Nice overview. I've been on latex for more than 15 years. You can definitely feel the suppleness compared to butyl. Because of that I also think you get slightly better grip. It also has better puncture protection. I've come back from rides on a couple of occasions with green latex just visible through the tyre! The extreme elasticity of latex allows it to stretch over things and into gaps to a far greater extent before they eventually rupture. Tubeless may be better still, but the goo, the obligatory changing of the goo (at least yearly), the tragedy of leaving a wheel unturned/unridden for a while... it's a bridge too far for me.
Any upgrade is fun ! Whatever means you can’t wait to get back on your bike works for me. I’m going to try latex with my GP 4 seasons after your video mate. Cheers.
After 2 years of riding tubeless I switched to Vittoria latex innertubes last year. They’re great. No more maintenance, even lower rolling resistance and lower weight. No punctures so far, but when it happens, I’ll just put a new (butyl) tube in instead of having to deal with the stinky and slippery mess called sealant at the side of the road. Only downsides are that you need to fill them up before every ride and you’ll have to be very careful when installing them. That’s why my spare is a simple butyl one. I don’t want to deal with setting up a latex tube at the side of the road.
I've been running latex for a couple years. I'd be pumping my tyres anyway, just to make sure I'm running the right pressure, so losing air is no big deal for me.
Unless you go somewhere with your bike for more than 2 days in which case you need to make sure you take a good pump with you. That's why Conti Supersonics may be the best of both worlds (especially when fitted with lots of talc powder...).
@@ldavid2 I suppose it has to do with the kind of vibrations they dampen. I find myself quite sensitive to setup changes, however I didn't find any difference between a low-end alloy seatpost, and the canyon/ergon two-piece carbon seatpost. If I had to guess, I'd say different types of pavement make the bike vibrate in different ways, the same way some components address some types of vibrations and not others. Where I ride, (SW Ireland) the pavement its extremely gritty and really low pressures are a must (10~15psi lower than on other places).
I recently switched from butyl to latex inner tubes and I can definitely feel the difference even without a power meter. I am almost certainly heavier than David (I weigh 80 kg) and I therefore need higher pressure in my tyres. So at the 90-100 psi I need for my 25mm tyres the difference in ride quality is more significant I would assume. When using latex tubes the tyres feel softer at the same pressure compared to using butyl tubes. And they are noticeably faster - Bicycle Rolling Resistance find just a 0.1W difference between the rolling resistance of a tubeless Continental 5000 TL and a Continental 5000 with a latex tube. I don't think I am ever going back to butyl tubes, unless I puncture and just need to get back home with the butyl spare I carry with me at all times. The only minor annoyance is the rate at which they lose air, so I definitely need to reinflate them up to my desired pressure before every ride.
Been over 1000km on Schwalbe Aerothan inner tubes. They ride pretty much like latex tubes, don't loose air pressure, claim to have better puncture protection and aren't that expensive (about 15€ more than latex tubes). I hope the price comes down by 20 to 30 percent compared to the current market rate. Then these thermopalst tubes turn into a real no-brainer in my opinion.
@@capcom4eva never tested tubolito so I couldn't say from my own experience. I think the main benifit over tubolito is that aerothan is alomst as fast as latex tubes. Now I'm 3000km on them, still no puncture. Not that that means anything. No clue about price. Might be up now because of covid.. I have no clue. Back then I paid 26€ eur for each tube.
Vittoria latex tubes coupled with Vittoria Pave or Corsa clincher ( both open tubular cotton walled) are a noticeable ride improvement. 25mm tyres on modest psi levels provide me with a sublime ride feel. And very very few punctures over the years which I attribute to the properties of latex, which conforms to road imperfections better than butyl.
I run latex on my trainer light weight wheels, traditional butyl on winter bike and tubeless on summer bike. I can honestly say that bang for buck the latex setup is the best. Like riding on a magic carpet! So comfy and fast. Tubeless similar feel but setup hassles and costs are the other side of it.
@@fadenseiden what's wrong with boardman? I have never heard a bad thing about them? Good value for what you pay for the name just does not have the same pedigree as other names
@@tomrachellesfirstdance7843 people are snobby about it because Halfords own the brand. They are good value bikes and a great entry level option for a lot of people.
@@TheMattist was my exact thought too just because it's halfords but to be fair I have always heard good things about boardman and of halfords are pushing cycling which they are all thumbs up from my perspective 👍
The trouble is we dont cycle in a lab where i could benefit from 8w savings, rolling resistance etc. In the real world, here on UK roads, i lose lots more than that through terrible road surfaces and shitty road maintenance! I might as well run Marathon Plus all year round!
Vittoria latex does it for me. Gone 6000km+ in a little over a year without a single flat. Only issue is, I wouldn't know how to seal a puncture on a latex tube. Rolling is great also on lower pressures.
Latex tubes are my choice for my sport bike (butyl for the commuter). One downside is that they have a tendency to fail on their own, close to the valve where you can't repair them. Fortunately that tends to happen only when you inflate them, i.e., when you are still in your garage.
You can also use tubeless sealant in vittoria latex tubes because they have a removable valve. I've used sealant in the tube to permanently repair small holes in the latex inner tube from small bits of wire that punctures my tires. I think the wire comes from people driving on completely trashed tires and small bits of the exposed steel belts come off. For me, no reason to deal with tubeless. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
Latex tubes for me and this is after doing a lot of riding on road tubeless. Disc brakes has meant that the biggest disadvantage of latex tubes, the susceptibility to heat is no longer an issue due to there being no brake track, I was always too scared to use latex tubes with carbon rim brake wheels. I'm interested to try out Aerothan tubes soon as they roll as well as latex according to Aerocoach but are lighter, retain air better and allegedly are more robust. Tubeless is king off road though.
Count me in for latex tubes as well . The reason for the red/pink/beige & green colors of latex is a visual reference to make sure you don't see a part of the thin tube in-between the clincher side wall ( inner ) and the outer hook bead of the clincher rim while mounting - black tube vs black inner tire wall would be trouble . I blew up my first latex tube due to sloppy mounting technique. have improved since my first screw up. tires should be stretched first with a butyl tube in my experience. I repair punctures with 1" round patches i cut from used latex tube and install using tubular rim cement as the adhesive sandwiched between two 1.5" cardboard squares to let the repair patch dry flat held tight by a C-clamp overnight. it works
I wonder how the weight difference can be factored in to the consideration of which is "best"? The latex tube might be a few watts faster at 40kph, but is it a few watts slower when accelerating the wheel up to speed (as happens repeatedly on a hard climb or sprint when watts are at a premium)? I suspect that the weight difference to the entire bike will have a marginal effect, but the fact that it's on the rim could make a difference.
Tubeless is not fun tbh. If it doesn’t seal then you need to take off and stuff a tube in. Resulting in a very messy wheel ( which can stain if you don’t get it off) and to say sticky hands is an understatement . All that in the middle of nowhere in the dark. Nope I hate it had enough of it . And it doesn’t seem to work well with road tiers above 60psi. Latex tubes for me the plastic ones are just to expensive and cant be repaired at least not well and reliably any how.
I’ve run tubeless since March 2020, no issues till April this year. Been through three tyres and it’s getting very expensive now, tempted to go back to inner tubes as just so much easier.
@@davidarthur the Mavic one that came fitted lasted for a year. Hit a big piece of glass and caught the side wall sealant wouldn’t save that. Second Perili, kid you not I caught the inside of a pot hole and put another hole in side wall. Replaced that with the third tire, putting it on a Mavic rim was really stiff to much force from lbs and they’ve torn the outer and inner casing so it just bulged when seating in one area. They are in the process of replacing it, all three been back wheel. Bad luck more than anything as I do like them but at £55 per tyre not sure I can face that again.
@@chrisburton4694 Inner tubes aren't going to save you on a cut sidewall right? You'll still have to replace the tire. In all likelihood you saved yourself money running tubeless. You probably would have had to replace the tire and tube if you had been running inner tubes in those scenarios.
when i raced in the 70s we used tubulars of course. they had a LOT of punctures. now i ride a 2011 specialized roubaix. two wheelsets. ultegra with specialized roubaix and butyl tubes are my "standard" wheels. This year i added a (used) Giant PSL1 wheelset, which seems a bit faster. Yesterday I mounted new Continental 5000 clinchers (hard to put on, but i figured it out with help from youtube) and Vittoria laytex tubes. It is probably more the tires, but i definitely noticed a speed gain. However, I am old and slow. lol. The continental tires have a GREAT road grip and i am pretty sure make up most of the gains. As far as pumping up tires before rides... i grew up that way, no big deal. Really prefer the laytex tubes.
I've done just over 3000mikes on tubolito tubes and no punctures so far and acceleration is great and climbing is so much faster they are not cheap but I had to try and I am not disapionted
Hi All, What are the critical values I need to look when i purchase a latex tube? I have a 32mm wide tyre, do I need to look for a number somewhere on the spec written 32 or at least 32? So for e.g. 26-36? Thank you! Do I need to fit the inner tube against the rim dimensions or against the tyre? So for e.g. I have a 622x19C ETRTO measure, with a 32mm tyre. Is this 30/38-622 value is good for me (one of the latex tube I found against my set-up)?
Great video. Would love to see tubless vs. latex. I also think that if weight is your thing, then conti supersonic at 50 grams for half the price as the tubolito has to be shown as well (I know it was mentioned)
Thanks for the video. Indeed, not yet ready to move to TL as just too heavy vs latex for minimal gains with all the fuss to keep TL’s optimal through the season when not riding daily (I.e. rain and dry bikes combo with less frequent outings on the dry machine 😢). Would love to see a TL va latex video though 😅
I like and use schwalbe extra light butyl - 75 grams To repair tubolitos you definitely need a press holding the patch while drying and patches may still come off. The patch adhesion will never be as good as in butyl. But that’s my experience.
I had a similar issue with an Aerothan, Schwalbe advised to thoroughly clean the area with an alcohol wipe if possible. Since doing that the patch has held perfectly (about 2000km), hopefully the same goes for Tubolio?
Just to update you tubolito since your post updated their patch kit, which never really worked well for me from a glueless patch to one with a special tpu glue and a patch from another tubolito tube. It works far better now bonding to seal punctures, although it is not an instant on the road patch, but an at home 30 min fix.
One thing to worry about latex is that it bursts lole ballons. I had an accident due to sudden burst in the latex tire and dare not use every since. Anyone experiencing that?
Interesting! It would have been good if you put a lightweight butyl tube in the mix and could tell us the difference in watts. Is there any difference between latex and lightweight butyl? I want to run latex tubes, but not with my rim brake bike. I choose life! And tubeless is not the fastest rolling setup as everyone has been saying.
Been riding latex and rim brakes for over 5 yrs in all temperatures and riding the brakes on long descents stuck behind tour buses as well. Never had one single problem. Give them a go. I think if you don't pump them up to rock hard psi you will be just fine.
@@capcom4eva It can handle whatever psi you want really, taking into account tyres max psi recommendation or rim max psi. 70psi should be fine. I'm 80kg and ride with 75 front, 85 rear on 25mm . I only choose these numbers for comfort. I don't live in a hot climate with long alpine type descents so I'm not dragging the brakes for long periods or overheating my rims. I have latex on alu and carbon clinchers. Never had a problem and rarely had a puncture in 5 yrs.
Sorry forgot to add, the risk is that latex can blow out at extreme heat temperatures but I live in an area of rolling hills so don't fear them. Plus my psi isn't to the max, so there's plenty room for heat expansion.
Thanks David. Don't have tubeless wheels yet so I have been thinking about this for awhile, talk about good timing. Do you think the latex are more prone to punctures than the butyl? Cheers
The latex are more prone to pinch flats when installing them because the tubes are not as "sturdy". I carry a butyl as my spare when I'm riding. But in terms of punctures while riding, that is more a function of the tire than the tube. I hope I'm not putting a jinx on myself, but I've been riding the same set of latex tubes since the beginning of last year's riding season.
Anyone noticed latex inners sound different? After changing butyl for latex (with GP5000 tires) the rolling sound at higher speeds (30km/h+) seems more ‘sticky’ or ‘thicker’ to me. More engaging as to say.
That's because outside of acceleration, latex just have a lower friction coefficient vs TPU, making it better overall if all you care about is speed. Even considering the relatively difference between tubes, what matters more is the relative weight between 2 wheel setups, where the weight savings matter less.
Yes, I believe the common way to do it is to make patches from an old latex inner tube. Which, of course won't work before you've trashed one latex tube, or simply buy an extra tube to use as your repair kit.
You can also buy the latex tubes that FMB uses. Not cheap, of course, but compared to Ceramic Speed upgrades, trivial, and the comfort... Personally, I enjoy every second I ride on FMB tubulars. Nothing else feels as good, and it's not even close. Are they the fastest? Dunno, don't care. I ride to enjoy the ride, and they tick all the boxes, except affordability.
tubeless on my gravelbike, latex Vittoria for my race bike but Ridenow TPU as a spare tube. Not only for the weight but they pack so compact and that is a real advantage.
Yes please do a tubeless versus tube setup.I gave up decades ago with latex,too expensive,too fragile,loose air quickly. OK when protected inside a tubular tyre until punctured,then sealant can leak out.I have kept 1 set of Tubs.Otherwise running clinchers with butyl tubes.
The plastic inner tubes take the weight down for sure. The downside is durability for the tubulitos. They don’t patch well either. I will be going tubeless now with the air liner and sealants. I recommend tubulitos for races but for training and repairing you will lose money 💰.
Latex are great other then fact you have to pump them up every ride. I find them a lot more comfy then butyl in a 28mm tyre. Tubolitos to try next but very interested in ride feel vs latex & tubolito as there it little on the internet on that comparison on ride feel. The latex vs tubeless does need to include the same pressure and then vs tubeless with the lower pressure. Thanks
Still enjoying the ride quality and precision feel of tubulars, but use top clinchers with latex tubes for solo training rides (rubber spare tubes stand up better in my saddle pouch - for emergencies).
A review between tubeless vs inner tubes would be great. Tubeless has the idea of being lightweight, but thats not true (even the sealant by itself weights more than tubolito or latex, and tubeless tyres are heavier). Few users have trouble with tubeless (try to move an used tubeless tyre to another rim); the real benefit should be road feel etc. Wonder how it performs in real world, and lab ofcourse. As i am looking for new carbon rims, i wonder to jump to tubeless or stick with innertubes.
For puncture resistance, Tubolito beats them all and is the easiest to patch. Doesn't matter how well something "rolls" if it's not rolling because it's flat. ☺
I was looking into this recently, for exactly the reasons described here - it's a cheap way to get a few extra watts. Tubolito looked good, but I ended up seeing quite a lot of people saying they were actually poor with regard to puncture resistance, and that the plastic stem holding the valve could cause problems. Hard to get really reliable info. So in the end I just stuck with butyl
@@Bellerophon17 The "issue" with the stem is that installers would blow the tube up too much and weaken the seal. I had the same issue (my mistake) and they sent me TWO new ones and told me what I did wrong. My replacements have zero issues now that I know how to install them and hold air longer than my butyl tubes unbelievably. As for their puncture resistance, they are hands down better than rubber. Anything that punctures a Tubolito is going to puncture anything, but they stay intact longer before puncturing.
@@Bellerophon17 For the record, I was pretty skeptical about them too, but with a rock solid warranty offered by them, I took the chance and now all my bikes are on Tubolitos and I saved an average of 80g per tire which is insane for $70./both.
The test by bicyclerollingresistance.com is done at 29km/h. However the gain that they measured is around 4 watts (2 watts per wheel), not 8 watts as claimed in this video.
Always used standard or light butal tubes. Keen to try the fantastic plastic now. It would be good to know 'real world' watt savings. Raced a 62km road race today and I averaged 32km, which I was happy with... No where near 45 though.
David didn't mention it in the video, but that rolling resistance watt savings I believe is per wheel. So potentially 12 watts to save if you put latex in both. That's probably good for about a 1 kph increase in speed give or take.
Update: changed about 6 months ago to latex and the difference in ride quality is huge to me. Don’t regret it. Some may be frustrated by having to top up your tyres every ride but honestly doesn’t bother me, takes 2 minutes
I also ride tubeless, so out of the three which would last longer in your saddle bag before you need to replace it because you never get a flat riding tubeless tyres, LOL I kid, we all know tubeless sux.
I am certainly in the tubeless camp. Have tried latex tubes on my cx bike but had various mystery punctures and tyre deflating when put in shed overnight. Certainly the ride is good and lower pressure on the cx bike but a bit fragile and unpredictable.
They definitely deflate when not in use....no damage to the tube...they are just a little porous and lose air over time. You have to pump them before every ride. It's a small price to pay for improved ride quality and lower rolling resistance.
@@chrisgilligan4968 I did have an issue with the rear tube exploding overnight. A split or weakness in the tube perhaps. A few days later while riding the front one popped on a ride. A split in the tube was found . Strange? I had altered pressure as had not been used for a while. These were Vittoria latex tubes.
@@maxlloyd3740 That's interesting. I'm on my first set of Vittoria latex tubes. I've been using them for about a year. I rode them all summer last year June-September then used the front wheel on the smart trainer all winter and have been using them again now for a couple weeks to start this year. I'm not an overly high mileage rider. I ride 3-4 times a week. Typically an hour to 90 minutes 2-3 times and 1 longer ride of 2-3 hours. I've had no troubles yet.
And you will be having quite a few more flats. I ride Corsa Control and Rubino Pro's and there is no comparison in the number of flats to be had. Of course the Corsa Control ride quite nicely, but I am running 30's at 70 lbs of pressure, so even the Rubino Pro's ride well at that pressure.
Not in terms of psi lost...but even if you ride daily you'll need to check your pressures before every ride. It's enough loss overnight to make a difference. But it is a better ride experience for sure.
@@Alniemi I guess it depends. If you have a reliable and effective mini pump that should be sufficient. Overnight you would likely be down something in the range of 5 psi would be my best guess. Maybe a little more.
I'm with you on the tubeless front. Some people claim they can be a nightmare with compatibility, but 1)do some research to find a good combo 2)pay a guy to set them up for you😁
Totally share your final opinion, tubeless is the way to go. There is a price to pay as there is more hassle with set up but the ride quality with regard to comfort, amount of grip and easily felt lower rolling resistance pay off for it. Another great video, cheers
Really wanted to focus on inner tubes for the people who prefer inner tubes, and wanted to keep the focus quite clear. I'll do an inner tube vs tubeless video next :)
Nice overview. I've been on latex for more than 15 years. You can definitely feel the suppleness compared to butyl. Because of that I also think you get slightly better grip. It also has better puncture protection. I've come back from rides on a couple of occasions with green latex just visible through the tyre! The extreme elasticity of latex allows it to stretch over things and into gaps to a far greater extent before they eventually rupture. Tubeless may be better still, but the goo, the obligatory changing of the goo (at least yearly), the tragedy of leaving a wheel unturned/unridden for a while... it's a bridge too far for me.
Any upgrade is fun !
Whatever means you can’t wait to get back on your bike works for me. I’m going to try latex with my GP 4 seasons after your video mate. Cheers.
After 2 years of riding tubeless I switched to Vittoria latex innertubes last year. They’re great. No more maintenance, even lower rolling resistance and lower weight. No punctures so far, but when it happens, I’ll just put a new (butyl) tube in instead of having to deal with the stinky and slippery mess called sealant at the side of the road. Only downsides are that you need to fill them up before every ride and you’ll have to be very careful when installing them. That’s why my spare is a simple butyl one. I don’t want to deal with setting up a latex tube at the side of the road.
Nice comparison, but I wish you also researched puncture resistance for us.
Another good watch thanks. Would be interested to see the latex vs tubeless video.
Some new 35g tubes for road out now, think they're specialized
Salute David 🙏👍🔥🇵🇷💯
Hi David, for less rolling resistance did you mention the use of tubeless tires with latex inner tubes in the pro peleton?
I've been running latex for a couple years. I'd be pumping my tyres anyway, just to make sure I'm running the right pressure, so losing air is no big deal for me.
Unless you go somewhere with your bike for more than 2 days in which case you need to make sure you take a good pump with you. That's why Conti Supersonics may be the best of both worlds (especially when fitted with lots of talc powder...).
+1
Switched to vittoria latex and the ride quality improvement was very noticeable. 1 year after and still 0 punctures, so it's a winner for me.
I might be dumb but I haven't really noticed any difference compared to my old conti tubes
@@ldavid2 I suppose it has to do with the kind of vibrations they dampen. I find myself quite sensitive to setup changes, however I didn't find any difference between a low-end alloy seatpost, and the canyon/ergon two-piece carbon seatpost. If I had to guess, I'd say different types of pavement make the bike vibrate in different ways, the same way some components address some types of vibrations and not others. Where I ride, (SW Ireland) the pavement its extremely gritty and really low pressures are a must (10~15psi lower than on other places).
@@bNaVSK hows your back from all that pumping air
Do they make it with a shrader valve?
@@ldavid2 You won’t notice a difference if your not running the right tires. Latex tubes work best with lite race tires.
Good video. I for one would be really interested to see a comparison between latex tubes and tubeless set ups.
+1!
+1
+1
Was going to ask the same thing
Tubeless suck on the road! I rather use tubulars
The Ridenow TPU tubes are light, cheap and durable. I have done several thousand kms on them and they have been very good.
Agreed
Vittoria latex is my fav.
Smoother ride, the rolling resistance benefits are obvious.
I recently switched from butyl to latex inner tubes and I can definitely feel the difference even without a power meter. I am almost certainly heavier than David (I weigh 80 kg) and I therefore need higher pressure in my tyres. So at the 90-100 psi I need for my 25mm tyres the difference in ride quality is more significant I would assume. When using latex tubes the tyres feel softer at the same pressure compared to using butyl tubes. And they are noticeably faster - Bicycle Rolling Resistance find just a 0.1W difference between the rolling resistance of a tubeless Continental 5000 TL and a Continental 5000 with a latex tube. I don't think I am ever going back to butyl tubes, unless I puncture and just need to get back home with the butyl spare I carry with me at all times. The only minor annoyance is the rate at which they lose air, so I definitely need to reinflate them up to my desired pressure before every ride.
Been over 1000km on Schwalbe Aerothan inner tubes. They ride pretty much like latex tubes, don't loose air pressure, claim to have better puncture protection and aren't that expensive (about 15€ more than latex tubes). I hope the price comes down by 20 to 30 percent compared to the current market rate. Then these thermopalst tubes turn into a real no-brainer in my opinion.
What’s the benefit, are they lighter or cheaper than tubilito? Looks like they cost over $40 on Amazon!!
@@capcom4eva never tested tubolito so I couldn't say from my own experience. I think the main benifit over tubolito is that aerothan is alomst as fast as latex tubes.
Now I'm 3000km on them, still no puncture. Not that that means anything.
No clue about price. Might be up now because of covid.. I have no clue. Back then I paid 26€ eur for each tube.
Nice review and I still prefer using inner tubes rather than TL tyres which is extremely expensive to maintain.
Another good review Dave I have been thinking about trying latex out recently you may of convinced me to try them out.
Vittoria latex tubes coupled with Vittoria Pave or Corsa clincher ( both open tubular cotton walled) are a noticeable ride improvement. 25mm tyres on modest psi levels provide me with a sublime ride feel.
And very very few punctures over the years which I attribute to the properties of latex, which conforms to road imperfections better than butyl.
I run latex on my trainer light weight wheels, traditional butyl on winter bike and tubeless on summer bike. I can honestly say that bang for buck the latex setup is the best. Like riding on a magic carpet! So comfy and fast. Tubeless similar feel but setup hassles and costs are the other side of it.
Never mind the tubes, the Boardman looks really good.
it's still a Boardman, though.
@@fadenseiden what's wrong with boardman? I have never heard a bad thing about them?
Good value for what you pay for the name just does not have the same pedigree as other names
@@tomrachellesfirstdance7843 Lol. I heared so many bad things about this brand.
@@tomrachellesfirstdance7843 people are snobby about it because Halfords own the brand. They are good value bikes and a great entry level option for a lot of people.
@@TheMattist was my exact thought too just because it's halfords but to be fair I have always heard good things about boardman and of halfords are pushing cycling which they are all thumbs up from my perspective 👍
The trouble is we dont cycle in a lab where i could benefit from 8w savings, rolling resistance etc. In the real world, here on UK roads, i lose lots more than that through terrible road surfaces and shitty road maintenance! I might as well run Marathon Plus all year round!
Vittoria latex does it for me. Gone 6000km+ in a little over a year without a single flat. Only issue is, I wouldn't know how to seal a puncture on a latex tube. Rolling is great also on lower pressures.
Latex tubes are my choice for my sport bike (butyl for the commuter). One downside is that they have a tendency to fail on their own, close to the valve where you can't repair them. Fortunately that tends to happen only when you inflate them, i.e., when you are still in your garage.
You can also use tubeless sealant in vittoria latex tubes because they have a removable valve. I've used sealant in the tube to permanently repair small holes in the latex inner tube from small bits of wire that punctures my tires. I think the wire comes from people driving on completely trashed tires and small bits of the exposed steel belts come off. For me, no reason to deal with tubeless. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
Latex tubes for me and this is after doing a lot of riding on road tubeless.
Disc brakes has meant that the biggest disadvantage of latex tubes, the susceptibility to heat is no longer an issue due to there being no brake track, I was always too scared to use latex tubes with carbon rim brake wheels.
I'm interested to try out Aerothan tubes soon as they roll as well as latex according to Aerocoach but are lighter, retain air better and allegedly are more robust.
Tubeless is king off road though.
Count me in for latex tubes as well . The reason for the red/pink/beige & green colors of latex is a visual reference to make sure you don't see a part of the thin tube in-between the clincher side wall ( inner ) and the outer hook bead of the clincher rim while mounting - black tube vs black inner tire wall would be trouble . I blew up my first latex tube due to sloppy mounting technique. have improved since my first screw up. tires should be stretched first with a butyl tube in my experience. I repair punctures with 1" round patches i cut from used latex tube and install using tubular rim cement as the adhesive sandwiched between two 1.5" cardboard squares to let the repair patch dry flat held tight by a C-clamp overnight. it works
I wonder how the weight difference can be factored in to the consideration of which is "best"? The latex tube might be a few watts faster at 40kph, but is it a few watts slower when accelerating the wheel up to speed (as happens repeatedly on a hard climb or sprint when watts are at a premium)? I suspect that the weight difference to the entire bike will have a marginal effect, but the fact that it's on the rim could make a difference.
I got put onto latex tubes years ago and still use them.
Tubeless is not fun tbh. If it doesn’t seal then you need to take off and stuff a tube in. Resulting in a very messy wheel ( which can stain if you don’t get it off) and to say sticky hands is an understatement . All that in the middle of nowhere in the dark. Nope I hate it had enough of it . And it doesn’t seem to work well with road tiers above 60psi. Latex tubes for me the plastic ones are just to expensive and cant be repaired at least not well and reliably any how.
Changed out the butyl inners for latex, definitely had a ‘softer’ feel on GP5ks. Love the channel!
I’ve run tubeless since March 2020, no issues till April this year. Been through three tyres and it’s getting very expensive now, tempted to go back to inner tubes as just so much easier.
Yeap I just run latex tubes. Sealants is expensive. But it's a necessity for gravel tires so I'm willing to take the hit on those.
@@jaspreetsidhu5708 one more failure and that’s the route I’m going. It’s ruining rides now.
How have you been through three tyres? What's happened to them?
@@davidarthur the Mavic one that came fitted lasted for a year. Hit a big piece of glass and caught the side wall sealant wouldn’t save that. Second Perili, kid you not I caught the inside of a pot hole and put another hole in side wall. Replaced that with the third tire, putting it on a Mavic rim was really stiff to much force from lbs and they’ve torn the outer and inner casing so it just bulged when seating in one area. They are in the process of replacing it, all three been back wheel. Bad luck more than anything as I do like them but at £55 per tyre not sure I can face that again.
@@chrisburton4694 Inner tubes aren't going to save you on a cut sidewall right? You'll still have to replace the tire. In all likelihood you saved yourself money running tubeless. You probably would have had to replace the tire and tube if you had been running inner tubes in those scenarios.
when i raced in the 70s we used tubulars of course. they had a LOT of punctures. now i ride a 2011 specialized roubaix. two wheelsets. ultegra with specialized roubaix and butyl tubes are my "standard" wheels. This year i added a (used) Giant PSL1 wheelset, which seems a bit faster.
Yesterday I mounted new Continental 5000 clinchers (hard to put on, but i figured it out with help from youtube) and Vittoria laytex tubes. It is probably more the tires, but i definitely noticed a speed gain.
However, I am old and slow. lol.
The continental tires have a GREAT road grip and i am pretty sure make up most of the gains.
As far as pumping up tires before rides... i grew up that way, no big deal.
Really prefer the laytex tubes.
I've done just over 3000mikes on tubolito tubes and no punctures so far and acceleration is great and climbing is so much faster they are not cheap but I had to try and I am not disapionted
Hi All,
What are the critical values I need to look when i purchase a latex tube? I have a 32mm wide tyre, do I need to look for a number somewhere on the spec written 32 or at least 32? So for e.g. 26-36? Thank you! Do I need to fit the inner tube against the rim dimensions or against the tyre?
So for e.g. I have a 622x19C ETRTO measure, with a 32mm tyre.
Is this 30/38-622 value is good for me (one of the latex tube I found against my set-up)?
Cons for tpu. More prone to flats and leaks. Rubbish. I won’t use tubolitos anymore
Latex for me for the last 10 years or longer. What this review doesn't mention is the ringing noise your tyres make, like a bouncing football.
thats 8watts at 45kph (28mph) , so its only 8 watts if your average speeds are 45kph
Sticking to butyl, might go for latex eventually for the racing setup but their fragility worries me.
surprised that someone hasn't introduced a graphene inner tube. would have thought it would be an obvious step forward
...right after the Gravel Inner Tube is announced. 😂
Great video. Would love to see tubless vs. latex. I also think that if weight is your thing, then conti supersonic at 50 grams for half the price as the tubolito has to be shown as well (I know it was mentioned)
Thanks for the video. Indeed, not yet ready to move to TL as just too heavy vs latex for minimal gains with all the fuss to keep TL’s optimal through the season when not riding daily (I.e. rain and dry bikes combo with less frequent outings on the dry machine 😢). Would love to see a TL va latex video though 😅
U choose. Losing so much time changing the butyl tube or losing 20-30 seconds to pump back the loose air?
Hi can I ask you a question I got sent the wrong size tpu inner tube 700x32 on a 700x38 bike tyres thanks
I like and use schwalbe extra light butyl - 75 grams
To repair tubolitos you definitely need a press holding the patch while drying and patches may still come off. The patch adhesion will never be as good as in butyl. But that’s my experience.
I had a similar issue with an Aerothan, Schwalbe advised to thoroughly clean the area with an alcohol wipe if possible. Since doing that the patch has held perfectly (about 2000km), hopefully the same goes for Tubolio?
Just to update you tubolito since your post updated their patch kit, which never really worked well for me from a glueless patch to one with a special tpu glue and a patch from another tubolito tube. It works far better now bonding to seal punctures, although it is not an instant on the road patch, but an at home 30 min fix.
A drop of crazy glue (cyanoacrylate) will seal small holes in a polyurethane tube quickly and easily.
Hi is it ok to ask you a question i got sent the wrong size inner tube 700x32 will it be ok for a 700x38 bike tyre thank u
One thing to worry about latex is that it bursts lole ballons. I had an accident due to sudden burst in the latex tire and dare not use every since. Anyone experiencing that?
it seems nice but price is turning me off :/ butyl inner tube is like 4€ in germany
No way am i ever going to pay those stupid prices for the plastic tubes. That is taking the piss.
Pirelli have made new one hopefully will review that too David.cheers👍🏻
Interesting! It would have been good if you put a lightweight butyl tube in the mix and could tell us the difference in watts. Is there any difference between latex and lightweight butyl? I want to run latex tubes, but not with my rim brake bike. I choose life! And tubeless is not the fastest rolling setup as everyone has been saying.
Been riding latex and rim brakes for over 5 yrs in all temperatures and riding the brakes on long descents stuck behind tour buses as well.
Never had one single problem.
Give them a go.
I think if you don't pump them up to rock hard psi you will be just fine.
@@michaelconway8352 what is the problem with latex, rim brakes and high psi? Can it handle up to 70psi?
@@capcom4eva It can handle whatever psi you want really, taking into account tyres max psi recommendation or rim max psi. 70psi should be fine. I'm 80kg and ride with 75 front, 85 rear on 25mm . I only choose these numbers for comfort. I don't live in a hot climate with long alpine type descents so I'm not dragging the brakes for long periods or overheating my rims. I have latex on alu and carbon clinchers. Never had a problem and rarely had a puncture in 5 yrs.
Sorry forgot to add, the risk is that latex can blow out at extreme heat temperatures but I live in an area of rolling hills so don't fear them. Plus my psi isn't to the max, so there's plenty room for heat expansion.
@@michaelconway8352 oh, I see now. I’m at no risk of this in the northeast, especially now in winter. Thanks.
Interesting! 😃👍
Of course we want the comparison between with and without inner tube. Without inner tube should include different tyre pressures. 😉
Thanks David. Don't have tubeless wheels yet so I have been thinking about this for awhile, talk about good timing. Do you think the latex are more prone to punctures than the butyl? Cheers
The latex are more prone to pinch flats when installing them because the tubes are not as "sturdy". I carry a butyl as my spare when I'm riding. But in terms of punctures while riding, that is more a function of the tire than the tube. I hope I'm not putting a jinx on myself, but I've been riding the same set of latex tubes since the beginning of last year's riding season.
this is the video i needed, subbed!
For the latex tube will it last for a day ride without adding air?
aerothan
Anyone noticed latex inners sound different?
After changing butyl for latex (with GP5000 tires) the rolling sound at higher speeds (30km/h+) seems more ‘sticky’ or ‘thicker’ to me. More engaging as to say.
I’d like to see the comparison on latex vs tubules.
Also how easy is it to repair the latex and tubolito tubes ?
TPU repair kits basically comes with regular rubber cement and extra pieces of TPU
Surprised that latex is faster compared to lighter TPU
That's because outside of acceleration, latex just have a lower friction coefficient vs TPU, making it better overall if all you care about is speed.
Even considering the relatively difference between tubes, what matters more is the relative weight between 2 wheel setups, where the weight savings matter less.
do the plastic tubes leak air?
Can latex tubes be repaired after a puncture? And can it be inflated by a CO2 canister?
Yes, I believe the common way to do it is to make patches from an old latex inner tube. Which, of course won't work before you've trashed one latex tube, or simply buy an extra tube to use as your repair kit.
I've patched a latex tube using a standard patch kit.
You can also buy the latex tubes that FMB uses. Not cheap, of course, but compared to Ceramic Speed upgrades, trivial, and the comfort... Personally, I enjoy every second I ride on FMB tubulars. Nothing else feels as good, and it's not even close. Are they the fastest? Dunno, don't care. I ride to enjoy the ride, and they tick all the boxes, except affordability.
tubeless on my gravelbike, latex Vittoria for my race bike but Ridenow TPU as a spare tube. Not only for the weight but they pack so compact and that is a real advantage.
Love your channel and enthusiasm towards cycling. Keep up the great content mate.
Thanks a ton!
Yes please do a tubeless versus tube setup.I gave up decades ago with latex,too expensive,too fragile,loose air quickly. OK when protected inside a tubular tyre until punctured,then sealant can leak out.I have kept 1 set of Tubs.Otherwise running clinchers with butyl tubes.
Which one of these are the best for flats? All I care about is getti g a flat. So which is best for preventing flats please and thank you
The good ole butyl tube.
The plastic inner tubes take the weight down for sure. The downside is durability for the tubulitos. They don’t patch well either. I will be going tubeless now with the air liner and sealants. I recommend tubulitos for races but for training and repairing you will lose money 💰.
Been using latex tubes for years. They are fine, but fragile. They definitely make a different sound. They sort of 'sing' compared to butyl.
I like the color of the latex...matches my frame color! Perhaps I can make cable ties out of them.......ahhh, ok, that would be stupid.
Latex are great other then fact you have to pump them up every ride. I find them a lot more comfy then butyl in a 28mm tyre. Tubolitos to try next but very interested in ride feel vs latex & tubolito as there it little on the internet on that comparison on ride feel. The latex vs tubeless does need to include the same pressure and then vs tubeless with the lower pressure. Thanks
Still enjoying the ride quality and precision feel of tubulars, but use top clinchers with latex tubes for solo training rides (rubber spare tubes stand up better in my saddle pouch - for emergencies).
25,-€ or 29,-€ for a Plastic tube?!? 🤯
I definitely continue to use latex, butyl or tubeless.
I bought some Kenda Butyl inner tubes, they are cheap but certainly not durable. I am going back to Continental latex.
A review between tubeless vs inner tubes would be great. Tubeless has the idea of being lightweight, but thats not true (even the sealant by itself weights more than tubolito or latex, and tubeless tyres are heavier). Few users have trouble with tubeless (try to move an used tubeless tyre to another rim); the real benefit should be road feel etc. Wonder how it performs in real world, and lab ofcourse. As i am looking for new carbon rims, i wonder to jump to tubeless or stick with innertubes.
For puncture resistance, Tubolito beats them all and is the easiest to patch.
Doesn't matter how well something "rolls" if it's not rolling because it's flat. ☺
I was looking into this recently, for exactly the reasons described here - it's a cheap way to get a few extra watts. Tubolito looked good, but I ended up seeing quite a lot of people saying they were actually poor with regard to puncture resistance, and that the plastic stem holding the valve could cause problems. Hard to get really reliable info. So in the end I just stuck with butyl
@@Bellerophon17 The "issue" with the stem is that installers would blow the tube up too much and weaken the seal. I had the same issue (my mistake) and they sent me TWO new ones and told me what I did wrong.
My replacements have zero issues now that I know how to install them and hold air longer than my butyl tubes unbelievably. As for their puncture resistance, they are hands down better than rubber. Anything that punctures a Tubolito is going to puncture anything, but they stay intact longer before puncturing.
@@Bellerophon17 For the record, I was pretty skeptical about them too, but with a rock solid warranty offered by them, I took the chance and now all my bikes are on Tubolitos and I saved an average of 80g per tire which is insane for $70./both.
I've been using latex inner tubes for 2 years now not one flat. I won't use anything else.
What size change rings do you have on your Boardman? The outer one looks huge
Latex for me
Do you recommend riding latex tubes with carbon clincher
Pirelli is using thermoplastic tubes in their road tubulars in the Giro .
David, how about for mere mortals who ride at 25-35km/h. 😅
The test by bicyclerollingresistance.com is done at 29km/h. However the gain that they measured is around 4 watts (2 watts per wheel), not 8 watts as claimed in this video.
True. The 8 watt claim is Aerocoach's claim, but BRR support the idea that latex provide lower rolling resistance
@@davidarthur I just read the Aerocoach test, and they did it at 45km/h, so the results of the two experiments are actually reasonably close.
How is Latex tube compare to butyl tube in terms of puncture resistance
I'm tubeless or the slime inner tubes for non tubeless tyres....works for me.
Always used standard or light butal tubes. Keen to try the fantastic plastic now. It would be good to know 'real world' watt savings. Raced a 62km road race today and I averaged 32km, which I was happy with... No where near 45 though.
David didn't mention it in the video, but that rolling resistance watt savings I believe is per wheel. So potentially 12 watts to save if you put latex in both. That's probably good for about a 1 kph increase in speed give or take.
Also like to see tubeless tyre with and without a tube.
Super review - I never even knew plastic tubes existed!
Definitely would like to see the comparison between tubeless and latex !
I can't justify the cost of going tubeless, I'm sticking with tubes. Butyl for now but will move to latex soon
Update: changed about 6 months ago to latex and the difference in ride quality is huge to me. Don’t regret it. Some may be frustrated by having to top up your tyres every ride but honestly doesn’t bother me, takes 2 minutes
Can u do something about punctureless tubes
Plastic for the puncture resistance
Love my P Zero smarTubes
I also ride tubeless, so out of the three which would last longer in your saddle bag before you need to replace it because you never get a flat riding tubeless tyres, LOL I kid, we all know tubeless sux.
I ride Tubolito's and use a light weight butyl tube as a spare, just in case I use a CO2 cartridge.
@@markedwards4913 I have a small hand pump I carry in my shirt pocket, I'm scared the CO2 is to cold and mite freeze the tube.
Tubeless every day for me.
I am certainly in the tubeless camp.
Have tried latex tubes on my cx bike but had various mystery punctures and tyre deflating when put in shed overnight.
Certainly the ride is good and lower pressure on the cx bike but a bit fragile and unpredictable.
They definitely deflate when not in use....no damage to the tube...they are just a little porous and lose air over time. You have to pump them before every ride. It's a small price to pay for improved ride quality and lower rolling resistance.
@@chrisgilligan4968
I did have an issue with the rear tube exploding overnight.
A split or weakness in the tube perhaps.
A few days later while riding the front one popped on a ride.
A split in the tube was found .
Strange?
I had altered pressure as had not been used for a while.
These were Vittoria latex tubes.
@@maxlloyd3740 That's interesting. I'm on my first set of Vittoria latex tubes. I've been using them for about a year. I rode them all summer last year June-September then used the front wheel on the smart trainer all winter and have been using them again now for a couple weeks to start this year. I'm not an overly high mileage rider. I ride 3-4 times a week. Typically an hour to 90 minutes 2-3 times and 1 longer ride of 2-3 hours. I've had no troubles yet.
You will gain much more comfort and speed by changing your Rubino pro for Open corsa G
Link? There's so many types of these so which one are you suggesting?
And you will be having quite a few more flats. I ride Corsa Control and Rubino Pro's and there is no comparison in the number of flats to be had. Of course the Corsa Control ride quite nicely, but I am running 30's at 70 lbs of pressure, so even the Rubino Pro's ride well at that pressure.
Ride flat roads
Very interesting! How bad is the leak on the latex really? Anyone have any rough numbers?
Not in terms of psi lost...but even if you ride daily you'll need to check your pressures before every ride. It's enough loss overnight to make a difference. But it is a better ride experience for sure.
@@chrisgilligan4968 Thanks for the tip! so pretty much rules out latex tubes in a touring bike hehe
@@Alniemi I guess it depends. If you have a reliable and effective mini pump that should be sufficient. Overnight you would likely be down something in the range of 5 psi would be my best guess. Maybe a little more.
Tubeless!
I'm with you on the tubeless front.
Some people claim they can be a nightmare with compatibility, but
1)do some research to find a good combo
2)pay a guy to set them up for you😁
Totally share your final opinion, tubeless is the way to go. There is a price to pay as there is more hassle with set up but the ride quality with regard to comfort, amount of grip and easily felt lower rolling resistance pay off for it.
Another great video, cheers
Disappointed you didn't include tubeless in this review made even worse by the fact you specified it was your preference!
Really wanted to focus on inner tubes for the people who prefer inner tubes, and wanted to keep the focus quite clear. I'll do an inner tube vs tubeless video next :)