldn't find much.

seymour1910

you will find lots of opinions about anything in the 41. IMO basic Kenda tubes do just fine. I buy them six at a time off ebay for $4.16 each.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-NEW-700-x-...item20d8ea95ba

3alarmer 

...the on sale prices at Performance are competitive, and usually yield decent results.

Homebrew01

Whatever is on sale. I never really notice what brand they are.

dralways

Great budget choice on those wheels especially with one of those sales Nashbar offers a few times a month (now). I have them on my bike.. huge improvement over stock, compares in weight to many $1500 carbon wheelsets, very robust as I rode them when I weighed 210 on some nasty beat up roads daily, aero spokes, etc.

Get tubes on sale, $3-4 locally and online or order some gear from JensonUSA and add a few of their $2.99 18-25c tubes your cart. Free shipping on orders over $50. I've read in other threads the only difference noticed from tube weight comes from 18-25c tubes vs 25-32c tubes or rubber vs latex. :shrug: I've tried different big name brands and never notice a difference. Wheels/tires are a completely different story!

gc3

Get the round ones...

Homebrew01

With various rim depths available now, make sure you get tubes with a long enough stem. Better a bit too long than too short.

DXchulo

https://www.pricepoint.com/Brand/Pric...Point-Tube.axd

Under $3 if you buy more than 5. Quality is good. I use them on my road bike and my commuter.

JensonUSA is another good option.

Gramercy

Last time I checked the Conti GP 4000's cost about 35 bucks on sale, now there is an 'S' brand, and it's 60 bucks? Any idea where to get the regular ones or have they been replaced? I thought the best place to buy them was on performance bike.

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rpenmanparker 

The "S" means the black chili compound, marketing-speak for a higher performance rubber. It used to be only available on GP 4000 black tires, but I think it is now available in colors. If so, I imagine it would replace the non-S. Nevertheless the S and non-S tires were always about the same price. I don't know when you could get them for $35 at Performance. That is a real price, yes, but in my experience only from Great Britain via the internet/ebay. Or rarely from an individual seller on ebay. In any case you should be able to get the S type for that now just as always, perhaps if you wait for a sale at PBK, Wiggle, or the like. If the color you want is available in "S", that is the way to go; just look online for the right price, $80 or less per pair, delivered.

Chief Brody

I just ordered 4 from Price Point for under $3 each. They were running a free shipping deal, so I figured it was worth a shot. I will report back if I run into any issues with them.

Looigi

It's mainly a matter of subjective preference than objective performance. I like short stems, without threads and lightweight butyl tubes. Michelin Aircomp meets these criteria. I get em for $7 ea, and since I keep patching them, the cost is totally negligible. In my use, lightweight tubes flat no more frequently heavier tubes.

Gramercy

Pro bike kit has the GP 4000's for 10% off already reduced prices so I got 2 for $65. Not too shabby. Their inner tubes are all in the 8-10 dollar range so I'll get them someplace else.

pgjackson

Tubes are probably the last thing you should concern yourself with, especially worrying about the weight. Get the cheapest ones you can find and put some tube liners in your tires. That will make the biggest difference. And, no...liners will not effect ride quality despite what others might say. Liners might be the single greatest thing I have added to my bike.

StanSeven

I don't understand how liners might be the single greatest thing you can add to a bike unless you are getting lots of flats.

Tests show the difference in rolling resistence between good road tires are as much as 7 watts. The difference is much larger between the best performance tire and the worse tire, but I excluded the really poor ones. I would think liners would completely eliminate rolling resistence advantages

Carbonfiberboy 

Yeah, liners really suck. I rode my first double with them because I'd heard that people had been having a lot of flats on this particular ride. That was a mistake.

Tubes vary a lot in quality. Since the general globalization of manufacture, name doesn't matter as much any more. Some split on the seams, most commonly the valves pull out. Also just plain manufacturing defects - holes in the vulcanization around the valve, defective valves, valves with holes in the stem, etc. I just try different tubes until I find some that last. Michelin Aircomp are my current faves, but who knows, maybe next week they'll switch production to a cheaper supplier and the next batch will suck. Lighter tubes do make a difference, not the weight so much, but to rolling resistance. They all puncture about the same.

rumrunn6

I like buying tubes from my LBS. I feel like it's one more bit of business I can give them. saving a couple dollars on something I don't buy often doesn't seem to matter. I think quality and stem length are more important than price.

pgjackson

Please explain.

popeye

What you say is true if you are riding a beach cruiser.

Harun

No matter what brand I make sure the valve is fully threaded and long enough to reach the pump-head. I've found that presta tubes with only the end threaded tend to not attach to pumps as securely as fully threaded ones.

Carbonfiberboy 

I was about 1 mph slower at the same effort. Over a 200 mile distance, that really sucked. Try taking those liners out and run good tires like Conti 4000s or Michelin PRO4 Endurance. There's a reason that folks on this forum advise using tires like these.

pgjackson

I seriously doubt that was because of tire liners. Did you have any flats?

pgjackson

You probably think your non-areo seat post and hub skewers are hold you back as well.

bigfred 

I'm one of the few who finds value in name brand tubes. After suffering repeated and various issues (splits on mould seems, leaks at valve bases, etc.) with a variety of unheard of brands from the local bike shops I started using Michelin and Vittoria. I can't say I "never get flats", but, I've worn out a couple rear tires that didn't suffer a single flat and struck road debris hard enough to break casing cords in another, again without flatting. I'll happily pay the couple extra dollars for michelin airstops for the durability and peace of mind they provide me. In this regard the difference in cost between "cheap" and "quality" is so small that I don't see any reason not to spend it. If, you're running anything larger than a 23mm tire, get the 25-32mm tubes. Again, a little tiny bit more weight, but, results in rubber that isn't stretched as thin and is going to be less likely to rupture or fail.

popeye

Your physic abilities fail, all my bikes have aero seat posts and have either latex or light weight tubes. You can feel the difference. You don't put heavy tubes in Conti supersonics.