I bought these after having some success with latex tubes in the past. This bunch? Not so much. I had 2 fail along the valve to tube interface while riding at speed. Luckily, I did not wreck. I'll stick with lightweight butyl.
Vittoria Competition Latex 700c Road Tube - A lot of old school road riders use latex and for good reason. they provide the most comfortable and supple ride. They are more resistant to punctures than butyl tubes.
Three things to be aware of:
1. You must use tire talc (do not body talc which is corn starch) on the inside of the tire casing and the tube! Otherwise you risk pinching while installing.
2. You will need to air up before each ride. I do regardless of what tubes I use but more so with latex tubes.
3. Carry a butyl tube as a spare as the latex is fastidious to install on the raid without tire talc
light, easy to intall, durable, the best
This is the cheapest and highest-impact improvement you can make on ride quality as long as you are willing to put a little air in your tires before you go out. A longtime user of latex-tubed sew-ups, I recently switched bikes and found myself on factory-issue clinchers. They rode like rocks. It's getting really hard to find tubular rims these days, so I did the next best (and cheaper) thing and got these latex tubes along with good-quality tires (Continental GP5000). Latex installs just like any other tube, there's nothing complicated here. And the difference is enormous. Yes, you will have to top up the pressure from day to day, that's just how latex works. But you'll never go back, guaranteed.
I keep going back to the latex tubes and these have been nice ones. I get a little less than a year out of them. Not the cheapest way to go but just seem to be the best. I have had very little problems with flats using them, however where I ride I don't get many flats anyway. They usually fail at the valve when I pump them up prior to a ride, and that only happens after 6-9 months of using them. This time I am going to try them with sealant in them. Even though I do not typically have problems with getting flats I don't want another front tire flat. Some things are only fun once. I don't anticipate any improvement in the longevity, just in flat prevention. I plan on replacing them at the 6-month mark anyway.
I had an unusual experience with these that I feel is worth documenting. I've used latex tubes for years now. When I installed these, the front went flat in about 2 hours, the rear went flat overnight. Now, I'm not talking about they lost a few psi, I know latex tubes do that. I'm saying totally zero psi, tire lost shape, board flat. I removed them, pumped them to hold shape, held them under water and couldn't find a leak anywhere. I then left them hanging on a chair with enough pressure for them to hold shape and they held that 5-8 psi for several days. Where did the air go? I decided to check the removable valve cores and they seemed to be loose. I removed the valve cores, put some teflon tape on the threads, tightened the cores back in the stems and installed the tubes in the same tires. They are now holding pressure just fine. So, if you have trouble with them going flat right away and the leak seems to be coming from the valve stem area, it may just be that the removable valve core is loose and needs to be tightened or sealed with teflon tape.
I bought these latex tubes after reading many of the reviews of the product. They are what all the reviews say they are. Light, supple and fragile. I got 667 miles out of the front tube before it went flat. On removal of the tube the hole was located at the base of the stem where the two ends of the tube are joined. After spending a few minutes inspecting the hole and the area around the hole, it looked like the tube may have been rubbing either on the rim tape or some irregularity in the wheel, even though I couldn't feel any irregularity that seemed sharp enough to cause the proble. The wheel is a DT Swiss R470db. I used an idea I got from the LBS some years ago and cut out a piece of butyl tube about 2.25 inches by 1 inch. I punched a hole in the piece and slide it over the stem to give that area of the tube a little more protection. Time will tell if this was a good fix or not. The last point about the tubes is Vittoria claims they may decrease the rolling resistance of the tire assemble by as much as 5.5 watts. Again this is something I can't personally verify but assuming it may be true, that works out to about $3.00 per watt of decreased rolling resistance. I think that is a bargain.
After a full blown fit of rage after my husband decided to ride my bike on completely flat tires which shredded my tubes, I decided to come here looking for the perfect replacement. These look and feel great, installed beautifully and have already gone 200+ miles without any issues.
I tried Challenge latex, horrible, lasted 2 weeks, failed in the same place around the valve. Didn't give up on latex, and got the Vittoria. They're awesome tubes, ride like my old Clement tubulars almost! Just be careful mounting, and taking them off. Great video on Oz Cycle about taking clinchers off without levers. I haven't tried Michelin, but these are really good.
My 150-lb self runs these on road bikes, 25c to 28c tires.
For 25c inflate to 70psi for training rides, 80psi for races.
For 28c tires inflate to 55psi (no racing on these).
Better grip. road feel, pinch-flat protection.
I once neglected to check pressure before a race, double-flatted on a pothole, but neither tire went flat immediately like a butyl tube would have. I was able to safely come to a stop even while bombing downhill after the pothole.
Highly recommend this product.
Check tire pressure before each ride though, because latex does leak air.
I stayed away from Latex inner tubes thinking they were too delicate, but this has not proven to be the case. And since I always pump my tires before every ride, I don't mind that they loose pressure overnight. The feel is noticeable, and combined with a 300+ TPI cotton tire, the ride is incredible. Unless I'm riding a lot of crappy chip-seal or bad pavement, I prefer 25c tires over 28c tires. The latex tubes gives the 25c tire about the same feel as a high quality 28c with butyl tubes, but the 25 provides more road feel without the marshmellowy, "are my tires flat" feel.
Practically the same rolling resistance as tubeless. So noticeably faster and responsive than the old butyl tubes. Feels like an instant upgrade to racing wheels, and much better puncture resistance than butyl as well.
The Vittoria Latex tube is a performance inner tube, best paired with supple performance clincher. I like the fact that there is no seam. You will need to add air before each ride, but that is a small inconvenience compared to the improved feel and performance achieved with this latex tube.
This tube is lighter & faster than a butyl tube and it is VERY noticeable. I won't go tubeless on my 25 & 28 mm tires due to higher pressures & because of how well these tubes perform along with GP5000 tires which is my preferred setup.
I know some don't like latex tubes. For me these have been a god-send. I reduced my flat frequency to basically zero once I got these and the rolling resistance is obviously lower (perceptibly so). Running them in Conti GP 4000 SIIs on both road bikes I ride. I was getting many more flats on the same roads with butyl tubes - so surprisingly latex ends up more comfortable, faster, and cheaper to operate than butyl. Not to mention getting to avoid roadside tube changes. Yes, you got to pump before every ride, but to me that's worth it to not flat.
I got these for my Vitoria Corsa N.ext tires. Immediately after riding I could tell a difference from a butal tube. Take your time on the install though. I carry butal tube in case of a flat.
Perhaps I've written this review before, but I'll say it again that these tubes will bring a lively feel to your tired wheelset. Pairing these with a low rolling resistant tire will are the easiest cheapest energy savings you can find on the bike. Being careful during installation should go without saying. Don't be frightened off by their delicate reputation.
There are already a lot of great reviews that contain sage advice on how to install and maintain these tubes. I can only add that I have gotten into the habit of holding the valve when taking the chuck off to avoid pulling the valve away from the tube.
For those of us that are still running tubes, why not save some weight where the weight savings is most critical, rotational weight. I run these on the front, under Conti GP5000 tires. Because I seldom get a flat in the front, I go light. In the rear I run with Conti Gatorskins and conventional tubes. There are a lot of puncture hazards here in southern Utah.
Always pump air every ride losing air is that normal
